Feds Plan to Play Sheriff in West's Water Wars: USA Today

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Miller, Steve From: Loretta Lohman [lorilohman @mindspring.com] Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 9:43 PM To: Dave Merritt; John Shields; Miller, Steve Subject: 2 articles of interest Feds plan to play sheriff in west's water wars By Patrick O'Driscoll USA TODAY Page 1 of 3 Conservation and sharing outlined The Bush administration will unveil an initiative next week that would put the federal government in the lead role in trying to avert ater shortages among some of the fastest - growing areas in the and western states. Interior Secretary Gale Norton will present the proposal Tuesday to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. In an interview with USA TODAY, she called it a road map for how federal, state and local officials can save and share water so cities, farms and wildlife will have enough for the next 20 -30 years. Among the proposed steps: * Creating "banks" of water that could be transferred between urban and agricultural users during times of drought. * Modernizing how farms are irrigated and plugging the leaks in delivery systems to save on the precious resource. * Stepping up research on cheaper ways to remove salt from seawater and groundwater to make them drinkable. The initiative suggests a bold and even activist role for a federal department that in the past has tried to solve the west's water problems by building more dams instead of promoting conservation and sharing. Ever since the west was settled, water has been the source of fights -- first with guns and later in expensive, decades -long court battles. Although the initiative comes during a drought that has lingered for up to six years in some states, Norton said it's designed to avert shortfalls that threaten growth even in years of normal rainfall. There is no new money in the initiative. The Bureau of Reclamation, the Interior agency that oversees hundreds of reservoirs and irrigation projects in the west, would devote some existing funds to the cause and would lead the way in trying to share the region's water. The bureau's projects provide drinking water to 31 million people and irrigate 10 million acres of agricultural land. A map with the draft proposal highlights areas that have been western battlegrounds for urban and agricultural demands for short supplies of water: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver and Phoenix. It also lists places where the demand for water is expected to grow in the next 20 years: from the Gulf Coast of Texas to the Red River Valley of North Dakota. And it points to existing boomtowns, where the fight for water is growing: Bend, Ore., Boise and Pocatello, Idaho, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Las Vegas and Reno. 5/5/2003