The Colorado River Alliance: A Proposal
By Artun Ereren, Water Conservation Representative, Yorba Linda Water District
The Western United States has always been an elusive project for industrious American pioneers. No quote better highlights American westward expansion than that of Frederick Jackson Turner:
“American social development has been continually beginning over again on the frontier. This perennial rebirth, this fluidity of American life, this expansion westward with its new opportunities, its continuous touch with the simplicity of primitive society, furnish the forces dominating American character...”
The social development beginning over again at the frontier still resonates even in the 21st century. One would think California is the canon of human development, an example of the conquering Wild West. However, after reading article after article on the current drought, have Americans done all they can to quell environmental, specifically water-related, anxieties? The conquest of the West is an ongoing project that should reflect the fluidity of American life that Frederick Jackson Turner mentions. Much like technology and many institutions, the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) needs to adapt with the times and perhaps take on a new, more effective form.
Established in 1902, the Bureau of Reclamation is best known for the dams, power plants, and reservoirs it constructed in 17 western states. These water projects led to homesteading and promoted the economic development of the West. The USBR’s most famous project was the construction of the Hoover Dam during the Great Depression, which definitely created the jobs many Americans were seeking at the time. Fast-forward a hundred years and the USBR is still standing as the largest wholesaler of water in the country, supplying approximately 36 million people and 6 million acres of farmland.
How did a government agency expand to become the largest wholesaler of water? The answer may lie in the aggressive construction of dams in the West. Advocates for government infrastructure spending seem to imagine that well-meaning officials will rationally weigh the costs and benefits of projects, and then make decisions with the broad public interest in mind. But it hasn't worked that way with the Bureau of Reclamation. The agency was headed by a series of leaders fixated on building just about every project that any important politician wanted. The Bureau of Reclamation had an engineering mindset, and it was eager to conquer nature with huge concrete facilities – with, of course, the massive subsidies they received over the years.
The Colorado River is an example of a crucial western water source that the USBR currently has control over. Expanding bureaucracy and unnecessary infrastructure projects may deal an unwarranted blow to the states within the Colorado River Basin. The USBR needs to adopt a new, concentrated form of water management and facilitate the transfer of power to the Colorado River states. A Colorado River Alliance consisting of California, Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona needs to be in charge of their own water. In order to take charge of the fate of water, states have to work together. For example, if Colorado is responsible with the water in their state, California and the rest of the states benefit downstream. The Alliance’s Constitution would be the Colorado River Compact, signed in 1922, which divided the river’s watershed into two basins, upper and lower, and allocated the flow equally between them.
The Colorado River Alliance would encourage cooperation and the exchange of ideas between all the affiliated states. States could adopt innovative ways to conserve based on what is being done in other states. For example, Colorado has broken its water basins into seven different areas, with each area having its own “water court.” These water courts are their own institution with elected water judges. In the Water Law Journal, Yichuan Wang writes on the possibility of California adopting Colorado’s system of water courts. No decision had been reached by the six judges, but the fact that a dialogue was taking place about adopting another state’s system should be perceived in a positive light. With regard to water laws, the Colorado River Alliance could test and try laws and determine the outcome after a certain amount of time. Without a trial-and-error process in other states, California’s drought could last longer than people imagined if innovative measures aren’t taking place.
It is evident that some Colorado River states such as Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico aren’t as big water consumers as California and Colorado. This situation may even discourage the states that don’t utilize the Colorado River as much to participate in the Colorado River Alliance. But the technological and agricultural innovations taking place in California could be important bargaining chips for the other states to participate in such an alliance. Being the leader in wastewater management, California could export industries that find California too expensive to settle in the states surrounding the Colorado River, invoking the words of the great Huell Howser: “Regional solutions for local needs.” Instead of big, overarching federal entities to manage natural resources, local entities could collaborate from the Colorado River Alliance and bring in a new era of reclamation.
Artun Ereren is a firm believer of history’s role in science and vice versa. During his time at Cal State Fullerton, Artun researched topics ranging from water use in the Caucasus to present-day struggles in the education system. Blending his passion for water with his experience as an activist for education reform, Artun is now a Water Conservation Representative at Yorba Linda Water District.