Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) plans to introduce the SECURE Water Act. The bill's name is short for Science and Engineering to Comprehensively Understand and Responsibly Enhance Water Act. That's an impressive APE (Acronym Producing Expression); someone no doubt burned the midnight oil to come up with that one.
Here are pdfs of the: 1) summary of the act's provisions; and 2) draft of the entire bill.
Download secure_water_act_summary_91807.pdf
Download secure_water_bill_91807.pdf
The bill's purpose is to: 1) increase water use efficiency; 2) expand data acquisition and analysis of the Nation's water resources to improve management; and 3) enhance the understanding of climate change impacts on water availability and energy production in the USA.
The SECURE Water Act consists of the following specific activities:
- U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Climate Change Adaptation Program
- U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Water Management Improvement
- Hydroelectric Power Assessment
- Climate Change and Water Intra-Governmental (I-G Panel)
- USGS Water Data Enhancement and Planning
- National Water Use and Availability Assessment Program
The Summary document provides more information on specific activities under each bullet.
My quick comments follow:
- The first two bullets pertain only to the 17 Western states, since that's the only place the USBR can operate. So are climate change adaptation and water management improvement not issues in the eastern USA?
- EPA, USFWS, BLM, and USFS should all be on the I-G panel. The bill now has these members: USGS, USBR, NRCS, NOAA, NWS and USACE. Granted, that means four Interior agencies are on, but so be it.
- Specific funds should be allocated to the 54 State Water Resources Research Institutes, in addtion to the $100,000 each gets annually (for which we have to fight for, since the uSGS always zeroes us out). These additional funds would be used to support research in accordance with the purpose of the SECURE Water Act - climate change, data collection, analysis, etc. [Disclosure notice: I head the institute for Oregon].
- I trust some funds will be available for peer-reviewed university research (in addition to any funding from the vehicle mentioned in (3) above). [Disclosure notice: same as (3)].
- I am especially partial to the last three bullets. The USGS's data collection/analysis and National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) programs get hammered with cuts each year. Data collection is not "sexy". We need data and analysis so we can assess the effects of climate change on water resources. Remember, we are likely dealing with a nonstationary hydrologic world these days (see my 7 July 2007 post). Data and analysis are also needed to assess the efficacies of various regulatory and related programs. The NAWQA Program was originally conceived to answer questions from Congress as to the effectiveness of the Clean Water Act.
The last bullet deals with a much-needed augmentation of the USGS National Water Use Information Program (NWUIP). That program is desperately in need of more support so that it can evolve into a science-based program, not one that solely relies on the states' voluntary participation. How can we plan for the future if we do not have a good estimate of what we use now?
The Senator is actively seeking comments. Here is a note from his staff:
Senator Bingaman hopes to introduce the bill in the near future and we are in the process of trying to secure a bipartisan set of co-sponsors. I look forward to hearing any thoughts or ideas you have regarding the bill. Given our timing, though, I’m not sure whether we’ll incorporate changes prior to introduction. Nonetheless, the bill will likely go through our normal legislative process, which will include a hearing and a mark-up by the Committee. Accordingly, there will be time to register your support, opposition, friendly suggestions, or constructive criticisms. Thanks for your thoughts and ideas over the last year. I look forward to hearing your views as we move forward.
Sen. Bingaman is trying to line up bipartisan support, so please contact your own senators and request they support the bill. There is not yet a sponsor in the House of Representatives, so you might ask your representative to be a co-sponsor.
"Saving the planet appeals to the wealthy because they own so much of it." -- Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, 19 September 2007
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