WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary Gale Norton has begun developing ways to
ease some of the perennial conflicts over water in the West before
another potentially fierce wildfire season and more drought-related
fights.
The department plans an $11 million program to see how to
avoid water wars in areas such as Oregon's Klamath River, where farmers,
commercial fishers, American Indian tribes, and environmental groups
compete.
It will examine long-term problems and include research efforts on
turning salt water into drinking water — a process called
desalinization — so existing reservoirs can be used more effectively,
Norton said Thursday.
"We hope that by enhancing the efficiency of agricultural water use
and overcoming institutional obstacles, we can improve the availability
of water," Norton said.
But she said no national approach can solve every regional problem.
"It may take some new laws. It probably requires more agreements and
resolution of outstanding disputes. In a lot of states, you have
litigation that has been going on for decades to determine who owns what
water," Norton said. "By resolving those disputes, you can move forward
a lot more effectively."
In the Klamath Basin, Norton was criticized by environmentalists and
Indian tribe leaders when she decided to divert water from the river to
1,400 farms. She later directed that more water temporarily be put back
in the river to help fish. But chinook salmon died by the tens of
thousands, a loss environmentalists and tribal fishers attributed to
warming from dropped river levels due to water taken out for irrigation.
Since then, Norton said she has taken steps to create a water bank
for farmers, fish, and grazing lands and a $5 million screen to protect
fish from irrigation.
"Nobody knows who owns what," she said. "If everybody knew exactly
how much water they were entitled to, the fishermen might enter into
agreements with the farmers, pay the farmers to grow less
water-intensive crops so there's more water for the fish. There's a wide
variety of things that can be done, but they can done more easily if
people understand what water they own. Right now the claims on the water
far exceed the actual water."
The Interior Department also is monitoring a stretch of about 157
miles of the Rio Grande River and a tributary through central New Mexico
that is designated a critical habitat for the endangered Rio Grande
silvery minnow.
The river's woes has pitted the needs of the endangered fish against
those of the state's largest city, Albuquerque. A federal judge last
year ordered the Interior Department to release water stored for
drinking and irrigation use to keep the river flowing, but then rain and
the end of farming season helped out.
Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, an environmental
think tank in Oakland, Calif., said it is important for the department
to study ways that water can be used more efficiently. "It's not as
simple as just allocating the water among human water users," he said.
"One of the things we've learned on the Klamath is we have to have some
committed water, or the environment will suffer."
Norton said she was told by the governors of Nebraska and Kansas that
this year is shaping up to be among their driest years since the 1930s.
With a persistent drought in many parts of the West, including marginal
snowpacks from winter storms, Norton said she fears the upcoming
wildfire season could be the worst yet.
Last year more than 7 million acres burned, and the government spent
more than $1.5 billion fighting wildfires — triple the amount originally
budgeted.
"It is shaping up to be a difficult year," she said. "This year and
the next two years are ones that pose tremendous problems with fire."