ISSUE BRIEF: Funding Western Water Conservation
The West Needs Support in Handling Water Scarcity Issues
The Issue:
There is a need to establish a federal funding mechanism to help Rocky Mountain headwater states address water scarcity issues through the funding of local water conservation and storage projects. The Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, Long Island Sound, Everglades, Pacific Northwest, Lake Champlain, and the Gulf of Mexico are all currently receiving specific line-item funding for their particular regional crises.
Impacts on the West:
The Rocky Mountain West is the fastest growing region of the country. The Western headwater states of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Utah supply water to over 101 million people in 23 states and two countries. Water scarcity has long been an issue of concern in our region, but the population boom, compounded by sustained drought, has pushed the problem to a crisis. Given the interstate nature of the resource and the broad economic consequences of failure, this is an issue that the federal government needs to step forward to help address.
If we do not find a way to resolve our water scarcity issues, the tug-of-war between uses – municipal vs. agriculture vs. recreational vs. industrial uses – will soon drag our regional economy down.
Status of the Issue:
In the past decade, dozens of local, non-profit, citizen-based organizations have been formed throughout the Rocky Mountain West in an effort to address unmet community resource issues. These groups work side-by-side with agencies and water districts to address a myriad of issues including: municipal and industrial water supply issues; irrigation diversion improvements; compact compliance obligations; conservation; water quality; wildlife mitigation and habitat protection; stream and floodplain restoration; and recreation issue. The list goes on and on.
Non-governmental groups are in a unique position to build trust between communities, sectors and government agencies. They have a long and successful history of raising substantial funds from foundations, local corporations and community civic groups to leverage matching dollars from governmental entities.
Solutions:
- Congress should appropriate federal funds to support community-based water conservation efforts.
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