11/29/09
by Robert Glennon
11/29/09 neoperspectives.com
In essence, this book describes the past, present, and future, of water policy in the United States. Glennon illustrates in extensive detail where we get our water, how we use it, treat it, conserve it, water law in the east/west and federal, various conflicts, and solutions over water and the merits of solutions to shortages.
Some interesting facts are the vast amounts of water used in the production of electricity, and in each pound of meat consumed. Glennon repudiates ethanol as an eco friendly substitute for gasoline, suggesting that ethanol is more polluting, especially when one accounts for the massive amount of water and fertilizer wasted on its production.
Also of mention is that of a certain type of recyclable toilet can be constructed/installed for $200 in California by a good plumber without following the state regulations, but the same thing costs over $2000 if it is done 'to code'.
It it only mentioned once, but on page 39 there is written this surprising sentence:
"... total water consumption in the United States actually went down slightly between 1980 and 2000."
This is attributed to a decline in manufacturing and also likely to a decrease in farming, and other efficiencies all across the board. How can there be a 'crisis' of water shortages and what appears to be increasing political fights over water when the total consumption is actually decreased?
Water, unfortunately, is under extreme political control, luckily mostly by municipalities and states. There is little reason to believe 'shortages' are due to anything other than how shortages always form, from government healthcare to soviet breadlines: the government preventing the private sector from attaining a commodity. This book did little to dissuade me from this admittedly priori assumption and even reinforced it. Glennon himself does not appear to share this belief, even if he does advocate for some form of what he calls 'market forces'.
In fact, 'Unquenchable' is replete with examples of government thwarting attempts by the private sector to expand the water supply in the fast growing drier states. Most devastatingly in aggregate appear to be environmental litigation. From stopping dams, canals, irrigation, desalination plants, development, and pretty much any large infrastructure project. Especially of interest are environmental litigations of manmade lakes and streams, that didn't exists until recently, but now can't be removed or modified!
The private sector has been remarkable in its ingenuity, drilling wills, which luckily, or unfortunately according to Glennon, are not heavily regulated. Especially of interest is the story of Aaron Million, who claims to have private financing available to bring water into Colorado, but is having difficulty navigating the byzantine legal and regulatory barriers to do so.
Readers may recall a recent 4/25 post below, which details how it is illegal in Colorado and Utah for citizens to collect their own rainwater, forcing folks to participate in the state monopoly. A further review of that story yields:
The city of Tucson, Ariz., which receives a meager 12 inches of rainfall in an average year (much of it coming in big downpours), decreed not only that collecting the rain is legal, but that all new commercial development starting in June 2010 must include a rainwater collection system.
These contradictions give merit to the old libertarian saying: "Whatever is not forbidden is mandatory."
Another criticism of 'Unquenchable' is little comparison to what is done in other countries, besides to say that US consumers have the cheapest water besides Canada in the developed world. And Glennon criticizes bottled water drinking in one chapter on one had while describing the unknown wastes and potential toxins in public water in another. It would also have been interesting to go more into detail regarding Atlanta's brief foray into token private ownership of water utilities.
I do agree with Glennon, who appears, ideologically, to be a moderate liberal, on the need for market based reform. The buying and selling of water rights, under the current state laws, without federal interventions, likely will produce good results, provided environmental and regulatory and state subsidies are removed. Utilities and water infrastructure should be sold to private companies, mandated conservation efforts should not be encouraged and instead will happen 'naturally' if the price of water is no longer subsidized and instead 'floats' at market price.
However, ultimately we might find the predictions of 'Unquenchable' analogous to the famous Paul Ehrlich vs. Julian Simon debate, most especially if government gets out of the way of the thirsty private sector.