Water Policy & Management

In many respects, the western United States does not have a water policy.  Prior appropriation and the federal reclamation program, among other elements, establish ground-rules, incentives and pathways for the development and use of water, but it is largely up to market forces (often highly distorted by subsidy programs) and the decisions of individual water users/providers to guide the actual distribution and use of water.  Traditionally, the goal of most water management activities has been to satisfy all demands at all locations at all times, with complete reliability and at modest cost.  These objectives become increasingly unrealistic with ever-growing populations, a broadening concern for environmental protection, and with climate change and variability.  These are among the policy and management issues addressed in a wide variety of reports.  Reports articulating a vision for future policy and management include:

• Water Needs and Strategies for a Sustainable Future (2006), by the Western Governors Association.
• Water 2025: Preventing Crisis and Conflict in the West (2003), by the Department of the Interior.
• Two Decades of Water Law and Policy Reform: A Retrospective and Agenda for the Future (2001), by the University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center.
• Water in the West: The Challenge of the Next Century (1998), the report of the federal Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission.
• A wide variety of reports with an environmental perspective are provided on the “Conservation Library” maintained by Trout Unlimited.   Among those from the program’s “Western Water Project” are:  A Dry Legacy: A Challenge for Colorado’s Rivers (2002), What the Current Drought Means for the Future of Water Management in Colorado (2003), and Facing Our Future: A Balanced Water Solution for Colorado (2005).

Other potentially useful source materials include:

• Progress on Incorporating Climate Change into Management of California’s Water Resources (2006), by the California Department of Water Resources.
• Water Availability for the Western United States: Key Scientific Challenges (2005), by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
• The Effects of Climate Change on Water Resources in the West: Introduction and Overview (2004), by Tim Barnett et al. in “Climatic Change.”
• Report of the Statewide Water Supply Initiative (2004), prepared for the Colorado Water Conservation Board.
• The Last Straw: Water Use by Power Plants in the American West (2004), by Land and Water Fund of the Rockies (now known as Western Resource Advocates).
• Estimated Use of Water in the United States, 2000 (2004),draft published by the U.S. Geological Survey.
• A Brief History of the Bureau of Reclamation (revised in 2002), produced by the Bureau of Reclamation.
• Water and Growth in Colorado: A Review of Legal and Policy Issues (2001), by the University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center.
• Selected Readings in the History of the Bureau of Reclamation (2000), produced by the Bureau of Reclamation.
• Information on Allocation and Repayment of Costs of Constructing Water Projects (1996), report GAO/RCED-96-109 of the U.S. General Accounting Office.