Water Use Conflicts in the West

Water Use Conflicts in the West
Author: Marca Weinberg
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 101
Release: 1997
Genre: Water consumption
ISBN: 0788171003

Conflicts among water users still occur in the American West. Environmentalists, who want water to be left in the rivers to preserve threatened species, compete with urban & agricultural users for the West's limited water resources. Native American water rights are also receiving more attention. This study analyzes the policy tools slated for use in California, estimates the costs of those reforms to agriculture in the state, & discusses the implications of using those policy tools in the rest of the West. Policy changes introduced in California could serve as models for changes throughout the West. Charts & tables.

Water Use Conflicts in the West

Water Use Conflicts in the West
Author: Marca Weinberg
Publisher:
Total Pages: 102
Release: 1997
Genre: Electronic government information
ISBN:

I. Introduction -- II. Water use in the western United States -- III. Issues in reforming federal water policy -- IV. Water development, use, conflicts, and reform in California's Central Valley -- V. Quantitative analysis of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act -- VI. Lessons for the West -- Appendix A. Central Valley Project Improvement Act -- Appendix B. Economics of tools for reforming federal water policy.

Water 2025

Water 2025
Author: Barry Leonard
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 27
Release: 2008-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1437904122

Water is the lifeblood of the Amer. West and the foundation of its economy. It is the fastest growing region of the country and water is its scarcest resource. Water 2025 focuses on: explosive population growth in western urban areas, the emerging need for water for environmental and recreational uses, and the national importance of the domestic production of food and fiber from western farms and ranches. They are driving conflicts between these competing uses of water. State and local governments should have a leading role in meeting these challenges, and the Dept. of the Interior should focus its attention and existing resources on areas where scarce federal dollars can provide the greatest benefits to the West and the rest of the Nation. Illus.

Water is for Fighting Over

Water is for Fighting Over
Author: John Fleck
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2016-09-01
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1610916808

"Illuminating." —New York Times WIRED's Required Science Reading 2016 When we think of water in the West, we think of conflict and crisis. In recent years, newspaper headlines have screamed, “Scarce water and the death of California farms,” “The Dust Bowl returns,” “A ‘megadrought’ will grip U.S. in the coming decades.” Yet similar stories have been appearing for decades and the taps continue to flow. John Fleck argues that the talk of impending doom is not only untrue, but dangerous. When people get scared, they fight for the last drop of water; but when they actually have less, they use less. Having covered environmental issues in the West for a quarter century, Fleck would be the last writer to discount the serious problems posed by a dwindling Colorado River. But in that time, Fleck has also seen people in the Colorado River Basin come together, conserve, and share the water that is available. Western communities, whether farmers and city-dwellers or US environmentalists and Mexican water managers, have a promising record of cooperation, a record often obscured by the crisis narrative. In this fresh take on western water, Fleck brings to light the true history of collaboration and examines the bonds currently being forged to solve the Basin’s most dire threats. Rather than perpetuate the myth “Whiskey's for drinkin', water's for fightin' over," Fleck urges readers to embrace a new, more optimistic narrative—a future where the Colorado continues to flow.

Water and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding

Water and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding
Author: Erika Weinthal
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 544
Release: 2014-02-24
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1136536566

As a basic human need, the provision of safe water is among the highest priorities of government and humanitarian interventions during post-conflict recovery and peacebuilding. In the aftermath of war, water, sanitation, and infrastructure play a critical role in the recovery of livelihoods and economic development. Moreover, shared waters have great potential for interstate cooperation, assisting to rebuild trust following conflict and to prevent a return to conflict. This volume draws on studies from around the world to create a framework for understanding how water resources decisions and activities can facilitate or undermine peacebuilding in a post-conflict setting.

Hydropolitics

Hydropolitics
Author: Leif Ohlsson
Publisher: Zed Books
Total Pages: 248
Release: 1995
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

As well as a major overview of the global situation and problems involved, there are authoritative case studies of particular river systems in three continents, including the Nile Valley, the Tigris and Euphrates, the River Jordan, the Mekong and several cases from South Asia.

In Search of Sustainable Water Management

In Search of Sustainable Water Management
Author: Douglas S. Kenney
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2006-01-01
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1845424646

This edited volume adeptly analyzes some of the most salient challenges that face water managers and policy makers: balancing private and public sector roles in water allocation, protecting environmental values and indigenous rights to water, avoiding transboundary water conflicts, and integrating the concept of sustainable development within water policies. . . the chapters in this book are comprehensive and well balanced. . . Kenney and his colleagues have put forth an important contribution to western water policy scholarship. They offer concrete ideas for sustainable water management in the western US informed by international cases, while acknowledging the West s unique political and social context. Tanya Heikkila, Journal of the American Water Resources Association Collectively the papers provide concise, insightful coverage of critical water problems in the US and carefully integrate relevant lessons from international water management into these discussions. Highly recommended. B.F. Hope, Choice Water issues in the American West share many similarities with those seen elsewhere in the world as population growth exacerbates longstanding problems of inappropriate water use and management. The contributors to this timely volume examine the universal challenge of sustainable water management to improve the use of water resources already developed and find ways to moderate our growing collective thirst. The volume begins with an exploration of the opportunities, arguments, and mechanisms for transferring lessons between the American West and foreign nations. Succeeding chapters cover individual issues such as: water allocation and the relationship between market mechanisms and government-based approaches, the challenge of environmental protection, the protection of cultural values with a focus on indigenous water rights, the significance of international and interstate rivers in promoting regional conflict and cooperation, and the role of water management in sustainable development. A comprehensive look at one of our most pressing issues, In Search of Sustainable Water Management will be of great interest to scholars and practitioners in the areas of water management, law, policy studies, economics, planning and public administration.

Negotiating Tribal Water Rights

Negotiating Tribal Water Rights
Author: Bonnie G. Colby
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2005-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0816524556

Water conflicts plague every river in the West, with the thorniest dilemmas found in the many basins with Indian reservations and reserved water rightsÑrights usually senior to all others in over-appropriated rivers. Negotiations and litigation over tribal water rights shape the future of both Indian and non-Indian communities throughout the region, and intense competition for limited water supplies has increased pressure to address tribal water claims. Much has been written about Indian water rights; for the many tribal and non-Indian stakeholders who rely upon western water, this book now offers practical guidance on how to negotiate them. By providing a comprehensive synthesis of western water issues, tribal water disputes, and alternative approaches to dispute resolution, it offers a valuable sourcebook for allÑtribal councils, legislators, water professionals, attorneysÑwho need a basic understanding of the complexities of the situation. The book reviews the history, current status, and case law related to western water while revealing strategies for addressing water conflicts among tribes, cities, farms, environmentalists, and public agencies. Drawing insights from the process, structure, and implementation of water rights settlements currently under negotiation or already agreed to, it presents a detailed analysis of how these cases evolve over time. It also provides a wide range of contextual materials, from the nuts and bolts of a Freedom of Information Act request to the hydrology of irrigation. It also includes contributed essays by expert authors on special topics, as well as interviews with key individuals active in water management and tribal water cases. As stakeholders continue to battle over rights to water, this book clearly addresses the place of Native rights in the conflict. Negotiating Tribal Water Rights offers an unsurpassed introduction to the ongoing challenges these claims present to western water management while demonstrating the innovative approaches that states, tribes, and the federal government have taken to fulfill them while mitigating harm to both non-Indians and the environment.