Last week, I discussed the fight over water entitlement from the Rio Grande River between Texas and the country of Mexico. In the severe drought that the Southwestern United States currently faces, there is not enough water to supply fully all of the water users’ needs in the region. As such, squabbles over water entitlement have cropped up over who should get what, and what end users will benefit from the tight water supplies. However, Texas and Mexico are not the only two jurisdictions that can claim water from the Rio Grande River. Although the Rio Grande River forms part of the Texas – Mexico border, the River begins in Colorado and flows through New Mexico. New Mexico relies on water entitlement from the River. In the drought conditions that the region faces, there is also tension between Texas and New Mexico over water entitlements. Continue reading
What would be California’s Water Supply Situation without the BDCP and What It Means for Tunnels
There is a significant “risk factor” about the Bay Delta Conservation Plan that merits attention:
What would be California’s Water Supply situation without the tunnels?
Over the past couple of weeks, I have heard about alternatives to the no BDCP scenario defined by DWR. What proves true will have a substantial impact on the cost of BDCP water. Under alternative “no tunnel” scenarios, the best case for the cost of BDCP water would be well over $1,000/AF for a non-firm water supply. There are some scenarios where the BDCP investment may yield even a lower water supply. In those circumstances, the BDCP investment in tunnels would become the “bridge to nowhere” in waterworld.
Whatever one’s views about the BDCP, in the end we are rolling the dice on what is, in fact, the future world with and without the tunnels.
Water Supply in Texas: A Two-Part Series on the Ongoing Challenges the Lone Star State Faces
Sometimes when we think of water resources, we assume that a particular state has control over its own supplies such as groundwater and river diversions. But what if a state must share water resources with other states and even other countries? In a time of severe drought as the Southwestern United States is currently facing, how states and nations share limited water resources becomes more complicated and contentious. In this two-part series, I will discuss how treaties and Texas’s negotiations between New Mexico and the country of Mexico have strained both relations and the limits of a scarce resource that each party needs. Let’s first discuss the challenges between Mexico and Texas. Continue reading
Are the Statewide Economic Impacts of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan Significant?
No. DWR’s estimates of the statewide impact of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan are roughly equal to about one month of trend growth in state personal income and employment. Other than perhaps the temporary jobs during construction of the BDCP conveyance facility, it will be difficult to measure the BDCP’s economic impact on the California economy. Continue reading