Bill Richardson: Wisconsin Water Wends Westward?

I came across this from the Aquafornia blog, who got it from the Las Vegas Sun. The BuRec as a Cabinet-level agency? Water from Wisconsin? Has the Governor checked to see if there is any water available to share in Wisconsin and whether the natives want to share it? A national water policy - yes!

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Sharing water is key to Richardson's plan

By Michael J. Mishak

Published in the Las Vegas Sun on Oct. 4, 2007

Seizing on a hot-button issue in the desert state of Nevada, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson is calling for a national summit on water to address needs in the parched West.

If elected, Richardson said, he would bring states together to talk about a way for water-rich northern-tier states to help with shortages in the Southwest. He also said he would elevate the Bureau of Reclamation to a Cabinet-level post. The bureau within the U.S. Interior Department manages water resources in the West.

“I believe that Western states and Eastern states have not been talking to each other when it comes to proper use of our water resources,” Richardson told the Sun. “I want a national water policy. We need a dialogue between states to deal with issues like water conservation, water reuse technology, water delivery and water production. States like Wisconsin are awash in water.”

Las Vegas faces a water shortage, but the issue has received short shrift in the presidential race as Democratic candidates campaign in Nevada looking for support in the state’s second-in-the-nation caucuses.

The national Democratic Party last year sandwiched Nevada between the traditional early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire in the hope that candidates would address Western issues.

Richardson, the governor of New Mexico and the only Westerner in the Democratic field, says he sees a natural advantage in staking out positions on Nevada issues — perhaps none more pressing than water. He said he would direct the newly elevated top water official to host negotiations between rural and urban areas when conflicts arise over water rights. The talks, he said, would ensure a balance between environmental protection and economic development.

Some background:

The Colorado River is in the midst of an eight-year drought, and no state is feeling the squeeze more than Nevada. In 1922 the river’s water was divided among seven Western states in the so-called Colorado River Compact, with Nevada receiving the smallest allotment. Despite Las Vegas’ booming population and sprawling development, the state’s share of the river has remained the same, forcing the Southern Nevada Water Authority to find alternatives.

In the short term, the water authority plans to install an $817 million third intake valve at Lake Mead, the main source of water for Las Vegas. Without the intake, if water levels continue to fall as projected, taps across the valley could run dry by 2010, the authority says.

Beyond that, the agency appears to have abandoned the idea of reopening the river compact, settling instead on plans to build a multibillion-dollar, 285-mile pipeline that will carry water from rural Nevada to Las Vegas.

Told Wednesday of Richardson’s proposals after a Las Vegas City Council meeting, Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, dismissed them. On the national water summit, Mulroy said she doubted negotiations would bring more water. She recalled being greeted by protestors in Ohio with signs showing Southwestern states sinking giant straws into the Great Lakes. “They are as emotional around this issue as every Western state is,” she said.

As for making the Bureau of Reclamation a Cabinet-level agency, Mulroy said she doubted it would do much good, given that the Interior secretary, the nation’s point person on water, already has a Cabinet seat.

Richardson declined to comment specifically on the controversial pipeline to Las Vegas.

Sun reporter Joe Schoenmann contributed to this report.

Michael J. Mishak can be reached at 702-259-2347 or at michael.mishak@lasvegassun.com.

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And don't look to the Great Lakes for Western water, Governor.  Lakes Huron and Michigan are about 2 feet below their long-term average levels; Lake Superior is about 20 inches off and is at its lowest level ever for this time of year. Lake Ontario is about 7 inches below its long-term average and Lake Erie is a few inches down. The US states and Canadian provinces (Quebec is included along with Ontario) in the Great Lakes basin are not in a sharing mood these days. They would all have to agree to transfer water outside the basin.

My assessment: the Guv needs better advice vis-a-vis water.

"Every calculation, based on experience elsewhere, fails in New Mexico." -- former territorial governor Lew Wallace, 1878

I came across this from the Aquafornia blog, who got it from the Las Vegas Sun. The BuRec as a Cabinet-level agency? Water from Wisconsin? Has the Governor checked to see if there is any water available to share in Wisconsin and whether the natives want to share it? A national water policy - yes!

**********

Sharing water is key to Richardson's plan

By Michael J. Mishak

Published in the Las Vegas Sun on Oct. 4, 2007

Seizing on a hot-button issue in the desert state of Nevada, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson is calling for a national summit on water to address needs in the parched West.

If elected, Richardson said, he would bring states together to talk about a way for water-rich northern-tier states to help with shortages in the Southwest. He also said he would elevate the Bureau of Reclamation to a Cabinet-level post. The bureau within the U.S. Interior Department manages water resources in the West.

“I believe that Western states and Eastern states have not been talking to each other when it comes to proper use of our water resources,” Richardson told the Sun. “I want a national water policy. We need a dialogue between states to deal with issues like water conservation, water reuse technology, water delivery and water production. States like Wisconsin are awash in water.”

Las Vegas faces a water shortage, but the issue has received short shrift in the presidential race as Democratic candidates campaign in Nevada looking for support in the state’s second-in-the-nation caucuses.

The national Democratic Party last year sandwiched Nevada between the traditional early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire in the hope that candidates would address Western issues.

Richardson, the governor of New Mexico and the only Westerner in the Democratic field, says he sees a natural advantage in staking out positions on Nevada issues — perhaps none more pressing than water. He said he would direct the newly elevated top water official to host negotiations between rural and urban areas when conflicts arise over water rights. The talks, he said, would ensure a balance between environmental protection and economic development.

Some background:

The Colorado River is in the midst of an eight-year drought, and no state is feeling the squeeze more than Nevada. In 1922 the river’s water was divided among seven Western states in the so-called Colorado River Compact, with Nevada receiving the smallest allotment. Despite Las Vegas’ booming population and sprawling development, the state’s share of the river has remained the same, forcing the Southern Nevada Water Authority to find alternatives.

In the short term, the water authority plans to install an $817 million third intake valve at Lake Mead, the main source of water for Las Vegas. Without the intake, if water levels continue to fall as projected, taps across the valley could run dry by 2010, the authority says.

Beyond that, the agency appears to have abandoned the idea of reopening the river compact, settling instead on plans to build a multibillion-dollar, 285-mile pipeline that will carry water from rural Nevada to Las Vegas.

Told Wednesday of Richardson’s proposals after a Las Vegas City Council meeting, Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, dismissed them. On the national water summit, Mulroy said she doubted negotiations would bring more water. She recalled being greeted by protestors in Ohio with signs showing Southwestern states sinking giant straws into the Great Lakes. “They are as emotional around this issue as every Western state is,” she said.

As for making the Bureau of Reclamation a Cabinet-level agency, Mulroy said she doubted it would do much good, given that the Interior secretary, the nation’s point person on water, already has a Cabinet seat.

Richardson declined to comment specifically on the controversial pipeline to Las Vegas.

Sun reporter Joe Schoenmann contributed to this report.

Michael J. Mishak can be reached at 702-259-2347 or at michael.mishak@lasvegassun.com.

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And don't look to the Great Lakes for Western water, Governor.  Lakes Huron and Michigan are about 2 feet below their long-term average levels; Lake Superior is about 20 inches off and is at its lowest level ever for this time of year. Lake Ontario is about 7 inches below its long-term average and Lake Erie is a few inches down. The US states and Canadian provinces (Quebec is included along with Ontario) in the Great Lakes basin are not in a sharing mood these days. They would all have to agree to transfer water outside the basin.

My assessment: the Guv needs better advice vis-a-vis water.

"Every calculation, based on experience elsewhere, fails in New Mexico." -- former territorial governor Lew Wallace, 1878

Comments

[Kelly D. Watson]

I can’t resist the impulse to quote the late Sam Kinison who said "we have deserts in America we just don’t live in them." To the people of the southwest I say, we will not part with our water but if you want to move here, we will welcome you with open arms and you can have all the water you want.

[Michael Campana]

That's great, Kelly! I'll have to use that. Another appropriate quote would be, "It's a desert, stupid!" (for a while, the "unofficial" motto of the water conservation folks at the City of Albuquerque).

[Aaron o]

I agree that they are welcome to move to the Great Lakes' States but they are not going to get a drop of our water. This issue cost the governor my support bigtime.

[Michael]

Hi, Aaron.
You'll be pleased to know that the Governor has formed a "water cabinet" to advise him on New Mexico water issues.

[Davy]

I believe I speak with some credibility on this subject. I am a resident of the semi-arid west; I am a civil engineer with a lot of experience with water projects; and I grew up around, on, and in the Great Lakes.

With my credentials thus established, I will go on to say that Richardson is out of his bloody mind if he thinks that a diversion of water from the Great Lakes is either economically or politically viable.

Furthermore, there is no advantage to anyone but politically ambitious USBR personnel in making USBR a cabinet-level position. That's all we need - another cabinet member trying to push his (or her) agenda ahead of national defense, environment, parks, education, etc.

[skeptic]

Every 20 years or so, someone decides it is time to propose massive water transfers- there were plans in the 1960's, for example, to build nuclear power plants to cover the energy cost of lifting all that water over the Rockies, in some cases from Hudson Bay. In the 1980's it was coal slurry pipelines, to get coal from Wyoming to places like Mississippi.

Before we go off on it again, I suggest everyone climb 5 flights of steps while carrying a couple of 5 gallon pails of water. Then sit and do the calculations as to the energy needs for moving significant water over the Rocky mountains. Water is HEAVY, and it takes energy to lift it. It is not economically viable today, and as energy prices increase, it will be even less so.

As earlier commenters have noted, the political roadblocks will make the economic ones look trivial. The Great Lake States control a large enough chunk of Congress to stop any such water transfer program dead in its tracks- and given the debt, they will get significant support from other parts of the US as well.

Richardson clearly was pandering- there is no way his comments can be taken as representing a well thought out position. Voters in the relatively water rich East should take notice, but so too should those in the arid West.