Peter Gleick's blog post of a few days ago reminded me of my high-school French: "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose." That phrase is often translated as "The more things change, the more they remain the same."
In Peter's case, "things" mean "benefit-cost (B/C) ratios" for a water project, in this case a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation water project, theTemperance Flat Dam and reservoir on the San Joaquin River. Call me Paul E. Yanna, but I thought we'd progressed beyond the point where Federal water projects presented bogus B/C numbers. People had caught on to that scam, as occasionally practiced not only by the BuRec but also the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
But I was wrong.
The BuRec calculated a B/C of 1.06 for the aforementioned project. Sounds good, right? Benefits > costs, right? But Gleick calls the BuRec out on just a (sarcasm alert) few 'minor' points:
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/gleick/detail?blogid=104&entry_id=46970#ixzz0QNr4a7Vd
1) Zero value assigned to the destruction of the habitats of several fish species
2) Zero value assigned to the loss of recreational use by rafters and kayakers
3) Zero value assigned to the loss of sacred Native American sites
He's got some other good examples (e.g., inflated benefits) in his post.
Gleick makes the excellent point that, even after inflating benefits and neglecting costs, the best the BuRec could come up with was a B/C of 1.06. Hardly a real winner.
What's next? A "cash register" dam?
"If you dam a river it stagnates. Running water is beautiful water. So be a channel." -- English proverb
Over the years I find myself asking what is required for I/me/you/us to choose to change an attitude...? And equally how did I/me/you/us get "this" attitude in the first place...? Scholars and skilled authors have over the years offered definitions for our consideration. I offer for me, my attitude about - water - for example is the result of minute by minute, day by day, silent witnessing, mostly unconsciously as my family interacted with water in this case. I therefore conclude that my attitude about most everything I achieved rather stealthy.
My own process attempting to CHANGE any attitude, I discover is often painfully long and arduous and usually not something that is appreciably and everlastingly altered in the moment.
The process of CHANGE reminds me of watching as a freight train begins it process to slow down coming to a complete stop and the accompanying process as it begins to move forward. In each case it is long, time consuming, slow, deliberate, requiring attention with accompanying forethought.
The ATTITUDE we have about - water - we each acquired in a similar manner. To even consider changing our attitude about water requires we become AWARE our current attitude is out of sync, not an easy task today. Even after awareness we face a interesting challenges to choose whether - water - is part of the "commons" or merely a commodity like corn sold to the highest bidder...?
Today - "we" - that's you and me - have been deliberately handicapped as many of those we elect to serve and to protect us have chosen to join forces with those conspiring to WITHHOLD full, open, honest, timely DISCLOSURE providing instead their proprietary version. But, before we summarily point our finger at them, look in the mirror, for he/she is honestly accountable and responsible.
Respectfully,
http://waterman99.wordpress.com
Posted by: PAUL F MILLER | Tuesday, 08 September 2009 at 11:32 AM