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Last modified
5/14/2010 8:58:16 AM
Creation date
9/30/2006 10:04:27 PM
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Publications
Year
1998
Title
Water in the West: Challenge for the Next Century
CWCB Section
Interstate & Federal
Description
Report of the Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission
Publications - Doc Type
Tech Report
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<br /> <br />governmental agency framework. While we <br />reaffirm many existing goals and programs, we <br />suggest a recalibration of the way in which these <br />goals are achieved. <br /> <br /> <br />Water in the West: The Challenge for the Next Century <br /> <br />environmental degradation, quality of life concerns, <br />and compliance with interrelated federal, state and <br />local laws. We believe that these initiatives hold <br />much promise for meeting the growing challenges <br />of western water management. To accept local <br />participation is not simply to engage in a democratic <br />exercise, but to recognize the growing need for <br />(I) sustainable, local economies and energetic <br />stakeholder consensus to replace frustration and <br />dissension; (2) alternative sources of revenue to <br />supplement federal appropriations; (3) coordinated <br />and clarified regulatory requirements to reduce <br />governmental gridlock; and (4) policy-relevant <br />science to better inform program and budget <br />decisions. <br /> <br />From the bottom up, the new federal challenge is to <br />encourage local innovation, to effectively <br />participate with local stakeholders in watershed <br />groups and watershed councils, and to integrate <br />them with federal, tribal, local, and state <br />governmental requirements. <br /> <br />From the top down, the federal challenge is to <br />establish policies which direct the federal resource <br />agencies to coordinate their activities throughout <br />hydrologic regions. This approach will require <br />establishment of a national policy of interagency <br />coordination which cascades down to regional <br />offices and field personnel. It will also require <br />better budgetary coordination to stimulate true <br />integration of all federal water activities in each <br />locale. <br /> <br />Accomplishment of these objectives will drive <br />fundamental change in the structure of the federal <br />government. We anticipate that during the next <br />century, the federal resources management agencies <br />will undergo widespread realignment of their <br />organizational and enforcement functions. <br />Recognizing how slowly governmental institutions <br />change, in this report we recommend a partial <br />reorganization of functions which can be <br />immediately implemented within the present <br /> <br />We propose a change in the function and approach <br />of the federal resource agencies to a "nested" <br />governance structure. This new governance <br />approach reflects the hydrologic, social, legal, and <br />political reality of the watershed. Fundamental <br />principles of those governance structures are: <br />regional flexibility, participation of all affected <br />stakeholders in formulating joint programs to <br />effectuate shared objectives, and recognition that <br />intensive interaction among federal, state, tribal, and <br />local governmental entities and stakeholders is <br />essential to design durable solutions. <br /> <br />As the Commission learned throughout its process, <br />examples of new basin gGvernance structures are <br />already emerging across the West to realize these <br />very goals. There should be great hope based upon <br />the initial success of these new institutional <br />processes, and their continuation should be <br />embraced by the federal government. They take <br />many forms, depending upon the nature of the <br />issues, the number of states and federal agencies <br />involved, the legal parameters, and the number and <br />nature of stakeholder interests. We highlight many <br />of these new processes throughout the Commission <br />report. They include: the Northwest Power <br />Planning Council on the Columbia River; the Bay <br />Delta Accord and the CALFED process on the <br />Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers; the three-state <br />cooperative agreement with the Department of the <br />Interior on the Platte River; the Upper Colorado <br />Fish Recovery Program and the Lower Colorado <br />Multispecies Recovery Program on the Colorado <br />River. These efforts are distinct in many ways <br />because they reflect the unique needs of each basin. <br />They also share many characteristics in common, <br />including the support and voluntary involvement of <br />all interested parties. <br /> <br />xvi <br />
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