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Coalition created to discuss water issues
July 9, 2009
Three Washington organizations are working to ensure water issues are addressed in the midst of ongoing climate change discussions.
The Water for Washington coalition, formed about a year ago, advocates reform of the state's water management system. The coalition is made up of the Washington Rivers Conservancy, American Rivers and the Washington Environmental Council.
In a briefing paper, the coalition points to such issues as:
• A "chronic" lack of information and monitoring of water availability and use in water resource management.
• Bodies of water that run dry in late summer due to over-allocation.
• The depletion of aquifers by permit-exempt wells that are not metered and deplete groundwater sources.
• The need to locate one Washington State Department of Ecology representative in each of the four regions of the state to monitor compliance and metering of water resources.
"We know there needs to be a solution to our broken water management system," said Megan Lena, Washington Rivers Conservancy outreach and policy coordinator.
Growers will probably feel the impact of reduced irrigation water supplies as decreased snowpack in the mountains provides less runoff to recharge rivers and streams, Lena said.
The coalition is currently a closed group, she said, but is willing to have conversations with growers and water users about its concepts and ideas.
The effort needs to involve all users, Lena said, including irrigators and developers, to reach solutions everyone can agree on.
"We really want to balance the needs of the agriculture users with the needs of the rivers, streams and municipalities," she said. "We don't want to put anybody out of business by not letting them have water, but we want to have solutions that allow us to effectively manage that."
The coalition's collaborative conversations will continue throughout the summer into the next legislative session, Lena said.
Climate change requires a long-term approach to water management, Lena said.
"Even if we come up with something in our next legislative session, climate change issues are going to continue to impact irrigators and our water resources," she said.
Matthew Weaver is based in Spokane. E-mail: mweaver@capitalpress.com
Three Washington organizations are working to ensure water issues are addressed in the midst of ongoing climate change discussions.
The Water for Washington coalition, formed about a year ago, advocates reform of the state's water management system. The coalition is made up of the Washington Rivers Conservancy, American Rivers and the Washington Environmental Council.
In a briefing paper, the coalition points to such issues as:
• A "chronic" lack of information and monitoring of water availability and use in water resource management.
• Bodies of water that run dry in late summer due to over-allocation.
• The depletion of aquifers by permit-exempt wells that are not metered and deplete groundwater sources.
• The need to locate one Washington State Department of Ecology representative in each of the four regions of the state to monitor compliance and metering of water resources.
"We know there needs to be a solution to our broken water management system," said Megan Lena, Washington Rivers Conservancy outreach and policy coordinator.
Growers will probably feel the impact of reduced irrigation water supplies as decreased snowpack in the mountains provides less runoff to recharge rivers and streams, Lena said.
The coalition is currently a closed group, she said, but is willing to have conversations with growers and water users about its concepts and ideas.
The effort needs to involve all users, Lena said, including irrigators and developers, to reach solutions everyone can agree on.
"We really want to balance the needs of the agriculture users with the needs of the rivers, streams and municipalities," she said. "We don't want to put anybody out of business by not letting them have water, but we want to have solutions that allow us to effectively manage that."
The coalition's collaborative conversations will continue throughout the summer into the next legislative session, Lena said.
Climate change requires a long-term approach to water management, Lena said.
"Even if we come up with something in our next legislative session, climate change issues are going to continue to impact irrigators and our water resources," she said.
Matthew Weaver is based in Spokane. E-mail: mweaver@capitalpress.com
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