Red River water wars: four states battle over water access
Water is the oil of the 21st century. The more water resources continue to deplete along the Red River, the fiercer the fight over who has access
There's a popular saying in America that "whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over." It's usually attributed to the writer Mark Twain, but whoever actually said it could hardly have known just how intense that fighting would become as water gets ever scarcer.
The Colorado River is so worn out trying to meet the demands of the seven arid states it serves in the west that it no longer runs into the sea. And now, the United States supreme court has been called upon to settle a battle that is raging over access to the Red River which serves the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
The heart of the matter is that water-starved Texas feels that it is entitled under the Red River compact, which was signed by all four states, to billions of gallons of water from the Oklahoma side of the river basin. For its part Oklahoma insists that Texas is not doing enough to conserve. Texas is also fighting a battle on its southern front with New Mexico over access to water from the Rio Grande. This dispute may also end up being settled by the supreme court but whatever the outcome of both these battles, the ultimate victory of having an ample water supply that would allow agriculture and businesses to flourish may be an elusive one.
It's not for nothing that Texas is waging water wars on all fronts. A population boom and a climate that keeps getting warmer and drier has led to severe shortages in much of the state. Despite claims to the contrary, Texas is taking this shortage very seriously indeed. The state legislature recently approved a bill, HB4, which provides for $53bn to be spent over the next 40 years on new infrastructure and water conservation efforts. Texan farmers peering into dry wells and businesses facing escalating water costs are doing their bit too.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/colorado-river-water-states-battle-access
