A federal freshwater adaptation law in the US? Pat Mulroy - Part 3: Consensus & Economics
03/11/11 07:20
Part 3 — Consensus and Economics (and the first piece of US freshwater adaptation legislation to come before the US Congress!)
In the third and final part of Pat Mulroy’s interview, she discusses how policy, economics, and climate change come together — both in the Colorado river basin and around freshwater management across the US. Climate impacts in hydrology and ecology are altering the economic landscape across the region, and policymakers and the public are faced with difficult and often expensive choices.
Perhaps most remarkable, Pat Mulroy discusses the first domestic piece of climate adaptation legislation at the national level in the US, which has been proposed in the US House of Representatives by Lois Cardin of California and in the Senate by Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, Barbara Boxer of California, and Harry Reid of Nevada (where Pat’s office is located).
For more information on this first piece of climate adaptation legislation and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, select Read More.
In the third and final part of Pat Mulroy’s interview, she discusses how policy, economics, and climate change come together — both in the Colorado river basin and around freshwater management across the US. Climate impacts in hydrology and ecology are altering the economic landscape across the region, and policymakers and the public are faced with difficult and often expensive choices.
Perhaps most remarkable, Pat Mulroy discusses the first domestic piece of climate adaptation legislation at the national level in the US, which has been proposed in the US House of Representatives by Lois Cardin of California and in the Senate by Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, Barbara Boxer of California, and Harry Reid of Nevada (where Pat’s office is located).
For more information on this first piece of climate adaptation legislation and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, select Read More.
Called the “Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act of 2011,” the proposed legislation is intended to effectively create a “bank” for municipal water management infrastructure, such as water treatment, supply, and distribution systems. Over a four year period, US cities would be able to borrow from the fund and repay the federal government (through the US Environmental Protection Agency). In effect, the legislation is an infrastructure improvement law with a climate adaptation spin. You can read a copy of the legislation here.
The supporters are not wild-eyed liberals. They tend to be infrastructure operators and managers and groups that care about the ecological and sustainable management of water resources, such as the American Metropolitan Water Association (a group of cities and city water managers) and some environmental groups such as American Rivers and WWF.
There is no mention of the causes of climate change and little or no mention of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This is all about making sure that cities in the US have sufficient water to cope with climate variability and long-term shifts in climate.
For non-US readers, the US legislative process is a little complicated. In order to become law, a piece of federal legislation must be sponsored by a member in the House of Representatives (435 members, all elected every two years, and apportioned by the relative population size of each US state) and by a member of the Senate (100 members, each elected six years, and apportioned two to each US state). The law must be passed in each body, differences between the versions reconciled, and then the final law signed and enacted by the president’s signature.
The law has been submitted in both the House and Senate for some weeks now but with little noise and fanfare. It is difficult to determine its fate — if it will come up for a vote, and if it does come for a vote if it will pass.
Please contact Dan Hartnett at AMWA (hartnett AT amwa.net) if you wish to express support. Or for US citizens, contact your representative and senator to express your support for the legislation.
The public site for the Southern Nevada Water Authority can be found here. For non-US readers who are unfamiliar with the western US, the Colorado River basin quite large and much of the area is arid or semi-arid, as shown in the map here. You can read a brief overview of the basin at this site, and you can also get a sense of how much infrastructure exists across
the basin and the active role of drought there from this site, run by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
The supporters are not wild-eyed liberals. They tend to be infrastructure operators and managers and groups that care about the ecological and sustainable management of water resources, such as the American Metropolitan Water Association (a group of cities and city water managers) and some environmental groups such as American Rivers and WWF.
There is no mention of the causes of climate change and little or no mention of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This is all about making sure that cities in the US have sufficient water to cope with climate variability and long-term shifts in climate.
For non-US readers, the US legislative process is a little complicated. In order to become law, a piece of federal legislation must be sponsored by a member in the House of Representatives (435 members, all elected every two years, and apportioned by the relative population size of each US state) and by a member of the Senate (100 members, each elected six years, and apportioned two to each US state). The law must be passed in each body, differences between the versions reconciled, and then the final law signed and enacted by the president’s signature.
The law has been submitted in both the House and Senate for some weeks now but with little noise and fanfare. It is difficult to determine its fate — if it will come up for a vote, and if it does come for a vote if it will pass.
Please contact Dan Hartnett at AMWA (hartnett AT amwa.net) if you wish to express support. Or for US citizens, contact your representative and senator to express your support for the legislation.
The public site for the Southern Nevada Water Authority can be found here. For non-US readers who are unfamiliar with the western US, the Colorado River basin quite large and much of the area is arid or semi-arid, as shown in the map here. You can read a brief overview of the basin at this site, and you can also get a sense of how much infrastructure exists across
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