SCARCITY OF WATER
REAL LIVE KNIGHTS ON THE RUN
Unless you live in the U.S. Southwest, you’re probably not hearing much about the fight over the water there. Water rights are not even on the radar for most of us. Yet, water law has been evolving for more than 4,000 years, often characterized by the relationship of the use to the source.
The very basics; the Upper Colorado River Basin is Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico. The Lower Basin includes California, Arizona, and Nevada. The river also provides water to Mexico. Dams at Lakes Powell and Mead are vital contributors to the power grid that supplies places like Los Angeles and Las Vegas. In all, 40 million people count on it.
What plays out there in the near future, and even in the coming days, can provide vital insight across the globe. Water – too much or not enough – is at the core of the climate refugee crisis that is heating up even faster than our atmosphere. We all heard about last winter’s record snow across the Upper Basin - up to 70 feet. Lake Tahoe, which can always be counted on for fresh powder on its ski slopes, saw 240% of its average season. Was it the answer to critically low lake levels?OwlVoices caught up with James Eklund late last March, as that massive snowpack was about to melt. A prediction by the “ranching water lawyer” is as good as it gets. He’s part of a generational beef ranch near the river, a legal mind on water rights, infrastructure, and quality, and directed the Colorado Water Conservation Board during the formulation of the Colorado Water Plan, which set the standard for conservation.
He saw all that snow as a godsend and a curse; sorely needed, but not enough. He envisioned how it would undermine the sense of urgency to address a long-term dilemma and potential catastrophe.
And that’s exactly what’s happening. On December 11, the federal Bureau of Reclamation will close the public comment period ahead of the release of its plan for overseeing dam operations. It’s a fluid proposal and includes an option to conserve three million acre-feet of water in the Lower Basin over three years. (One acre-foot of water supports roughly two families of four to five people for a year.) Or, they could choose to maintain the status quo, essentially hanging their hats on the potential windfall of an El Niño winter. Experts like Eklund say the situation remains on the edge and real action is needed.Sit rep at the lakes?
Only about one-third full.
Also on the table is a plan by the Lower Basin states to make the same proposed cuts, and take federal compensation for most of it. It’s a political football we’ll get into more later. But what it comes down to, Eklund said, is that the lower states had everything to win or lose, so they were paying attention, and “played their hand really well.”While the praying for snow begins, California’s Imperial Irrigation District is growing about 80% of the country’s winter produce. Think about this; that’s the target for about half of water cuts, with those federal funds mainly used to pay farmers not to grow. The impact on water conservation will be dramatic. But so will the impact on food supplies if agriculture does the heavy lifting.
Watch this space for regular updates on the management plan saga, and more from Eklund.
