My family served the agricultural, industrial and military complexes of the United States from the American West. Our collective prosperity was the consequence of capturing water supplies from wild rivers and deep aquifers using new technologies. 

I personally did inherit the benefits of this hydraulic society. I did irrigate the fertile fields; I assembled the expanding neighborhoods; I waterskied upon the reservoirs, and I still navigate the remaining rivers through deep canyons. My journey to understand this watershed intimately is now in the seventh decade. It has been a journey of research, interviews, and much contemplation.

Six generations ago, a watershed planning process was envisioned for these “Arid Lands” and with vigorous debate. Then the infrastructure was rapidly emplaced (the “go-go days”). Then the management of all this complex infrastructure was tested and improved but, unfortunately, the pace was incremental and it definitely was not perfected. 

I do think it is fair to exclaim that the planning and development processes for this watershed, which was designed to populate and monitize the Great American Desert, was just a technological stunt. And that its beneficial lifespan has already been significantly reduced. We built very grandiose things in all the wrong places and to undo, or redo, these missteps will take a lot of humility and significant investment. 

The present water managers have acknowledged this predicament and call it “Deep Uncertainty.” That the past is no longer a reliable guarantee for water and food security.

Here is the solution to this predicament: we need to be courageous and we need to acknowledge our mistakes. We need new legislation and I think that legislation is to finish the national water policy that was originally proposed in the late 1960s. We need to finish the job of perfecting our planning and zoning procedures and it must be done thoughtfully without distractions.

1) Donald Worster

• Rivers of Empire. Oxford Press. 1985. Epilogue (a vision statement).
• Dust Bowl: the Southern Plains in the 1930s. New York: Oxford University Press. 1979.
• Nature's Economy: a History of Ecological Ideas. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1977.
• Under Western Skies: Nature and History in the American West. New York: Oxford University Press. 1992.
• The Wealth of Nature. New York: Oxford University Press. 1993.

2) Water Policies for the Future by the National Water Commission. Lyndon B. Johnson, 1968.

• 1973 - Table of Contents only; Text only; Complete Document; Best Quality Document.
• 1973 - Reclamation's Overview of the Report. Commissioner Stamm.
• 1974 - Review of the National Water Commission Report.
• 2009 - 35-Years After: The National Water Commission Report. Congressional Research Service.