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A, Symposium, Sponsored By The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Coming Problems And The Policy Alternatives WESTERN WATER RESOURCES WESTERN WATER RESOURCES: Coming Problems and the Policy Alternatives A Symposium Sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City I September 27-28, 1979 Westview Press 1 Boulder, Colorado Published in 1980 in the United States of America by Westview Press, Inc. 5500 Central Avenue Boulder, Colorado 80301 Frederick A. Praeger, Publisher Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Main entry under title: Western water resources. Papers, compiled by Marvin Duncan, from a symposium held in Denver, Colo., Sept. 27-28, 1979. 1. Water resources development-The West-Congresses. 2. Water-Law and legis- lation-The West-Congresses. 3. Water-supply-The West-Congresses. I. Duncan, Marvin R. 11. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. TC42 3.6.W47 333.91'00978 80-14142 ISBN 0-86531-036-X Printed and bound in the United States of America Contents Foreword ........................................ix The Contributors. ..................................xi 1 KEYNOTE ADDRESS. Western Water Resources: The Coming Problem and Policy Alternatives, Emery N. Castle ............................. .1 PART 1 DIMENSIONS OF THE WATER RESOURCES PROBLEMS 2 The Coming Conflicts over Water, Charles W. Howe ............................ .15 Commentary, Harvey 0. Banks .................. .39 3 Six-State High Plains-Ogallala Aquifer Area Regional Study, Harvey 0. Banks ............... .49 4 Issues in Determining Indian Water Rights, Richard A. Simms ........................... .67 5 The Quality of Water: Problems, Identification, and Improvement, John F. Timmons .............73 vi Contents 6 Better Use of Water Management Tools, Allen V. Kneese. .93 PART 2 POLICIES TO COPE WITH THE PROBLEMS 7 A Western Governor Looks at Water Policy, Scott M. Matheson . .I01 8 Western Water Resources: Means to Augment the Supply, Theodore M. Schad . .I13 Commentary, Keith A. Henry . .I34 9 Financing Water Resources Development, Leo M. Eisel and Richard M. Wheeler . .141 Commentary, B. Delworth Gardner . .17 3 10 The National Perspective, Guy R. Martin . .I85 PART 3 IMPROVING THE WATER-ALLOCATION PROCESS ' 11 Water Law, Policies, and Politics: Institutions for Decision Making, Frank J. Trelease. .I99 Commentary, A. Allan Schmid. .221 12 The Benefit-Cost Dilemma, Daniel W. Bromley. .227 Commentary, Herbert W. Grubb . .249 13 Better Use of Water Management Tools, George E. Radosevich . .25 3 Commentary, M. M. Kelso . .290 Contents vii 14 The Implications of Improved Water Allocation Policy, Kenneth E. Boulding . .299 Symposium Participants . .31 3 Foreword Water, which for centuries has been regarded as a virtually limitless resource, has recently come to be seen as a vital com- modity in increasingly short supply. The western United States, with its uncertain sources of supply and its rapidly increasing industrial, personal, and agri- cultural water demands, is currently facing many of the prob- lems of water supply and allocation that eventually will confront the nation. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City hosted a symposium entitled "Western Water Resources: Coming Problems and the Policy Alternatives" on September 27 and 28, 1979, in Denver, Colorado. I hope that the following proceedings of that sym- posium will provide an opportunity for those with an interest in water issues to learn more about the future of this critically important natural resource. These proceedings were compiled by Marvin Duncan, assistant vice president and economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Assistance was provided by Ann Laing and Kerry Webb, research associates with the bank. President +&Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City The Contributors Charles W. Howe, presently a professor of economics at the University of Colorado, has extensive water resource experience. He has served as director of the Water Resources Program at Resources for the Future, Inc. and has been editor of Water Re- sources Research, a research journal of the American Geophysi- cal Union. He has also served in water consulting roles to the United Nations Development Programme, the World Health Organization, OECD, and the governments of Ghana, Kenya, Botswana, and Mexico. Dr. Howe has written numerous articles on water resource development as well as four books on the subject. Respected both nationally and internationally for his work with water and land development, John F. Timmons is one of the leading natural resources economists in the country. He is presently a Curtiss Distinguished Professor of Agriculture at Iowa State University and is a Fellow in the American Agricul- tural Economics Association. He has served in advisory and con- sulting positions for numerous organizations including USDA- AID, The World Food Institute at Iowa State University, and the National Committee on Land and Water Use of the National Academy of Science. Dr. Timmons has also been vice president of the American Agricultural Economics Association and has directed extensive graduate research on water development programs since 1947. Theodore M. Schad is the deputy executive director of the Commission on Natural Resources for the National Research xii The Contributors Council. Since graduating with a civil engineering degree from The Johns Hopkins University, he has spent over thirty years with various federal agencies examining and directing numerous water resource development projects. He has worked with the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bureau of the Budget, and the Congressional Research Service. He has also served as staff director of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on National Water Resources and as executive direc- tor of the National Water Commission. Schad is a Fellow in the American Society of Civil Engineers and has authored numerous official federal agency reports and pap,ers in profes- sional journals on water resources research, development, and policy. Since 1977, Leo M. Eisel has been the director of the U.S. Water Resources Council in Washington, D.C. As head of the council (consisting of the secretaries of the departments of Agri- culture, Defense, Commerce, Energy, Interior, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development), it is Eisel's job to insure that the federal water programs respond to the nation's water resources problems and needs. Eisel has also been director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, a research associ- ate with the Harvard University Development Advisory Service, and has worked on water resource problems in Pakistan, Den- mark. and Brazil. George E. Radosevich specializes in the economic and legal aspects of water resource development. A member of the Ameri- can Bar Association's Committee on Environmental Quality and Committee on Water Resources, as well as the Colorado and Wyoming bar associations, Mr. Radosevich is a partner in a Denver law firm and an associate professor of water law and economics at Colorado State University. He is nationally and internationally known for his expertise in natural resource use and water law. Frank J. Trelease is currently professor of law at the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific. He is also dean emeritus of the College of Law at the University of Wyo- ... The Contributors XZlZ ming, having been associated with the university since 1942. Mr. Trelease is the author of numerous articles and editor of three casebooks on water and natural resources law. He has been a consultant on the reform and revision of water laws to several states, countries and international organizations, includ- ing the United Nations. Professor Trelease has also advised the Missouri Basin Survey Commission, the Public Land Law Review Commission, the National Water Commission, and the National Commission on Water Quality. Daniel W. Bromley is a professor in the Department of Agri- cultural Economics and director of the Center for Resource Policy Studies and Programs at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. He has done extensive consulting work with numerous federal and state agencies including the U.S. Water Resources Council, the National Commission on Water Quality, and the Texas Water Development Board. He has also worked with the Agency for International Development on natural resource and water development problems in several Caribbean countries. Dr. Bromley has authored two books and numerous articles on public decision-making in natural resources and is editor of the journal Land Economics. Speakers As president-designate for Resources for the Future, Inc., Emery N. Castle directs the leading natural resources research organization in the country. Dr. Castle is a Fellow in the Ameri- can Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Agricul- tural Economics Association. Associated with Oregon State Uni- versity for most of his professional career, he served as professor and head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and dean of the Graduate School. Dr. Castle's work with the eco- nomic consequences of natural resource policies is well known and is published in many professional journals. Kenneth E. Boulding is among the most respected and emi- nent economists in the nation. Presently a Distinguished Pro- xiv The Contributors fessor of Economics at the University of Colorado, Professor Boulding has served on the faculty of several major universities. He has been a visiting,professor to ten universities worldwide and is a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and