A River and Its Water: Reclaiming the Commons - Part 11
11th of a series
Weekly update: a new feature of related news, stories, and reader responses:
John Kirkpatrick:
“As I read the top of this latest chapter of “A River and Its Water …” I couldn’t help but think that it should be no surprise that the folks who willingly wiped out a chilling number of Native Americans would shun [John Wesley] Powell for his inconvenient observations.
“Additionally, I couldn’t help but stop at your note about Las Vegas. Sara and I were recently in Las Vegas — my first time there. It really was stunning to see the artificial excess that makes up the core of the city as well as the tremendous and unrelenting growth of the surrounding area. And you are correct about the disconnect between the growth and the reality of living in a desert. It was disconcerting. I don’t think we’ll be back.
“I have had a very hard time reading this “Perspectives” around water. It isn’t because of your work, which has been extraordinary in detail, readability, importance, and understanding. It has been because of the unrelenting forces that make clean, accessible water in many places a dream rather than a priority. It is just so discouraging.
“It also might be because it comes on top of our country’s incredible political/cultural dysfunction, our inability to invest in the future, all on top of the world spinning more and more out of control.
“I am a happy and optimistic person. But increasingly I find I need to step back now and again to recharge from all that is swirling around us.”
Bruce Babbitt (via Tony Barclay):
“One factual error that does not affect his very powerful advocacy. His description of Butler Valley as a ‘reserve for storing water from the Colorado River’ is not quite right – it was designated as a reserve of the existing groundwater for future urban use in the Phoenix urban area.”
“The notorious state lease that is giving away Butler Valley groundwater to grow and export alfalfa to Saudi Arabia will expire on Feb. 14 of this coming year. . . .Will Arizona capitulate to lobbyists pressuring Governor Hobbs to renew the lease?
“All Arizonans should also urge Governor Hobbs to direct the State Land Commissioner to reject the lease application and to restore the Butler Valley as a designated groundwater reserve to be held in trust for Arizona’s future.”
Bruce Babbitt was governor of Arizona from 1978 to 1987. Robert Lane was State Land Commissioner from 1982 to1987.
Tim Thomas:
The New York Times, Oct. 23, 2023 (part of the Times’ major series on water, “Uncharted Waters”
“When Maine lawmakers tried to rein in large-scale access to the state’s freshwater this year, the effort initially gained momentum. The state had just emerged from drought, and many Mainers were sympathetic to protecting their snow-fed lakes and streams.
“Then a Wall Street-backed giant called BlueTriton stepped in.
“BlueTriton isn’t a household name, but its products are. Americans today buy more bottled water than any other packaged drink, and BlueTriton owns many of the nation’s biggest brands, including Poland Spring, which is named after a natural spring in Maine that ran dry decades ago.
“Maine’s bill threatened BlueTriton’s access to the groundwater it bottles and sells. The legislation had already gotten a majority vote on the committee and was headed toward the full Legislature, when a lobbyist for BlueTriton proposed an amendment that would gut the entire bill.”