We live in the fastest growing part of the country. It is also the driest. We don’t seem to be doing a very good job of linking those two issues, according to experts gathered for a two-day symposium on water and growth.
“We don’t adequately combine planning for growth and planning for water,” said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, Calif.
“The people responsible for making the decisions about building new homes are typically not the people who make decisions about water,” Gleick said.
jfleck at inkstain
A few thoughts from John Fleck, a writer of journalism and other things, living in New Mexico
Great topic, and one that is beginning to get more attention. The Council of State Governments-WEST (western legislators) is addressing the linkage between water and land use planning at its annual meeting in Jackson, WY, this month. And the Western Governors Association is looking at the issue of water and growth at its October meeting in Salt Lake City.
The EPA recently funded an initiative to encourage states to coordinate land use and water, with a grant application deadline rapidly approaching: http://www.landuseandwater.org/. Applications are due by September 21, 2007.
Finally, in a bit of self-promotion, readers might be interested in a policy report on the linkage called “Bridging the Governance Gap,” available in pdf at http://umtpri.org/, or a longer treatment of the subject in the Public Land & Resources Law Review, vol. 27, 2006, called “Western Growth and Sustainable Water Use: If there are no ‘natural limits,’ should we worry about water supplies?” Another version of the same paper will shortly appear in the Water Report.
Thanks!