WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Obama administration last week directed federal agencies to focus on building national long-term drought resilience policies, part of a renewed effort to solve ongoing water issues that especially impact Western states.
The announcement was made Tuesday as part of the White House Water Summit, held on World Water Day, and was designed by the administration “to shine a spotlight on the importance of cross-cutting, creative solutions to solving the water problems of today, as well as to highlight the innovative strategies that will catalyze change in how we use, conserve, protect and think about water in the years to come.”
Jimmy Hague, the director of the Center for Western Resources at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership – a nonprofit sportsmen’s organization that participated in the summit – said the president’s memorandum would help solidify drought recovery efforts, particularly for the Colorado River and its tributaries.
“This move to increase coordination of federal resources will better protect vital water supplies, especially in places like the drought-stricken Colorado River,” said Hague.
The administration’s memorandum, called Building National Capabilities for Long-Term Drought Resilience, directs federal agencies to better coordinate on-the-ground conservation programs across U.S. watersheds. It also establishes the National Drought Resilience Partnership to serve as an interagency task force designed to coordinate drought response and recovery efforts.
The partnership builds off part of the president’s Climate Action Plan, released in June 2013, which outlines a strategy for streamlining the federal response to drought. According to the memorandum, the partnership “will provide the federal government with a lasting platform that enables locally and regionally driven priorities and needs to guide coordinated Federal activities.”
The water summit served as an opportunity to highlight local and statewide initiatives to preserve water resources and develop innovative water-infrastructure projects across the country.
Among the efforts highlighted was a partnership between Colorado and “private, public and philanthropic partners to create new institutions that will help drive water innovation and infrastructure.” This includes the development of a water data and innovation hub in Denver, as well as a center of excellence and an Intermountain Infrastructure Exchange in Colorado to “help leverage federal and state funds for public-infrastructure projects with private capital.”
The administration also announced almost $35 million in grants from a number of federal agencies to foster advances in water science programs, as well as a commitment of more than $1 billion over the next decade from private sector industries to research and develop water technologies.
Following the water summit, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Reclamation released a report that identified climate change as a major risk to Western waterways, particularly highlighting its impact on the Colorado River Basin and surrounding basins.
“We need to continue to develop collaborative strategies across each river basin to ensure that our nation’s water and power supplies, agricultural activities, ecosystems, and other resources all have sustainable paths forward,” Michael L. Connor, the Interior Department’s Deputy Secretary, said in a statement.
egraham@durangoherald.com. Edward Graham is a student at American University in Washington, D.C., and an intern for The Durango Herald.
