No Captain, No Rudder: Walter A. Lyon on Water Governance in the U.S.

Several weeks ago I learned that my AWRA colleague, Walter A. Lyon, had written an article on water governance in the United States. Since the article had not been published I offered to post it on WaterWired and Lyon agreed. You will find it provocative and thought-provoking.

I am presenting the article in its entirety, with the usual disclaimer that the opinions expressed within it are those of Lyon alone.  Any edits were of the minor variety (i.e., typos, etc.).

Download Lyon_Water_Governance_in_US_final_26July2010

Here is Lyon's brief biography, with a longer one below.

Walter A. Lyon, Engineering Consultant, has served as Professor of Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, and as Deputy Secretary for Planning of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources.  He received his undergraduate and graduate education in Environmental Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University and pursued graduate studies in Political Science and Public Administration at American University.

In his state government assignment he was responsible for the State's Environmental Master Plan, which gives direction to the many diverse resources and programs of State Government, the State's Recreational Plan, federal environmental and resources legislation and policy analysis.

As Director of Pennsylvania's Bureau of Water Quality Management, he led the Commonwealth's water pollution control and drinking water programs for over two decades and instituted many program innovations such as the State's groundwater and aquatic biology programs.  The program grew in scope and size and Pennsylvania's municipalities and industries cleaned up well over 1,000 miles of streams, including Lake Erie, the Delaware Estuary and the Ohio River.

 

He has lectured at universities in the United States, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and China and has been a consultant to a number of states, the Chicago Sanitary District, the Jamaica Water Commission, the International Joint Commission, the Puerto Rico Public Health Association, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a number of other clients. 

Mr. Lyon has published over 80 professional and technical papers, and is now working on a book on environmental decision-making.

 

Download Lyon Short Bio Updated 2--6

 

Enjoy!

"If the Federal government really means to orchestrate its water management in a more effective way then Congress and the President must first agree on some basic goals which must include a much strengthened focus for water management in the Executive Branch and Congress as well as wholly new relationship with states and basin agencies." -- Walter A. Lyon

Comments

[Walter Lyon]

Murray Rothbard's comments suggest that he did not understand the essence of my paper.
He says that I am advocating more control. The reality is that the federal government has a lot of control already but it is fragmented and lacks a policy designed to address the new problems we face as a Nation.

Water cannot and should not be subject to the free market because everybody needs water to sustain life and for that reason the quality of service and price need to be controlled. That's why every state has a Public Utility Commission.

Rothbard mentions the population boom in the
Southwest. That happened because the nation
gave water its proper role in the Reklamation Act which populated the 13 Western States. That was sound water policy, not some market.

Cheers..............Walt Lyon

[Murray Rothbard]

Walter Lyon is advocating more federal government control over water resources.

By his own admission, the federal government is guilty of gross mismanagement of water resources

"Many of the problems cited by the 5th World Water Forum also exist in the United States, especially at the Federal level."

How can a person trust what a man like Walter Lyon's is advocating?

Like all other resources, water somehow needs to be relegated to the free market where the resource can thrive and be subjected to market forces and help people make better decisions.

Would there have been a huge population boom in the southwest if the feds didn't create huge reservoirs and distribute the water at ridiculously low cost?

[Walter Lyon]

Both Wayne Bossert's and Paul Miller's concern about who should have their hand on the water "rudder"are very pertinent to my paper. Wayne is concerned and rightly so about
federal control of groundwater which relates to his assignment. I do agree with him to a large extent because groundwater and its regulation is closely linked to land use and that should be a local concern except in areas
where shortages of water including groundwater
are a regional problem (beyond state boundaries and here maybe we need to consider the federal role. That has already
happened in a few areas such as Arizona and the Delaware basin.

Paul's concern about the dominance of private industry is very valid and is exposed only too well in the recent Gulf oil
spill where better regulation by the federal government ( the Dept of Interior)
could and should have prevented that disaster

Walt Lyon

[PAUL F MILLER]

No Captain, No Rudder: Walter A. Lyon on Water Governance in the U.S. ... MY COMPLIMENTS TO THE AUTHOR AS THE TITLE FOR HIS SUBMISSION IS MOST NOTEWORTHY AND FOR ME SUMS UP THE MANNER IN WHICH WE PERMIT WATER TO BE GOVERNED IN AMERICA.

It is quite possible however the author and I have a difference of opinion as to who is the CAPTAIN and who provide the RUDDER...?

Clearly the "captain" guiding the "rudder" respecting all aspects of WATER in America should be "we" (the people). Today control of the water rudder is solely in the hands of for-profit-corporate-interest$ who as a result of inordinate financial prowess own, control thereby manipulate the actions of our elected representatives in Congress. As a result of their power rule, laws, regulations are enacted which generously enrich these corporations while stripping legitimate power and authority from "we" (the people) and this will occur until "we" say ENOUGH ... NO MORE ...

[Wayne Bossert]

Before I even read the article I'll say: Yes. And it's this "..wholly new relationship with states and basin agencies.." that has me, a local groundwater manager, very, very worried. The further away the decisions are made the less concerned about the local impacts the decision-makers become. Moving toward federal control of water is likely to be resisted very, very strongly.

I'll read the article now, and get back to you in a few. Thanks as always access to the ideas of many.