|
Become a friend of the Klamath Bucket Brigade All donations are tax deductible |
|
This Website is Dedicated to Alvin Alexander Cheyne January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005 |
Continue legacy, irrigators urged
Interior official reminds
Idahoans of water heritage
Patricia
R. McCoy
Capital Press
Staff Writer
November 3, 2006
BOISE -The arid West is what it is today thanks to the vision of early settlers and developers, who left modern residents an inheritance of massive dams and reclamation projects, making irrigation possible.
The challenge for this generation is to leave that inheritance in yet better shape for their descendants, said Mark Limbaugh, Undersecretary of Interior for water and science.
Limbaugh was a featured speaker at a conference sponsored by the U.S. Society for Irrigation and Drainage Professionals. The theme was "Ground Water and Surface Water Under Stress: Competition, Interaction, Solutions."
"Our forefathers had a vision, yet we take what we have for granted. What is our vision? Population increases and urban development mean looming water shortages, causing a lot of conflicts. We live in a desert," Limbaugh said. "Our toolbox should be full of new technologies to help us get ahead of the curve, and stretch our water. We're not there yet."
A lot of existing infrastructure needs to be updated, enhanced and even rebuilt. All federal dams are at least 50 years old or more, he said. Current federal funding is inadequate to cover the costs of repairs or improvements, and irrigation districts can't manage the costs on their own.
"We're looking at innovative tools, such as federal guarantees to entice private dollars and help spread the cost out. Right now we don't have the necessary authority. We're working with Congress on legislation to change that," he said.
Limbaugh is directly over the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey, two agencies with huge responsibilities in the West. That has given him opportunities for briefings on several cutting-edge technologies, he said.
"One is using global imaging systems to help us prioritize where we work, and get the biggest bang for our buck," the undersecretary said. "There's also a shift from doing projects to showing results - performance-based budgeting. We're looking at outcome, ways to measure where we're going and how we get there."
Water banks, water conservation and research into technological improvements are stretching water. These and other innovations let California hold steady on how much water it uses despite population growth, he said.
"Klamath Basin is the poster child for what can happen. In Colorado, people have hired detectives to check up on how much water their neighbors are using. Polarizing everyone is not the way to find solutions," he said.
Limbaugh praised Water 2025, a Reclamation challenge-grant program being used to fund projects looking for ways to conserve water, manage it more effectively, and avoid conflicts. Some are looking for cost-effective ways to make brown, brackish water useful, for instance. Currently, 68 projects valued at $15 million are under way across the West. Two bills are currently before Congress seeking permanent authorization for the program, he said. Right now the program is funded with year-to-year appropriations.
"There may be opportunities for new storage, but ultimately most growth comes at the expense of old uses," he said. "We didn't realize the interconnection between groundwater and surface water until the last few decades. There are places where we thought we had plenty of water but today we realize we don't. This is a problem that kind of sneaked up on us. Idaho is one state trying to get ahead of the game.
"One option is to let the courts decide, but working together to find solutions before problems arise is the more useful path," Limbaugh said.
Much of the four-day conference, in Boise Oct. 25-28, was taken up with professional papers presented by people explaining how water use professionals are dealing with water management in various areas. Speakers came from Pakistan, India, Australia and other places around the world as well as from the United States.
BOISE -The arid West is what it is today thanks to the vision of early settlers and developers, who left modern residents an inheritance of massive dams and reclamation projects, making irrigation possible.
The challenge for this generation is to leave that inheritance in yet better shape for their descendants, said Mark Limbaugh, Undersecretary of Interior for water and science.
Limbaugh was a featured speaker at a conference sponsored by the U.S. Society for Irrigation and Drainage Professionals. The theme was "Ground Water and Surface Water Under Stress: Competition, Interaction, Solutions."
"Our forefathers had a vision, yet we take what we have for granted. What is our vision? Population increases and urban development mean looming water shortages, causing a lot of conflicts. We live in a desert," Limbaugh said. "Our toolbox should be full of new technologies to help us get ahead of the curve, and stretch our water. We're not there yet."
A lot of existing infrastructure needs to be updated, enhanced and even rebuilt. All federal dams are at least 50 years old or more, he said. Current federal funding is inadequate to cover the costs of repairs or improvements, and irrigation districts can't manage the costs on their own.
"We're looking at innovative tools, such as federal guarantees to entice private dollars and help spread the cost out. Right now we don't have the necessary authority. We're working with Congress on legislation to change that," he said.
Limbaugh is directly over the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey, two agencies with huge responsibilities in the West. That has given him opportunities for briefings on several cutting-edge technologies, he said.
"One is using global imaging systems to help us prioritize where we work, and get the biggest bang for our buck," the undersecretary said. "There's also a shift from doing projects to showing results - performance-based budgeting. We're looking at outcome, ways to measure where we're going and how we get there."
Water banks, water conservation and research into technological improvements are stretching water. These and other innovations let California hold steady on how much water it uses despite population growth, he said.
"Klamath Basin is the poster child for what can happen. In Colorado, people have hired detectives to check up on how much water their neighbors are using. Polarizing everyone is not the way to find solutions," he said.
Limbaugh praised Water 2025, a Reclamation challenge-grant program being used to fund projects looking for ways to conserve water, manage it more effectively, and avoid conflicts. Some are looking for cost-effective ways to make brown, brackish water useful, for instance. Currently, 68 projects valued at $15 million are under way across the West. Two bills are currently before Congress seeking permanent authorization for the program, he said. Right now the program is funded with year-to-year appropriations.
"There may be opportunities for new storage, but ultimately most growth comes at the expense of old uses," he said. "We didn't realize the interconnection between groundwater and surface water until the last few decades. There are places where we thought we had plenty of water but today we realize we don't. This is a problem that kind of sneaked up on us. Idaho is one state trying to get ahead of the game.
"One option is to let the courts decide, but working together to find solutions before problems arise is the more useful path," Limbaugh said.
Much of the four-day conference, in Boise Oct. 25-28, was taken up with professional papers presented by people explaining how water use professionals are dealing with water management in various areas. Speakers came from Pakistan, India, Australia and other places around the world as well as from the United States.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
Source: http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=28367&SectionID=67&SubSectionID=&S=1