[Sustain] FW: Copy of Text Sent to Transition Website change.gov

[Martin Zehr]

Transition Website:  http://www.change.gov/page/s/yourvision


Resource management of water needs to be developed at a bio-regional level where stakeholders can provide a balanced input. I recommend a review of  the work of the Middle Rio Grande Water Assembly in the Albuquerque, New Mexico region. I worked as a representative of Urban Users in the process for 9 years. As a result of the efforts of an engaged community the Water Assembly, empowered and funded by the State Legislature, developed a 50 year water plan for the region. It provides a specific model for a bottom-up process that engages the entire spectrum of water-users. http://www.waterassembly.org  Supplies and deliveries of new supplies of water remain an issue that can best be managed at the watershed level by those who would be impacted by such decisions. Proposals dealing with issues ranging from water quality to conjunctive management of surface and ground waters, and from establishing funding sources for water programs to increasing water supply and decreasing water demand have all been incorporated into the recommendations of the regional plan. Conservation of urban individual and large-scale users’ withdrawals, improving irrigation efficiency of agricultural users, and development of growth management in urban areas to integrate land use and transportation planning with water management are addressed by the plan and provide it with a holistic approach. http://www.waterassembly.org/archives/MRG-Plan/D-Rio%20Grande%20Plan/CH10-Recommendations.pdf 
 
Stakeholder groups that provided input and review for the plan’s recommendations were defined as: Specialists; Managers; Agricultural, Cultural and Historical Users; Environmental Advocates; and Urban Users and Economic Development Advocates. These constituency groups provided self-defined structures that were represented in the Action Committee, the governing body of the Assembly. All constituency groups were given five representatives on the Action Committee. This provided for advocates of the various stakeholder interests to provide input into the writing of the plan, to review the recommendations being proposed and to provide representation of the various stakeholders in the decision-making process of the Water Assembly.
 
There is a bill in Congress, S. 2842, Aging Water Infrastructure and Maintenance Act that begins the process of updating and upgrading public water infrastructure. There is some activity on the level of Western Governors that can increase the focus and establish priorities for Congress and the President. http://www.westgov.org/wga/initiatives/climate/index.htm Water in the West impacts on rural and urban economies alike and can result in regional conflict when not anticipated through sound planning and policy development. Water 2025 http://www.usbr.gov/water2025/  is one Federal level program initiated in an effort to address the myriad of matters that confront the Western United States. There remains a much larger task ahead in the areas of urban and rural conservation, water monitoring and measurement, agriculture, water quality, water storage to reduce evaporative losses desalination and transfer of water and public education. 
 
There have been regional droughts and water supply problems in various areas of the U.S., stretching from Georgia to Maine to California. What has been lacking in the past is the leadership and revenues of the Federal Government. A change in this can facilitate regional water planning in ways that reflect their priorities and address their concerns and needs. 
 
Martin Zehr
 
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