Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
successfully in water districts across the country, including in Texas,
New Mexico, Nevada, Florida, and California.
Time to Stockpile or Rethink
Despite the hype, the threats, the fi ghts, the bickering, and the
court cases, all-out water wars à la guns drawn at the OK Corral
aren't likely. Neither is the necessity to buy a huge underground
storage tank and fi ll it with water, reminiscent of the oil-hoarding
energy crisis of the 1970s. “We must think more carefully about how
we
need
to use this resource—not how we
want
to use this resource,”
Colorado State University's Steve Mumme says. Further echoing
Mackin's admonitions, he adds, “Needs and wants are very closely
connected when you get right down to it. People who want in-
stream water fl ows so they can go kayaking or water rafting are deal-
ing with an amenity use of water that gets all fl ummoxed up with
farmers' desire to grow feed grains in, say, Greeley, Colorado. It's all
the same water, but there is only so much, so we have to think about
what our needs actually are.
“Water is a scarce resource, and we have to think about both
pricing and regulating it more effectively. It may not make a lot
of sense for urban areas to grow bluegrass lawns. Low-water
xeriscaping—landscaping using drought-resistant plants—might
work well instead,” Mumme adds. “Equally, it may not make much
sense for farmers in the Rocky Mountain West to grow sorghum and
feed grains to fatten cattle, a very low-value use of water.”
A shift away from tradition, however, isn't popular with agricul-
ture groups because generations of families have had the freedom
to use water as they wished, and they're accustomed to growing
and selling things in a certain market. It's as much a lifestyle as an
economy, says Mumme. “The question I have is, can we afford to
sustain that lifestyle?”
Hydrometeorologist Richards agrees that ultimately societal
change must occur to cope with water scarcity. “I don't think we can
expect to address the problems by somehow modifying natural
climate variations.”
Instead, the solutions involve better management of water as the
shared resource it is. That translates in some areas to growing crops
