1) Exempt Wells!
Hot damn! The Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education (JCWRE) , published by the Universities Council On Water Resources (UCOWR), has devoted its current issue to exempt wells.
If you are unable to download the individual papers here, go to the issue's website or download a PDF of the entire issue here.
Exempt Wells: An Introduction
By: John Tracy, Dena Marshall, and Megan Vinett
Articles
Existing Regulation of Exempt Wells in the United States
By: Jesse J. Richardson Jr.
Conflicts Associated with Exempt Wells: A Spaghetti Western Water War
By: Megan Vinett and Todd Jarvis
The Implications of Bounds v. State of New Mexico
By: Jesse J. Richardson Jr. and Tiffany Dowell
Scalpels verses Hammers: Mitigating Exempt Wells Impacts
By: Nathan Bracken
Mitigating for Growth: A bluprint for a Groundwater Mitigation Exchange Pilot Project in Montana
By: Laura Ziemer, Sarah Bates, Meg Casey, and Ada Montague
Use of Exempt Wells as Natural Underground Storage and Recovery Systems
By: David Embleton
2) Congressional Research Service Reports: Drought and Federal Water Activities
I am still promoting these excellent Congressonal Research Service reports:
Selected Federal Water Activities - Agencies, Authorities, and Congressional Committees
Drought in the United States: Causes and Issues for Congress
3) Pacific Institute's New Book: A Twenty-First Century US Water Policy
The Pacific Institute has release its new book on US water policy; Lead authors are
Drs. Juliet Christian-Smith and Peter H. Gleick, who discuss the book below in a short video:
DescriptionIt is zero hour for a new US water policy! At a time when many countries are adopting new national approaches to water management, the United States still has no cohesive federal policy, and water-related authorities are dispersed across more than 30 agencies. Here, at last, is a vision for what we as a nation need to do to manage our most vital resource. In this book, leading thinkers at world-class water research institution the Pacific Institute present clear and readable analysis and recommendations for a new federal water policy to confront our national and global challenges at a critical time.
What exactly is at stake? In the 21st century, pressures on water resources in the United States are growing and conflicts among water users are worsening. Communities continue to struggle to meet water quality standards and to ensure that safe drinking water is available for all. And new challenges are arising as climate change and extreme events worsen, new water quality threats materialize, and financial constraints grow. Yet the United States has not stepped up with adequate leadership to address these problems.
The inability of national policymakers to safeguard our water makes the United States increasingly vulnerable to serious disruptions of something most of us take for granted: affordable, reliable, and safe water. This book provides an independent assessment of water issues and water management in the United States, addressing emerging and persistent water challenges from the perspectives of science, public policy, environmental justice, economics, and law. With fascinating case studies and first-person accounts of what helps and hinders good water management, this is a clear-eyed look at what we need for a 21st century water policy.Features
- Re-evaluates national water science and policy and offers guidance on integrating efforts now scattered among disparate and uncoordinated federal, state, and local agencies and departments
- Re-evaluates national water science and policy and offers guidance on integrating efforts now scattered among disparate and uncoordinated federal, state, and local agencies and departments
- Explores how to deal with the risks of climatic change and makes recommendations for reducing international tensions over shared U.S. water resources
- Provides a vision to ensure the physical security of the nation's water
- Written by a group of national and international water experts, coordinated at the Pacific Institute - the world's leading independent center for science and policy on freshwater issues
From the Pacific Institute website:
The book offers key recommendations for a new national water policy, including:
- Updating current federal water laws and expanding measurement, monitoring, and enforcement.
- Combining and coordinating fragmented federal water agencies and programs into a national strategy for water resources.
- Eliminating inappropriate subsidies and inappropriate federal pricing policies for water.
- Applying environmental justice principles comprehensively in federal water policies to ensure equitable access to water.
- Integrating the risks of climate change into all federal water facility planning, design, and operation, as well as emergency planning for droughts and floods.
- Integrating U.S. water policy with other federal resource policies, especially energy, disaster response, and land management.
- Reviving River Basin Commissions and requiring river basin planning on rivers shared by two or more states.
I knew that such a book was in the works but I have not seen an advance copy; I know only what I have seen on the Pacific Institute's website, which has a lot of information.
The book is published by Oxford University Press; here is the website. You can also order it from Amazon. I just ordered mine. Pending my approval, I will likely use it for my class in US Water Resources Management this winter term. I want to applaud all those involved for keeping the price extremely reasonable; it is a hardcover book (360 pages) under $30, a rarity these days.
I am looking forward to the book. I am also curious to see how it compares to the 1973 National Water Commission Report and the CRS's retrospective look at its recommendations.
A minor point: the promotional literature talks about a 'new' US water policy. Fact is, we don't have a US national water policy, unless you contend that our national water policy is not to have a national water policy (channeling my friend and colleague Gerry Galloway). In fairness to Gleick, he mentions that we don't have a national water policy in the video.
I congratulate Christian-Smith and Gleick for producing what I suspect will be an much-discussed tome. But as someone who has worked in the area of water policy/vision/strategy, and as both Gleick and Christian-Smith know, I know the really tough part is implementing a national water policy.
But it's a task worth undertaking.
Enjoy!
"We learn nothing from history except that we learn nothing from history." - Cicero
"No policy without a calamity." - Dutch proverb
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