On Dams and darn fish...

The latest on-line NYTimes story on the Klamath River settlement caught my eye this morning. This stands in sharp contrast to the other, on-going, soap-opera-like fish vs agriculture story in the American West: the delta smelt saga. John Fleck, Emily Green, and Michael Campana have all posted updates and fired broad-sides at the political tactics in California's smelt case. The esteemed senator from California (DiFi) was drawing analogies for the smelt with New Mexico's silvery minnow, in arguing for some in-flow exceptions (actually, exemptions). Few bought the comparison. Apparently, irrigation districts seem to have a longer (political) life-span than most dams, but that should come as no surprise. As I've said a few times before on these pages, it's not just about money, it's about votes. Dams don't vote - farmers do. And despite the court case name, fish don't sue people. But I do find this Klamath development a bit heartening after hearing of the troubles on the Klamath at the NM Water Dialogue in January from Reed Benson (UNM Law School). E.Green has also started drawing the logical link between salmon plans and the latest Feinstein blunder in Cali.

Philosophical aside: One troubling, perhaps glib, aspect of these "settlements" which should sound familiar to New Mexicans is the way that both "fish" and "Indians" are naturalized in this context. What I mean is that both are used as a foil in "federal reserve water" issues, whether it is a settlement on adjudication (Aamodt, Abeyta) or whether it comes down to a species restoration plan. Both scenarios, almost inevitably, mean hundreds of millions of dollars to be spent. As the old addage goes, "follow the money." Who benefits? These restoration and adjudication settlements have become their own industry, in process (let's employ hundreds of attorneys and engineers!) and in outcome (look, a new pipeline/dam/project is needed!).
Just look at the Times story, see that final tab for states - how easy will it be for a broken California financial system to (convince voters to) pay for this? I smell a special hydrostimulus package for many western states - we won't be calling these "earmarks" anymore. How about a "watermark?"

Coming soon: domestic well hell in New Mexico!

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