Water Planning for Growing Southwestern Communities - Design with the Desert: Conservation and Sustainable Development - page 275

called domestic, wells can frustrate water planning for rural areas as they are outside the
authority of the state to regulate. In many cases, state laws do not govern water use by
Indian Nations, yet Indian Nations may be partners in water leases with the approval of
the U.S. government. Therefore, there may be existing traditional water resources—surface
water and groundwater—that can be redirected to cities and towns. Economic and legal
considerations, as well as infrastructure investment requirements, tend to determine the
feasibility of these voluntary transactions. These opportunities must be considered along
with opportunities to invest in technology that enables use of water supplies that heretofore
have not been used to meet potable water demands, what I call “nontraditional” sources.
Regulations affect water planning in many ways. Perhaps the most obvious set of
regulations pertains to water quality. The federal 1972 Clean Drinking Water Act controls
discharges of pollutants into waters of the United States. 31 The 1974 Safe Drinking Water
Act requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set standards for drinking
water quality and oversee the implementation and compliance with the standards.* The
standards cover many constituents, including constituents found naturally in water, such
as arsenic. Not having standards for some constituents does not mean the public is not
concerned about them. Trace pharmaceuticals found in wastewater supplies are mentioned
by many when the safety of water supplies is addressed. 32 Safe Drinking Act water quality
regulations pertain to public water systems, where EPA defines a public water system as
“a system for the provision to the public of water for human consumption through pipes
or other constructed conveyances, if such system has at least fifteen service connections
or regularly serves at least twenty-five individuals.” † Most states have established agencies
that focus on these and other water quality regulations, such as those relating to use of
reclaimed water and gray water systems. These agencies are often separated from agencies
overseeing surface water and groundwater management and distinct from those who
oversee water company planning, policies, pricing, and profits.
Federal regulatory considerations come into play through the Endangered Species Act
(ESA) and Clean Water Act (CWA), both of which increasingly involve watershed-scale
ecosystem protection. Concerns about the delta smelt population in the San Francisco Bay-
Delta region have affected water supplies for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California, which serves approximately 17 million people, and other water users. Proposed
solutions to the Delta conflict may cost as much as $7.5 billion. ‡ Similarly, it has taken
years for regional state and federal parties to formulate, and it will take many millions of
dollars to implement the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program. In
the Middle Rio Grande River Basin, the Silvery Minnow was placed on the endangered
species list in 1994 and occupies an estimated 7% of its historical range. The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife service has estimated that it may take up to 25 years to be able to reclassify the
fish as threatened with a cost of nearly 115 million dollars. § It has been suggested that
for full recovery of the Silvery Minnow and restoration of its habitat, the Cochiti Dam
(located approximately 50 miles north of Albuquerque on the Rio Grande) would need
to be removed or reengineered. 35 Even where the ESA may not have direct applicability,
concerns about species and their habitat influence water supply planning. For example,
concerns about the Cienega de Santa Clara in Mexico have influenced decisions regarding
the operation of the Yuma Desalting Plant along the Colorado River (Figure 15.4).
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_Drinking_Water_Act (accessed March 28, 2009).
† http://www.epa.gov/safewater/pws/pwsdef2.htm (accessed March 28, 2009).
‡ For an example proposal, see San Jose Mercury News . 33
§ See Rio Grande Silvery Minnow Draft Revised Recovery Plan. 34