Assistant Secretary of the Interior Anne Castle, speaking late last month in Las Vegas:
With the crucial Lake Mead reservoir at 38 percent capacity and the Southwest in the grip of the driest 15-year period in more than a century, Castle said it will take multiple, incremental agreements to balance the water rights of cities, farmers, Indian tribes and states.
“Compromise is the only way we’re going to get ourselves out of this drought,” she said. “This is difficult state politics.”
Somebody should write a book about that or something. 🙂
OTOH, it would take about one year to set up, test and implement a market for water rights (delivery via… The Colorado!) that would put water where it was needed, instead of where politicians and bureaucrats guessed. (1) Set base flows, (2) Reduce rights to ACTUAL water and (3) Let trades reallocate.
But maybe they haven’t heard of this “wheel” device for moving around and feel a need to reinvent it 🙁