At first glance, the challenges related to water almost seem overwhelming. Population expansion is putting increased pressure on supplies in many areas of the state. Drought and the possibility of climate change will affect not only the amount of water that is available, but also how people use the resource.
Rivers and streams that fish, wildlife and vast ecosystems depend upon for survival are being squeezed dry. Gov. Olene Walker has declared a state of emergency for agriculture. Evolving industries demand secure water supplies. All these factors call for tough decisions as to how water is allocated.
Yet, amidst all of these challenges and the resulting uncertainty, there is hope. The people of Utah have long recognized the need to work together. Most Utahns also understand that what gives this state its vigor is its collective diversity - our strength does not lie with a single industry, geographical area or resource. We recognize that we would be far poorer if agriculture's water needs went unmet so we could continue to overwater urban lawns. So, too, the majority of us understand that draining our rivers and streams of life-supporting water to meet other needs would forever alter the health and beauty of the natural world so many of us cherish.
With all of these facts in mind, it is critical for decision makers and concerned citizens alike to reconsider how we use water and especially what we need to do to use that water more wisely. We can start by examining Utah's water laws, many of which were drafted more than 100 years ago. A lot has changed since then.
Utah needs more tools to give the state greater flexibility in responding to drought. Not every tool will work in every situation, but we need to be able to select the right tool to fix a particular problem created by drought, be that protecting drinking water supplies, fish habitat or agricultural production. And we need to be able to respond quickly to get water where it is most needed.
Potential tools include facilitating temporary transfers of water - permitting a farmer to convey his or her water to another farmer, city or stream for a one-year period without jeopardizing the water right and without administrative delays that would make the benefits of the transfer moot. A related approach is dry-year options in which a city purchases an option to use a farmer's water during dry years. Under such an arrangement, the recipient of the transfer gets water when most needed and the farmer gets annual option payments in wet years and lease payments for water in dry years. It also makes sense to allow water right holders to get some benefit from water they conserve, rather than losing it under the current use-it-or-lose-it principle of Western water law, which encourages Utahns to fully use their water rights to avoid forfeiture, even when they don't need the water.
Another drought-response tool is to allow water-right holders to lease, sell or donate a portion of their right - on their terms - to keep healthy flows in streams. Flowing streams have significant economic, environmental and quality-of-life values, but Utah water law does little to recognize and protect those values. Protecting flows would help save critical fisheries during drought, the loss of which would have severe economic and environmental impacts on local communities and ecosystems. Under such a system, which is currently in place in Montana and other Western states, water-right holders would have the option to participate when they benefit.
Utah is facing huge challenges related to water. By working together and using voluntary, market-based approaches that protect existing water right holders, we can begin to meet those challenges. The state will be stronger as a result.
Alan Matheson Jr. is the director of the Utah Water Project for Trout Unlimited.
