Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
achieving the 100- cubic- feet- per- second milestone for
the first time since irrigators began diverting water from
the river in 1899.
The DRC implements a water conservation program and
a water transfer program in the form of water banks that
are a valuable resource for irrigation districts in Central
Oregon. For example, through the Central Oregon Water
Bank, the DRC facilitates transfer of water from irrigation
districts to meet the needs of Oregon communities and
the Deschutes River.*
South Arkansas' Sparta Aquifer Recovery Initiative and its public
and private partners in southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana
have achieved massive reductions in water withdrawal from their
stressed aquifer. Water levels had dropped more than 360 feet
near El Dorado, Arkansas, before the conservation project got
underway. Today aquifer withdrawals are down about 7.5 million
gallons per day and well levels have risen.
†
*U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, press release, “Deschutes River Conservancy to Receive Interior's
Cooperative Conservation Award,” May 9, 2007, http://www.usbr.gov/newsroom/newsre
lease/detail.cfm?RecordID=16861.
†
U.S. Department of the Interior, “Citation: Cooperative Conservation Award, South Arkansas
Sparta Aquifer Recovery,” http://cooperativeconservation.gov/awards2008/ccawardcitation
SoArkansasSparta.pdf.
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California as Leader
The state of California exemplifi es the role government can play to
promote water-sustainable practices in construction. Through its
Water Quality Control Board, it mandates a standard urban storm
water mitigation plan (SUSMP) that specifi es how developers must
deal with recharging aquifers and limiting runoff pollution.
Having an SUSMP has forced construction practices in the
state to change, says architect Austin. “When we do a develop-
ment now, we have to prevent any additional runoff from what
existed previously. The development has to be able to store and
cleanse storm water before it goes into the natural drainage system
or the storm drain. Imagine [that] you have an empty fi eld in which
