May
29
Western Water: Words of Wisdom
May 29, 2009 | Posted by Michael "Aquadoc" Campana
2 Comments
Two days ago I finally met Sarah Bates, who is one of the best thinkers and writers on Western USA water and land issues. I have known of Sarah’s work for almost 20 years, ever since she collaborated with the late Marc Reisner to produce Overtapped Oasis: Reform or Revolution for Western Water, the ’sequel’ to Cadillac Desert. She also co-authored the excellent Searching Out the Headwaters: Change and Rediscovery in Western Water Policy. I am embarrassed to admit I have not read the latter. I’ll rectify that.
I have posted about her work here: 4 September 2008; 28 July 2008; 18 June 2008; and 23 March 2007. I also mentioned the Carpe Diem – Western Water and Climate Change Project, on whose core team she serves.
She spoke here at Oregon State University on Water in a Warming West: How Will Western Water Policy Respond to Climate Change. She (refreshingly) spoke without using PowerPoint but we recorded her talk, which should be posted here in several days (scroll down to the bottom of the page).
I learned that she has a keen interest in the exempt well issue. That came as little surprise to me; just about everyone who’s thinking about Western water issues is concerned about these wells. Suffice it to say that in most Western states we don’t know how much water is used by these wells and regulation is minimal. But I digress…
She made an excellent point: policy is a social choice. It is not determined by science, although it is, or should be, informed by such.
Another good point: Western water is a lose-lose proposition. Why? No matter what a poltician does or says, he or she will step on someone else’s toes. It’s inevitable.
She mentioned a media audit conducted by the aforementioned Carpe Diem Project which found 5,000 articles dealing with water shortages and drought. But fewer than 10% included ANY mention of climate change. The issues are not yet linked in the public media, much less treated in a thoughtful, solution-oriented way.
She also bemoaned the lack of a coherent Federal policy in Western water policy, something that could likely be said in other parts of the USA. She doesn’t want the Feds to dictate things, but perhaps setting a good example vis-a-vis cooperation, coherence, and collaboration, is not too much to ask.
Another problem: we tend to gravitate toward silos and don’t speak with many others outside our silo, whether the silos are defined by discipline, economics, political party, etc.
So what about water and climate change? Try these: 1) climate change is a game-changer vis-a-vis water policy; 2) our institutions are ill-equipped to deal with climate change and its water impacts; 3) incremental change in policy will not be enough; and 4) one constituency alone can’t do it all when it comes to effecting policy changes.
Sarah made some suggestions: 1) treat surface water and groundwater as a single entity; 2) integrate land and water planning; 3) reliance on groundwater will limit other options; 4) recognize that environmental water use is for people, too; 5) practice conservation first – don’t always look for more supplies; 6) for storage, remember aquifer storage and recovery; 7) wastewater reuse will impact ag water transfers – may not need as much water transferred from ag uses; and 
we need to resolve/manage conflict better.
To the above list we could include linking/integrating water quantity and quality.
She warned us not to count on ‘market economics’ alone to solve the water shortage issue, because economics don’t necessarily reflect social choices/values. Example: cities could buy or lease lots of agricultural water, but most people, not just farmers, would likely find large losses of agricultural land unacceptable. As a farmer in the Middle Rio Grande basin once asked me, “You want to see some green fields or a sea of red tile roofs?”
In summary, a delightful, incredibly informative visit with Sarah, who’s not only very smart, but very nice.
“Water will be the delivery mechanism for the impacts of climate change.” – Kathy Jacobs, Executive Director, Arizona Water Institute
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[...] About This News Article… The article Western Water: Words of Wisdom is syndicated for use on our Water Pollution Blog. The original content can be found here. [...]
I just wanted to compliment you on how great this website is. The content is so interesting!
In the coming years, I think that domestic and industrial water’s overuse is going to become a leading headline and an even greater cause for public concern. Why people don’t care about it more on a private level remains a puzzle for me. Water conservation could easily usurp the importance of societal conflicts and perhaps become more salient than oil or electricity because water it the essential ingredient for survival.
I just read an article in the Boston Globe actually (I hail from New Hampshire) that was discussing the severity of the water problem. Now streams and lakes in Massachusetts have dropped significantly – to the point where fish and other vital aquatic ecosystems have all but died off (if you have any interest in reading this, just paste the link into your browser http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/06/07/in_mass_concerns_rising_on_water_overuse/ ).
Part of me wonders why conservationists have been stigmatized for standing up for something that everybody needs to survive. It’s kind of ridiculous really. I guess mankind is naturally wired to being short-sighted. Who knows if this is an evolutionary defect or what? But I’m still stymied as to why people care more about profits than proffering a healthy environment for future generations.
This said, I’m really happy to see guys like you doing what you’re doing. It shows that you don’t just believe in talk (which is cheap). The first step is getting information out there to educate people on the severity of the problem. So kudos to your great work!
Best,
Jeremy