Jan
5
Should the USA Have a National Water Vision? What Should It Be? An Invitation to Comment
January 5, 2010 | Posted by Michael "Aquadoc" Campana
2 Comments
Happy New Year! ¡Prospero Año Nuevo!
It’s not only the start of a new year but also a new decade. For many of us in the USA’s water community it’s a time to look ahead to see if we can’t devise a better way to steward the USA’s most precious natural resource.
But that ‘better way” begins with a vision. What should our ‘water future’ look like? Better yet, what do you think it should look like? Or perhaps you believe we do not need a water vision. Is the USA so diverse with a patchwork approach to water that to develop and adopt such a national vision would be futile?
And what if we could agree upon and adopt a vision? So what?
Whatever you believe, please let us know by participating in our national water vision project, a joint effort by the American Water Resources Association and some of its sister organizations. [Disclosure notice: I am AWRA's President-Elect.]
When you click on the vision’s website you’ll see an introduction by Jerry Sehlke, AWRA’s President (Past President as of 1 January 2010). He’ll explain the rationale, history, and explain what will become of the results. At the top, just below the heading, you can click on Leave a comment to provide your opinion. When you do that, a new page will open up that will have Jerry’s same blurb, but with the comments listed below it. Way down at the bottom will be a place to leave your two cents. We’d appreciate if you would provide your affiliation and discipline.
You can subscribe to the ‘Comments’ feed.
We want to hear from you. Let your friends and colleagues know, too. It’s open to all.
We’ll keep the site up for about three weeks.
“We drive into the future using only our rearview mirror.” — Marshall McLuhan
“It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision.” — Helen Keller
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I think the US is in dire need of a water vision. This of course needs to be coupling of planning long term clean water to citizens and reducing the waste. One of the biggest issues we face now I think is that the water standards that are currently in place were those that were places some 25 or more years ago. While we have cleaned up a lot of things and become more efficient, the growing population as a whole produces more waste in general. We also have more toxins produced as a result of industry. The initial provisions put into place did not take into account some elements which today if not monitored can lead to serious side effects. Of course, it has taken time and research to reach these conclusions – but now that some are evident, the time could not be better to develop now a better vision for our future.
I am thrilled that AWRA has set up the blog as discussed at the August 2009 National Collaborative Conference to discuss the need for a national water vision. This discussion directly supports implementation of the project the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers initiated to “Build Strong Collaborative Relationships for a Sustainable Water Resources Future.” The majority sentiment of the Federal, state, interstate, tribal, and non-governmental representatives including AWRA who participated in the regional and national conferences for this project endorsed a national water vision; however, views were also expressed that such a vision is not needed. A blog to canvass a wider spectrum of the water resources community is timely and necessary. We look forward to AWRA sharing the open and honest views of those who participate in the blog. Thank you, AWRA!
Steven L. Stockton, P.E., F.ASCE
Director of Civil Works
U.S. Army Corps of Engineer