Snake-Columbia Basin Energy & Water Summit: Final Report

Last June  a number of organizations - Columbia Basin Trust, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Water Resources Research Institute (IWRRI), Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES), Institute for Water and Watersheds (IWW) - convened the Snake-Columbia Basin Energy and Water Summit in Boise, ID.

The Snake-Columbia basin encompasses two countries. It produces prodigious amounts of water; the basin area is about the same as the Colorado River basin's, yet the average annual flow, measured at the mouth of the Columbia, is almost 14 times greater.

The Summit was attended by about 90 people from both sides of the border, although most were from the USA. The format consisted of expert presentations to set the stage, then focus groups breakout sessions.

It's been a while in coming, but the Summit's report has finally hit the streets. You can download it at the bottom of this post.

The focus group reports form the core of the report and are designed to assist researchers, managers, planners, policy-makers, and other stakeholders address the water and energy challenges facing the basin.

Five focus groups, covering the following areas,  were constituted:

• Energy use and generation
• Water allocation & use
• Energy and water storage
• Environmental considerations
• Social, economic, political, and regulatory considerations

Download Snake-Columbia-Basin-report_final.pdf

[Disclosure notice: I was one of the organizers and financial supporters of the Summit.]

"A mistake not corrected is another mistake." -- Confucius

Comments

[David]

One of the main purposes of blogs is to interpret the news, not just pass it along. RSS feeds can do that. You're supposed to be an expert. Why aren't you giving us your expert opinion on this report, telling us what's in it, what's important to know, what doesn't matter? This is your raison d'etre.

Don't just pass along a document -- that contributes nothing. Tell us why it matters, or why is doesn't. Otherwise, why do you even have a blog?

[Michael]

Dear David,

Thanks for your comment.

You're right, I did not interpret the report.

You say that "One of the main purposes of blogs is to interpret the news, not just pass it along." You're right, and another "main purpose" is to provide the news.

All the water news worth knowing does not come via RSS feeds. I doubt the report in question would have shown up on such a feed, nor would have my posts on NAWAPA or NARA. I receive a lot of material from my network of "WaterWonks" - stuff that won't show up in an RSS feed.

Are you implying that if something does not show up via an RSS feed it's not news?

If you have followed my blog, you have no doubt noted that most of the times I do provide comments and interpretations. And, by my very posting of an item, even without comment, I'm saying that I think it's important.

I do appreciate the time you took to read and comment.