Water Politics from the Ground Up
A new report from Western Progress with a new report [pdf] authored by water law experts Denise Fort and Lawrence MacDonnell and informed by a bevy of water and policy experts. This article contains an eight-point set of solutions to the problem.
New West Politics: Voice of the Rocky Mountains
“More and more, we are seeing a realization across the West that the conservation and sustainability of water is essential to our future,” said Lawrence MacDonnell, co-author of A New Western Water Agenda, a policy report out today from Western Progress, “this report seeks to extend existing efforts across the entire region and also suggest new ways of tackling increasing scarcity.”
“The status quo simply won’t work,” said Denise Fort, the other co-author of the report and a professor at the University of New Mexico Law School, “we must find new ways in decrease our use of the limited water supply we face in the West.”
Until relatively recently, it has been possible to identify sources of water not yet committed to some other, legally-protected use and develop these sources to meet new demands. We could store spring runoff and not interfere with summertime direct flow diversions. We could withdraw ground water without impairing surface water uses or other ground water uses.
It is increasingly difficult to find water sources that are not already committed to another use. We have dammed most rivers to capture high flows and to recapture water for subsequent use. We have tapped ground water at rates well beyond the ability of aquifers to recharge, so water levels have dropped and associated surface water has declined.
Filed under: Water in the West
