The Problem

Increasing pressures from a growing population and agriculture industry are causing stream flows to drop. In many parts of the nation, per capita consumption has actually declined from the cheap flood irrigation highs of the 1970’s and early 1980’s, but despite this the population boom in the West has sparked growing conflicts over allocation of surface waters such as the Rio Grande. While litigation between states can eventually decide who is entitled to water, increasing population and decreasing surface water flows create demands that may be out of proportion with entitlements.

In much of the West, water users receive enormous subsidies from federal water projects that encourage economically unproductive use of water. For many western farmers, water is cheap – in some cases, it’s free. These subsidies are now in conflict with modern needs throughout the West, given the scarcity of water and its importance to healthy ecosystems and economies.

This situation is self-accelerating. As more land is converted to development, the amount of water which seeps through the ground and is steadily released to streams declines. As this flow declines, the riparian habitat which supports the flow deteriorates. As this habitat deteriorates, the capacity of the stream to support steady flow diminishes.

Additionally, highest yearly water demand comes in late summer – at the time of lowest natural flows.

The Bright Side

People have shown both the desire and the ability to reduce water consumption. Overall US water use per capita has declined about 20% over the past two decades, and the overall efficiency of irrigation (in inches of water per irrigated acre) has increased by about the same amount.(1) The potential exists for much more significant reductions in years to come – the USGS estimates 20% of all water diverted or withdrawn for irrigation is “lost” in transport.

Recent state legal reforms allowing for both state and private action have paved the way for targeted, significant measures which have kept a total of over 2 million acre-feet of water in Pacific Northwest streams (an acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons, or enough to last a typical American family of four two years).(1)

Legal Jurisdiction

A 1994 decision by the US Supreme Court made it clear that under the Clean Water Act, states have the right to regulate water quantity, and that those controls extend to existing water rights holders as well.

Groundwater Regulation

Under most state laws many withdrawals of groundwater are exempt from regulation. For example, in Washington 8,000 new, exempt wells are drilled each year. This is water that could influence stream flows – a recent Washington study has shown that on average 70% of flows in streams during summer comes from ground water, and at times as much as 85 percent. Exempt wells near already flow impaired streams tap into this base flow, and affect river quality – they should be required to be checked and permitted before drilling. This bill corrects this oversight. The prohibition against drilling of otherwise exempt wells is important to assure that improvements in instream flows achieved through public and private efforts are not eroded by the proliferation of exempt wells.