Be Shameless About Stealing Water
Have you heard what the Lone Star state is talking about doing for water? To better cope with the lack of water, the Texas legislature is poised to examine what would be needed to create a statewide water grid and market on which water would be traded. It could possibly transform the regulatory water framework in Texas and serve as a model for other states — perhaps the entire United States.
Creating any such market would be a long process that would require a fundamental overhaul of the way water is controlled. But it’s something Americans must consider.
Texas State Representative Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio) authored House Bill 3298, which passed 111–28 in May 2015 and is headed for the Senate. The bill empowers the Texas Water Development Board to conduct a 2 year study of what it would take to build a water grid, who would be best to build it and how to pay for it.
The idea is to create a hydrovascular market, where major arterials convey water throughout the state and to develop new sources for water — such as desalination, reclaimed water or purchasing water from other states. There’s even a top-down commitment from the Texan Governor to meet with neighboring states and Mexico City to push for more regional water planning.
With the passage of HB 3298, there would be a fundamental change in the way water flows through Texas.
Like many other U.S. states, Texas must diplomatically work through a sticky web of water control boards and districts to align water resources. And there’s California, with a ridiculous amount of fragmented federal, and state interests combined with a myriad of metropolitan water districts extending from north to south. Basically, the U.S. water system consists of a bunch of balkanized territories that quarrel incessantly and have paralyzed the backbone of America’s water infrastructure.
A Texan smart water grid would create a more efficient transfer of water throughout the state — moving water from plentiful areas to places desperate for more. A smart water infrastructure will have underground storage priorities, technology solutions and a network to promote water-trading similar to that in Australia.
In the face of drought, the Australian government changed water laws so that farmers can trade water like any other agricultural commodity. This overhaul attached a value to water instead of charging just for the cost of treatment and delivery. In Australia, planning began in the 1980s and today there is a productive water market. Of course people were skeptical when Australia began to change the water infrastructure. Transforming the way Texas, or any other state, handles its water resources is similarly daunting, but America has to move away from its localized planning systems and outdated water rights in order to undertake the big tasks that need to be performed.
America, it’s time to eliminate the imaginary boundaries, look at states collectively and prioritize the country’s water needs. For example, keep an eye onthe new desalination plant near San Diego that withstood 15 years of environmental lawsuits and cautious regulators. The success of this project has the potential to change an entire region.
It’s up to some crazy people to come up with some crazy ideas (steal them if you have to!) on how to change America’s water infrastructure.
