Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
other water confl icts across the country that drag on for various rea-
sons—the parties involved, the legalities, the approaches, the prob-
lems, or the high stakes in today's water game.
When you run out of resources, you must look at things dif-
ferently, says Sandia Laboratories' Hightower. The United States
is in that position right now. “We're having a hard time fi guring
out how to get a handle on this water issue, especially when we
have more than 20 different federal agencies managing water,” he
says. “Someone is going to have to bite the bullet and say, 'Okay,
we're going to do this differently somehow and manage this more
appropriately.' There are many different ways to do that. But how
are we, as a big country, going to actually move in that direction?
It may take another water crisis or a huge drought. Unfortunately,
that's always too late to do any worthwhile planning.”
“I'm quite optimistic that we are dealing with the problem at
a time when we still have adequate water supplies to meet our needs
if we husband the water in the proper ways,” adds Clive Strong,
Idaho's deputy attorney general.
WATER TALES
Cooperation and conservation work when it comes to making
the most of America's water resources. Recognizing that, the
U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) annually honors success
stories with its Cooperative Conservation Award. (For more
on cooperative conservation, check out the DOI's partner-
ships Web site: http://www.doi.gov/partnerships/ccawards
.html.) Here are two recipients who have achieved real water results.
•
The Deschutes River Conservancy (DRC) in Oregon is a non-
profi t corporation bringing together federal, state, American
Indian, and local governments with private stakeholders to
carry out basin-wide ecosystem restoration projects. Among its
accomplishments:
During the 2006 irrigation season, DRC projects increased
summer flows in the Middle Deschutes to record levels,
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