Jul
28
USA Water Resources: Time For A Little Less Talk And A Lot More Action?
July 28, 2008 | Posted by Michael "Aquadoc" Campana
Nothing like initiating a post with a title from a song in Toby Keith’s repertoire (or from Sarah Bates’ original post). It’s all uphill from here.
In a post a few weeks ago entitled How We Can Save Our Country’s Water, the ever-thoughtful Sarah Bates declared that the time for more commissions and studies is over:
But the question remains. Do we need a new commission to revisit these questions? Or do we need to look more seriously at how we might mobilize the political will to implement the remarkably consistent menu of ideas that has already emerged from such gatherings of water experts over the past several decades? [To see this "remarkably consistent menu of ideas" see the Appendix of the recent report A New Western Water Agenda. It's a revelation.]
She does have a point: been there, done that. No argument from me.
Sarah’s comments reminded me of something I had forgotten - that the long-completed 1973 report of the National Water Commission could essentially be reissued, if it were updated with a chapter or two on climate change (see Jan Neuman’s comments in Sarah’s post). I first realized this several years ago, when my then-University of New Mexico colleague David Brookshire decided to clean his office and unearthed a copy of the report, on which he had toiled as a graduate student. We both stared in the amazement at the table of contents, which could have been lifted from something more recent, save for some mention of climate change and water resources.
So if I think Sarah has a point - that it is time to act - why do I still think we need a National Water Commission? Why not just update the 1973 report? Several reasons:
- the landscapes (demographic, political, water resources,etc.) have changed and the stakes are higher since 1973;
- climate change and its effect on water resources now loom ominously on the horizon;
- the public and Congressional consciousness about water has been raised quite a bit, with far more people concerned about their “water future” than in 1973;
- a Natonal Water Commission created by Congress will add additional gravitas to the issue and its recommendations will be more difficult to ignore than those from a self-appointed panel of experts;
- A National Water Commission may spur parties (states, regional consortia, agencies, etc.) into action because of the threat of Federal hegemony (analogous to the threat of litigation that brings warring parties to the negotiating table); and lastly,
- when a conservative Republican Congressman from a “red” state - Rep. John Linder (R-GA) - is leading the charge for a National Water Commission, that tells me something (see #3 above): it’s time.
The above items don’t mean that the 1973 report should be ignored. It should be the first thing the new Commission reads.
If a Commission is created, that does not mean we should rest on our laurels (or levees), fully expecting Congress to solve everything (do I look that stupid?). We need to keep working to solve problems.
And, if a National Water Commission makes reasonable recommendations that Congress disregards or permits to become ensnarled in the morass of partisan poiltics, I think you’ll see such a hue and cry from the water professionals, stakeholders, and general public even Congress cannot ignore.
But maybe we’ll need Toby Keith to kick some butt.
“We learn nothing from history except that we learn nothing from history.” – Cicero
