Irrigation-Induced Water Quality Problems (1989) / Chapter Skim
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Understanding the Institutional Dimensions of an Environmental Problem
Understanding the Institutional Dimensions of an Environmental Problem
Pages 53-73
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From page 53... ...
3 Understanding the Institutional Dimensions of an Environmental Problem The complexity of the hydrological, geological, chemical, and ecological factors described in Chapter 2 poses a tremendous management challenge, but, in fact, these factors are only part of the picture. They are joined and often exacerbated by an equally complex and conflicting maze of political, social, economic, legal, administrative, and other institutional factors.
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From page 54... ...
It also discusses how these institutional dimensions sometimes impede responses. Although economic issues, social issues, organizational influences, legal issues, and political issues are covered separately, in reality these influences are intricately interrelated.
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From page 55... ...
Department of the Interior, 1988~. This "double subsidy"-obtained when some producers participate in commodity subsidy programs and receive subsidized irrigation water is of particular concern (Moore and McGuckin, 1988~.
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From page 56... ...
Second, they create an economy based on subsidized water, one that may lack the financial resources and incentives to deal with the inevitable problems that irrigated agriculture creates. The West has many marginal irrigation projects supporting farmers whose economic existence is dependent on water subsidies.
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From page 57... ...
Thus, the subsidization of irrigation water appears to be a major culprit contributing to irrigation-induced water quality problems. The low cost of water results in more water being used, it encourages farmers to cultivate less desirable lands, and it leads to increased leaching from subsurface flow.
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From page 58... ...
The dilemma created is that short-term benefits accrue primarily to the agricultural sector (and perhaps to the public in the form of lower food costs, although this has not been clearly demonstrated) , while in the long run the costs with respect to tax outlays and environmental degradation are borne by those who may not have experienced the benefits.
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From page 59... ...
For the population served by public supplies, the average domestic per capita water use in western states is 143 gallons per person per day, compared to 105 gallons in the rest of the country (Solley et al., 1988~. Many of the West's new residents have brought with them not only additional demands for the region's limited water supplies, but also different perceptions about how the water can be used most beneficially and treasured as a valuable commodity.
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From page 60... ...
The increasing loads of pollution will inevitably hasten the deterioration of the region's scarce water resources. The changing demographics, increasing income, and shift in values that have caused these changes are likely to continue.
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From page 61... ...
Two decades ago, the USER was the primary federal agency concerned with irrigated agriculture, and it was primarily concerned with only one objective: assuring an abundant supply of inexpensive water for farmers. Questions of environmental degradation and the values of wildlife and in-stream flows generally were rarely considered because society did not give these issues the high priority it does today.
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From page 62... ...
Although the CWA is the strongest federal water pollution control act on record, it is not directly applicable to the situation in the San Joaquin Valley because irrigation return flows from agriculture are classified as nonpoint pollution, which was consciously excluded from the act. However, this does not prevent individual states from instituting stricter agricultural effluent standards.
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From page 63... ...
This complex organizational backdrop reflects an equally complex legal structure affecting the use of water in western states. Over the years, western states have developed a body of water law that in many
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From page 64... ...
ways contributes to the types of problems discovered at Kesterson NWR and elsewhere. For instance, the legal system of water rights and water allocation in western states discourages water conservation, because the person saving it often is not allowed, for a complicated set of reasons, to sell any water that is saved.
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From page 65... ...
It is not entirely possible to separate legal issues from other institutional issues because laws define the operating parameters of government agencies, regulate the use and transferability of water resources, and are intertwined with many other fundamental institutional issues. These issues range from rights of appropriators to water under the prior appropriation doctrine to contract rights of parties who have contracted to receive water from an irrigation district, and from rights of irrigation districts under contracts with the USBR to rights of members of the public under the public trust doctrine.
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From page 66... ...
Bureau of Reclamation California Department of Water Resources Imgation and drainage districts in the Central Valley State of California Water Resources Control Board Department of Health Services U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Resource management agencies such as the Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game Federal reclamation law California water law State and local laws and regulations controlling the operations of irrigation districts State water quality laws State public health laws Federal environmental laws, Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act State wildlife protection laws, Endangered Species Act, and Migratory Bird Treaty Act *
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From page 67... ...
In the long term, however, the irony may be that as a result of not being subject to the regulations, agricultural interests are ineligible for federal grants under the Clean Water Act, should such grants become available. An alternative to the adoption of broad regulatory standards or attempted enforcement of broad water law doctrines such as reasonable use would be to provide economic incentives to irrigators to use less water.
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From page 68... ...
Within a district the issue is somewhat complicated by the contractual nature of farmers' rights and the internal rules for water allocation. Nevertheless, the issue of impairment of other water rights inevitably arises when major water rights transfers are sought.
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From page 69... ...
However, a federal employee's decision to exercise discretion to permit major water transfers from one location to another would likely trigger the operation of the National Environmental Policy Act and would require the preparation either of a document finding no significant impact or, in some cases, of a full environmental impact statement. The development of an environmental impact statement would undoubtedly lead to the realization that transferring major quantities of water out of one basin and into another, or even simply changing the use of water within a basin, could have substantial impacts on endangered species and many forms of wildlife, particularly waterfowl.
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From page 70... ...
This is perhaps best manifested in the fact that federal water allocation contracts have been found to be nondiscretionary exceptions to the National Environmental Policy Act (see discussion above) and note the fact that California has two distinct agencies that address these issues (see Table 3.2~.
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From page 71... ...
The region's political, economic, and social ties to irrigated agriculture give its people a great stake in ongoing discussions about how to solve the problems caused by the accumulation of salts and harmful trace elements. For example, agricultural interests were reluctant to have the San Joaquin Valley Drainage Program (SJVDP)
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From page 72... ...
The issue of Irrigation drainage water Is important, but it is only part of a broader issue: that of managing water resources for the long-term public good. Water quantity and water quality can no longer be addressed separately.
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From page 73... ...
1986. An Agricultural Dilemma: Drainage Water and Toxics Disposal in the San Joaquin Valley.
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