PUB00024

• 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

Water in the West: The Challenge for the Next Century

(1) A new approach to governance
based on hydrologic systems,
linking basins and watersheds.

(2) Basin-level objectives.

The river basin planning process will lead to
the joint development of measurable
objectives for the basin, which comply with
federal, tribal, state, and local snbstantive
law, that will be communicated to interested
parties in the basin including watershed
councils.

The federal resource agencies in the basin
will adopt practices which encourage,
through financial support, in-kind services,
and cooperative iuteraction, the growth of
collaborative watershed groups and
initiatives on which all stakeholders are
fairly represented.

(3) A basin trust fund.

The federal agencies will develop a
cooperative process at the river basin level,
utilizing existing entities where they exist
and involving the leaders of federal, tribal,
state, and local agencies; watershed council
leaders; and other stakeholders as
appropriate, created for the purpose of
determining jointly supported solutions to
regional water problems.

The process will encourage the formation of
basin accounts and basin trusts which
integrate federal, state, tribal, and local funds
with money or in-kind contributions from
uongovemmental sources such as
foundations, stakeholders, and utilities to
fund activities that support basin objectives;
once a fund is established, a mechanism
should be developed which will permit
retention of these funds in an interest-bearing
reserve account or trust and facilitate
carryover management of the funds on a
sustained multiyear basis.

This process will provide for increased
coordination among the federal regional
offices in the basin and will facilitate
funding of programs proposed by watershed
councils as well as the agencies. The
President should issue an Executive order or
memorandum/directive to the heads of
federal agencies and Cabinet secretaries to
require regional and/or watershed level
coordination of agency budget requests.
Agency budget requests pertaining to water
resource management and development
shall be subject to mandatory review for
interagency programmatic coordination and
consistency. The designated water resource
management officials performing these
reviews shall be located in the particular
regions they serve.

These funds, which may include federal
appropriations, state funds, and local
contributions, will be distributed in an
orderly and equitable manner, primarily at
the watershed level, to further established
objectives for the basin.

(4) A link with watershed councils.

Watershed councils will develop plans and
identify specific projects to accomplish their
own unique local needs, consistent with the
objectives established in basin plans. No
specific process or format should be

xviii