Since the begining of time water has been the life blood which sustains the environment and humanity as we know it today. Water conflicts, most often derived due to lack of this precious liquid, can be observed globally in areas such as the Aral Sea in Central Asia, the Nile River in Egypt and the Colorado River in the US. The Colorado River stretches 2,330 km (Wikipedia) and is vital to the lives of 25 million Americans (According to MSNBC). Colorado River water is shared by seven states, the upper basin states - Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming and the lower basin states -Arizona, California and Nevada. As population in this region continues to increase, the water demand also increases and so does the battle over resources. Increasing drought conditions and the decline of precipitation also intensifies the situation. The problem at hand could have detrimental effects if this issue is not addressed appriopriately. 
The above Reference Modes illustrate the total population per county of the southwestern states. The Behavior over time illustrates an increase in population over a seventy year period, beginning in 1920 (right) and ending in 1990(left). Intersting to note, the 1920s map is a snap shot of population only two years prior to the signing of the Colorado River Compact. (Credit for maps: USGS).
The policy of concern, the Colorado River Compact was signed in 1922 and became what is known today as the Law of the River. The Compact was designed to allocate equal water distributions. Based on historical precipitation trends, each basin would be allotted 75 million acre-feet (maf) per year, (Sharing Colorado River Water), leaving the basins to allocate water according to each state according to neccessity. The Compact was also designed to alleviate current or future conflict pertaining to the distribution of water resources. Moreover, its purpose was to secure the growth of agriculture and industry dependent upon the Colorado River.
The issues regarding this policy is the lack of foresight in the allocation of water resources. Several crucial factors were overlooked during the design of the policy, including population growth, and climate change which effects precipitation and drought. The policy also does not address water conservation technique, nor does it address environmental concerns in regards to pollution or degradation of water quality.
In hindsight it is easy to realize all of the mistakes or improvements that can be made to design a better policy. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a model that will help policy makers look at the components of a system and understand how they interact with one another. Understanding the complexity of these systems will not necessarily relieve the policy from creating unintended consequences; however, it will allow raise awareness of the issues to the policy makers.
Questions of concerns:
How will climate change or changes in precipitation impact the available water resources?
What impact will energy demand have on the Colorado River?
What is the relationship between population, energy and water?
How does pollution and water quality degredation effect they system?
What if states were given incentives to decrease water consumption?
Entire cities have been built in the Southwest due to this and other water management policies! I wonder if this Compact as written is still law, or has it evolved into other policies and laws?
ReplyDeleteI think your purpose statement is too general. It could be tailored to the water management issue that you speak of. Here is my attempt to make it more specific:
the purpose of this study is to develop a model of water use in the American Southwest that will help policy makers look at the components of the surface waters in the Southwest and understand how they interact with one another. Understanding the complexity of this system will not necessarily allow policy makers to write better laws or even avoid unintended consequences; however, it will allow raise awareness of water issues to the policy makers and citizens of the Southwest.
Hope that helps!