Mohamed T. El-Ashry

Summary

This book is a compilation of essays written by experts on water resources in different areas of the western U.S. The purpose of the guest essays is to use case studies to support the editors’ thesis that the future of water resource management in the western U.S. will be centered on resolving conflict that will ultimately result from the use of outdated water allocation laws and supply-side projects. The case studies are evenly divided between the agricultural sector—represented by the Central Valley of California, the High Plains of Texas, and the Upper Basin of the Colorado River—and the large urban areas of southern California; Tucson, Arizona; and Denver, Colorado.

In their introductory essay, the editors note that water resources will have to be reallocated in order to meet the growing needs of growing populations and balance municipal demands, agricultural demands, and other demands. Specifically, they argue that some water will have to be allocated away from agricultural uses for the sake of municipal uses. However, they point out that municipal demand does not necessarily need to increase as population increases. They emphasize the erroneous practice of water service providers and city planners to “meet rather than control demand,” a practice that has led to “undertaking preemptive development to maximize supplies for urban growth far into the future.” They also note that studies have shown a tendency for water use to become more elastic as water rates increase. They attribute this to the desire of individuals to keep bills that are already taking up a good portion of their budget in check. As such, they cite the low cost of water as one of the culprits in unchecked municipal consumption. An additional problem is that some municipalities reduce rates for use above certain levels. At the regional scale, the obvious culprit is the Doctrine of Prior Appropriation, which they also note as problematic—especially in the agricultural sector.

Each case study presents a unique perspective that highlights local-scale problems that have arisen within the larger regional picture. Each proposes policy changes in the focus area that would help in solving these problems. Perhaps the most important general conclusion the editors draw from the case studies is that water development projects are not the solution for the future. They argue that it is more economically viable in the urban sector to increase supplies by raising rates and encouraging conservation than to invest in expensive supply-side projects. The editors have concluded from the southern California case study that marginal cost pricing is an effective way to reduce urban demand. They also suggest, for social concerns, a rebate program or a lifeline block program to make rates more manageable for those with lower incomes. Curtailment of lawn irrigation and evaporative air conditioner use are other ways they suggest conserving urban water.
In the agricultural sector, the Texas High Plains example suggests that state investment in improving irrigation efficiency may free up irrigation water for other uses. The California Central Valley example suggests that the Bureau of Reclamation should renegotiate federal contracts with irrigators and reduce subsidies to force them to conserve. Lastly, a free water market, the editors argue, would give irrigators the opportunity to make money by selling water. This, they add, raises many problems that they do not have solutions for. Finally, where environmental and interstate basin policies are concerned, El-Ashry and Gibbons suggest that a free water market might encourage irrigators to conserve water and improve salinity levels in agricultural waters. They also emphasize the need for states to define minimum instream flow needs and work to protect them, as well as instream water quality. Interestingly, they also bring attention to the need for Colorado River Basin states to “reorder their water development priorities, facilitate fair and equitable interstate water markets, and improve the current fragmented and inefficient management of a valuable and scarce resource.” They note that this will require a great deal of cooperation, and suggest the use of forums, data gathering, water quality monitoring, and development of compensation arrangements. Sixteen years later, some of these efforts are just getting off the ground.

Goals

The editors’ goal is to use case studies to show where the common problems in the West exist and to propose reallocation strategies and policy changes that will aid in moving water management practices successfully into the future. I think that they accomplish their goal by: presenting a broad overview of the region and its problems; detailing specific cases; determining the problems and their origins within the historical context; and proposing new strategies at the level of the focus areas, while broadly applying these solutions to the region as a whole. Of course, no problem of this magnitude is going to be solved overnight, and the editors’ suggestions are realistic long-term solutions that will require modification for specific applications.

Methods

In trying to decide whether the editors have taken a general-to-specific approach or a specific-to-general approach, I have decided that the best way to describe the editors’ method is a general-to-specific-to-general approach. This method of deduction seems to work well for a study of this nature. I think that to understand a region’s water resource management issues, one must look at the regional historical context first—water management in the West is inherently different than in the East. The next step requires an understanding of how the whole has affected the parts—adoption of appropriation laws by western states has been the major influential factor in water management. The final step requires an understanding of how the parts, through time, have in turn affected the whole—interbasin water management is affected by how the individual states have chosen to manage water within their own borders, thereby affecting the region as a whole. Since the editors emphasize the decline of federal involvement in the future, an examination of specific problem areas is especially important to the resolution process.

A recent book by Lawrence MacDonnell, entitled From Reclamation to Sustainability (1999; University Press of Colorado), takes a similar approach to the same problem: how does the West transition from an antiquated system of water resource management and allocation to the future? Using case studies from California, Colorado and Washington to support his thesis that sustainability is the only solution, he explores some of the methods required for attaining sustainable water supplies in the study areas and in the region as a whole. In contrast to El-Ashry and Gibbons, MacDonnell takes a much more personal journey into the lives of the people in his study areas, living in their homes and traveling through their workdays with them. He gains an understanding and an appreciation for the historical context of water resource development in the West—one that leaves him less critical of the decision makers of the 19th and 20th centuries than when he began. He gains an appreciation for the hard labor of early settlers and irrigators and the context in which their irrigation water became such a necessity. Though his identification of the problems and his solutions for the future do not differ greatly from those of El-Ashry and Gibbons, MacDonnell’s is a much more optimistic vision for the future of the West—reliant upon the tough, survivalist western attitude that he sees in the people he has spent time with.… (plus d'informations)