WaterWired

My PowerPoint at AWRA Baltimore: 'After 110 Years of Infiltration the Winters Doctrine Reaches Groundwater' (Updated: 13 November 2018)

This presentation is quite similar to the one I presented at the 2018 AWRA Summer Specialty Conference in Fort Worth. It does have several extra slides. I thought I would have more to report but I don't.

Note: this was updated on 13 November 2018 - several new slides.

PPT: Download CAMPANA_AWRA_Winters_8Nov2018

PDF: Download CAMPANA_AWRA_Winters_8Nov2018

Here is a description of the topic:

Mention the Winters Doctrine to a certified WaterWonk and you're likely to get this response: 'Oh, yeah, I know that one. It's the Supreme Court decision that reserved water rights for federal reservations even though the rights were not specifically granted when the reservation was created.' That's a pretty good definition, although I suspect a few of my legal friends are no doubt rolling their eyes.  Many people interpret the word 'reservation' to mean 'Native American reservation' but the term refers to any federal 'reservation' such as a national monument, park, etc. 

So how does an article about the Wintersdoctrine and its promise of water rights find its way into an issue on transboundary groundwater? Let me explain, starting with a little bit of repetition.

One of the most important U.S. Supreme Court water decisions is the 1908 Winters v. United Statesdecision in which the court established the federal reserved water rights doctrine. This doctrine, often associated with Native American reservations but also applicable to other federal lands such as national monuments, holds that when the federal government set aside lands it implicitly reserved sufficient water to enable the reserved lands to be used as intended. These reserved rights, or Winters rights as they are frequently called, have traditionally pertained to surface water and not to groundwater.  That is about to change.

In the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians v. Coachella Valley Water Districtcase the tribe sued a number of California water agencies for adversely affecting the quality and quantity of its groundwater by over-pumping a shared aquifer. The tribe further asserted that it had Wintersrights to the groundwater beneath its reservation. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the tribe's favor, stating that the Wintersdoctrine applies to groundwater as well as surface water. Furthermore, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case, so the Ninth Circuit Court's decision stands. At this juncture the decision applies only to the states covered by the Ninth Circuit: Alaska, Hawai'i, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, and Montana.

Why is this decision important? Ten states - Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Nebraska, Arkansas, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin filed an amici curiaebrief supporting the water agencies' position. This action indicates the concern the states have about the ramifications of this decision vis-a-vis their primacy when it comes to water law and allocation of water within their borders. Groundwater underlying tribal reservations  could be treated as a transboundary resource subject to water law different from the states.

Furthermore, two aspects of the case are still being litigated - the tribe's claim to ownership of its aquifer's pore space (storage) and degradation of its groundwater quality by the water agencies' use of inferior Colorado River water to recharge a aquifer they share with the tribe.

The pore space issue is particularly important, since, should the tribe prevail, ownership of pore space might interfere with states' or water agencies' efforts to implement managed aquifer recharge (MAR) projects, since the water might enter pores owned by tribes and possibly pollute the tribes' groundwater. It should be noted that the Coachella Valley Water District implements MAR. Its Thomas E. Levy Groundwater Replenishment Facility graced the cover of the September 2017 Water Resources IMPACT. I suspect that its use of Colorado River water might be a reason for the tribe's water quality complaint.   

Pore rental or purchase might be available in future water banks.

Enjoy!

"Geography: a borderline subject with links to many departments, useful to all but lacking definite outlines and disciplines of its own.” – George D. Hubbard (1951, Journal of Higher Education)

CRS Report: 'Central Valley Project: Issues and Legislation'

The CRS just published this on 15 October 2018: Central Valley Project: Issues and Legislation by Charles V. Stern and Pervaze A. Sheikh.

One of my favorite wicked water problems!

Download CRS_CVP_Issues_and_Legislation_15Oct2018

Introduction 

The Central Valley Project (CVP), a federal water project owned and operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), is one of the world’s largest water supply projects. The CVP covers approximately 400 miles in California, from Redding to Bakersfield, and draws from two large river basins: the Sacramento and the San Joaquin. It is composed of 20 dams and reservoirs and numerous pieces of water storage and conveyance infrastructure. In an average year, the CVP delivers more than 7 million acre-feet of water to support irrigated agriculture, municipalities, and fish and wildlife needs, among other purposes. About 75% of CVP water is used for agricultural irrigation, including 7 of California’s top 10 agricultural counties. The CVP is operated jointly with the State Water Project (SWP), which provides much of its water to municipal users in Southern California.

 

CVP water is delivered to users that have contracts with Reclamation. These contractors receive varying levels of priority for water deliveries based on several factors, including hydrology, water rights, prior agreements with Reclamation, and regulatory requirements. The Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers’ confluence with the San Francisco Bay (Bay-Delta or Delta) is a hub for CVP water deliveries; many CVP contractors south of the Delta receive water that is “exported” from north of the Delta.

         Shasta Dam, on the Sacramento River,  is shown below.

Development of the CVP resulted in significant changes to the area’s natural hydrology. However, construction of most CVP facilities predated major federal natural resources and environmental protection laws. Much of the current debate related to the CVP revolves around how to deal with changes to the hydrologic system that were not significantly mitigated for when the project was constructed. Thus, multiple ongoing efforts to protect species and restore habitat have been authorized and are incorporated into project operations.

Congress has engaged in CVP issues through oversight and at times legislation, including provisions in the 2016 Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN Act; P.L. 114-322) that, among other things, authorized changes to operations in an attempt to provide for delivery of more water under certain circumstances. Although some stakeholders are interested in further operational changes to enhance CVP water deliveries, others are focused on the environmental impacts of operations.

Various state and federal proposals are currently under consideration and have generated controversy for their potential to affect CVP operations and allocations. In mid-2018, the State of California proposed revisions to its Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan. These changes would require that more flows from the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers reach the Bay-Delta for water quality and fish and wildlife enhancement (and thus would further restrict water supplies for other users). At the same time, the Trump Administration is exploring options to increase CVP water supplies for users. Efforts to add or supplement CVP storage and conveyance also are being considered. The state is proposing a major new water conveyance project (known as the California WaterFix) that would bypass the Bay-Delta and, under certain conditions, increase exports from north to south for users. Additionally, Reclamation and the state are studying other new, augmented storage projects that aim to increase CVP and SWP water supplies.

In the 115th Congress, legislators are considering bills that would aim to further increase CVP water exports compared to current baselines by altering environmental requirements and repealing parts of some existing restoration programs. Congress also is considering more targeted but potentially significant changes, such as appropriations provisions that would provide federal approval and funding for certain water storage projects in California, prohibit federal funding for the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan, and prohibit judicial review of WaterFix and other water supply projects, among other things. Congress also may consider legislation that would extend or amend previously enacted CVP authorities (e.g., WIIN Act authorities that are expiring or have exceeded their appropriations ceiling).

This report provides background on the CVP, the process of allocating CVP water supplies, and associated controversies. It also covers major proposals associated with the project’s current and future operation. Finally, it discusses recently enacted authorities and proposed legislation related to the CVP.

 

Enjoy!

"Tradition is tending the flame, not minding the ashes." - Gustav Mahler, quoted in @dailytelegraph via @TheWeek 

Kathleen Rugel: Getting to Water: Website, Blog, Book, and Lots More!

Dr. Kathleen Rugel, aquatic ecologist, WaterWonk extraordinaire, friend and Policy and Practice Fellow at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) is no stranger to these pages. About a year ago I linked to her piece about the ACF Basin ACF Basin: Crossing Lines: Reaching Across the Table to Share Water. 

She has just created a website. Getting to Water: How Neighbor and Nation Share Our Most Precious Resource. She is also writing  a book of the same name.

Here is her introduction:

Getting To Water is a collection of case studies about how water is being shared and protected around the world. These are local to international examples of prudent management of water which is shared, often between stakeholders with very different agendas. The culmination of this project is a book entitled: Getting to Water: How Neighbor and Nation Share Our Most Precious Resource. I hope you will visit this site often as I travel regionally and internationally to collect these inspiring stories which can be used to guide anyone charged with or interested in helping to manage their water resources.

In her email to me she wrote:

 I just returned from Romania and Vienna where I was interviewing people working on the Danube River. I included a blog on the website with brief first impressions along with several other blogs,

Here is a link to her blog. Check out her piece on the ACF Basin.

Kathleen will be at the upcoming AWRA meeting in Baltimore. It'll be great to see her.

Excellent - enjoy!

"Re-examine all you have been told...and dismiss whatever insults your soul: and your very flesh shall be a great poem..." -- Walt Whitman (from the preface to Leaves of Grass - thanks to K. Rugel)

Paper: 'Findings and Lessons Learned from the Assessment of the Mexico-United States Transboundary San Pedro and Santa Cruz Aquifers: The Utility of Social Science in Applied Hydrologic Research'

 Friend and colleague Sharon B. Megdal sent me this open-access paper from the Journal of Hydrology's Regional Studies series. She is the second author; J.B. Callegary is the lead author.

Findings and Lessons Learned from the Assessment of the Mexico-United States Transboundary San Pedro and Santa Cruz Aquifers: The Utility of Social Science in Applied Hydrologic Research'

  Download Megdal_JH_TAAP

       Highlights

In the 2000s Mexican and US agencies and institutions cooperated to establish the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program.

We document the findings and methods of the Program, with respect to the Transboundary San Pedro and Santa Cruz aquifers.

First-phase: culture, institutions, history, and socio-political context critical to internal and stakeholder engagement.

Second-phase: strategic planning, data analysis and cross-border synthesis, geophysical and geochemical data collection.

Factors critical to success – building trust, leadership, and facilitation – also adaptation, accommodation, and perseverance.

Abstract

Study Region

This study region encompasses the Transboundary San Pedro and Santa Cruz aquifers which are shared between the states of Sonora (Mexico) and Arizona (US). Special regional considerations include a semi-arid climate, basin-fill aquifers with predominantly montane recharge areas, economic drivers in the mining, trade, and military sectors, groundwater-dependent cities with expanding cones of depression, interbasin groundwater transfers, ground- and surface-water contamination, and protected aquatic and riparian habitats that act as significant migration corridors for hundreds of species, including some that are threatened and endangered.

Study Focus

We focus on lessons learned from the hydrologic assessment of the Transboundary San Pedro and Santa Cruz aquifers. We conducted the work, in two phases: (1) laying the groundwork and (2) implementation. The “laying the groundwork” phase consisted of binational meetings with stakeholders and key actors (agencies and individuals), and the development of an understanding of the physical, institutional, historical, and socio-political context. This led to signing of the binational Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP) agreement in 2009 and detailed the process for cooperation and coordination in the assessment of shared aquifers. The implementation phase began with an agreement to proceed with the study of four “focus” aquifers (Santa Cruz, San Pedro, Mesilla (Conejos-Médanos in Mexico), and Hueco Bolson (Bolsón del Hueco in Mexico)) and development of associated technical teams. Though we do include a brief discussion of the lessons learned from the physical science portion of the study, the results have been described and published elsewhere. The bulk of the paper instead focuses on the findings and lessons learned from the integration of social-science perspectives into a largely physical-science based program, since there is a growing recognition of the need for this type of approach especially in the management and assessment of transboundary aquifers.

New Hydrological Insights for the Region

The Sonora-Arizona effort succeeded because both countries were adequately represented, and because of flexibility of skills and ability of teams comprising both university and government scientists. Teams included social and earth scientists. Including the social sciences was critical to research design and implementation, and to addressing the cultural, institutional, and socio-political contexts of transboundary aquifer assessment. Significant components of the continuing implementation phase include strategic planning, data compilation and analysis, cross-border integration of datasets, geophysical and geochemical surveys, and internal, peer, and stakeholder engagement.

 

 

Social sciences? Hydrogeology? Will wonders never cease!

Long title, too!

Enjoy!

"Only she who can see the invisible can do the impossible." - Frank L. Gaines

From FMSO's 'Operational Environment Watch' (August 2018): 'Turkish Dams Cause Water Conflict in the Middle East' and More!

I sometimes find interesting (postable) material (monographs, one- or two-pagers) on the U.S. Army's Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO) site, which publishes monographs and a monthly magazine, Operational Environment Watch (OE Watch).

In  the August 2018 issue of OE Watch I found a one-page commentary (not the opinion of the FMSO, the U.S. Army, or the U.S. government). It's called 'Turkish Dams Cause Water Conflict in the Middle East':

Download OE_Watch_TurkishDams_August 2018

The article is brief and includes a link to a 20-page article that I found but could not download from the site of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (ORSAM): Water Issue in Turkey-Iraq Relations and Future Recommendations by Dr. Seyfi Kılıç. 

Here is the introduction:

International developments played a major role in the emergence process of the problem according to the assessment made for the solution of the problem related to transboundary waters between Turkey and Iraq that have been going on for many years. For, the given problem undergoes change by being affected not only by the political developments between the two countries but also the political economic and technological developments in the international arena. In this study, the reasons for the evolution the transboundary waters issue has been going through from the very beginning to present will be revealed and inferences will be made for the foreseeable future.

I'll keep trying to find the PDF. If you do, please send it to me (aquadoc@oregonstate.edu). Thanks.

Here is the entire issue of OM Watch:

Download OE Watch Vol 08 Issue 08 Aug 2018

Enjoy! 

“Iraq sees its neighbors especially Turkey as the root cause of its water scarcity.” - Dr. Seyfi Kılıç (from the article)