How myths of crisis and conflict stand in the way of solving the West's

water problemsJohn Fleck, University of New Mexico Water Resources Program

BEYOND THE CADILLAC DESERT

“the term ‘Colorado River Basin’

means all of the drainage area of the

Colorado River System and all other

territory within the United States of

America to which the waters of the

Colorado River System shall be

beneficially applied.”

- Colorado River Compact, 1922

Greetings from Albuquerque in the “Upper Colorado River Basin”

Los Angeles Times, Jan. 24, 1960

Myth number one: We’re running out of water.

Myth number one: We’re running out of water.

Source: USBR Basin Study, December 2011

Myth number two: “Whiskey’s for drinkin’,

water’s for fightin’ over.”

- apparently not Mark Twain

Yuma, Arizona Las Vegas, Nevada

Myth 2a: “Water flows uphill toward money.”

US gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005 dollars from 1900 to

2005 (left axis) plotted with total water withdrawals for all

purposes in cubic kilometers per year (right axis).

Peter H. Gleick, and Meena Palaniappan PNAS

2010;107:11155-11162

©2010 by National Academy of Sciences

Decoupling, Vegas style

Albuquerque water use, courtesy

John Stomp, ABCWUA

Albuquerque groundwater rebound

Onions, Imperial Valley, spring 2014

That’s all great, John, but Lake Mead’s still pretty much empty, right?

When confronted with

scarcity, we have shown

again and again a

remarkable adaptive

capacity.

Where does it come from?

How can we nurture and

encourage it? Most

importantly, how can we

scale it up?

Recognize scarcity signals

Don’t be tricked by the orange line