Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink

Thursday, May 15, 2008

By Jake Nichols

It’s difficult to think about the need to conserve water while looking out at the snow-capped mountains surrounding Jackson. But we are still in a drought here in the west. Water rationing is being proposed for parts of California. In Arizona and Nevada, drastic water-saving methods have been in place for years.

In Wyoming, Fremont County is drying up, and they’re not alone. Nearly every county in the state has declared a state of disaster due to drought in the last five years. We are still in the third worst drought in Wyoming history, according to state climatologists. In summers past, city officials dictated who could use water and when they could use it in places like Green River, Rock Springs, and Kemmerer.

Worldwide fighting over crude oil and food shortages will be nothing compared to the complete bedlam that will ensue when fresh water supplies get tight. Some experts say by 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population will be trying to survive in water stressed areas. We are not talking about go-go juice for your SUV. This is the sustenance of all life.

Think it won’t affect us in Jackson Hole? Think again. Everything is interconnected. Thirsty Southern Californians are drying up the Colorado River Basin. Wyoming’s Green River, with help from the Colorado, can’t fill Lake Mead and Lake Powell faster than water-users in the southwest drain it. Computer models at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California in San Diego indicate a 50 percent chance that Mead will be bone dry in 13 years.

And there is proposed legislation to dam the Green River in Wyoming. How will that go over downriver? Earlier this year, Wyoming was sued by the state of Montana for hogging water out of the Tongue and Powder rivers. After Wyoming farmers and energy companies suck out what they need, officials in Montana say there is nothing left for them.

And who owns the Snake River? Arguably the jewel waterway of the west, the Snake River is currently the subject of controversy as the U.S. Senate looks into protecting 443 miles of the river under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The 42 miles of Snake River that runs through Jackson Hole is coveted by Idaho for its irrigation properties.
“The Snake River is a unique anomaly to the West,” Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, a Republican, said in a press release. “It starts in Wyoming, but its water belongs to Idaho and is Idaho’s most significant water source.”

Belongs to Idaho? Them’s fightin’ words, partner.

Disputes over water rights in the west are nothing new. But the idea that it might not be all right to guzzle bottled Dasani while using the garden hose to clean leaves off the driveway might require some reprogramming.

In Jackson Hole - an island of wealth and extravagance in a sea of sand - massive water use to green up golf courses and the lawns of sprawling estates, and blast snow on ski runs may one day be considered garish. And that day might be coming too soon.

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Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink | Planet JH News Article: General News

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