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At first glance, threats to the nation’s freshwater might seem less urgent and less important than many of the other economic and foreign policy challenges facing our politicians and policymakers. After all, clean and inexpensive water continues to flow from our taps. Yet front page stories on the devastating drought across America’s Great Plains, increased prices for corn, grains, and other agricultural products, and growing conflicts between energy producers and local communities over water are evidence for why we can no longer take our water for granted. Safe and adequate freshwater resources are central to the health of our economy and communities, and to the foreign policy and security of the United States, but we are failing to manage our water for future generations. Unless we understand and tackle our water problems, we will be faced with rapidly growing economic, political, and public health consequences. Here are four of the most important national water challenges that the next administration will have to tackle — these and other problems and solutions, are described in detail in this new book.

The nation’s freshwater supply and quality are threatened by overuse, mismanagement, and contamination. As a whole, the United States is a relatively water-rich country. But our water is unevenly distributed and used, and despite 40 years of the Clean Water Act, it is increasingly contaminated by inadequately regulated and managed industrial and agricultural activities. Much of our water is used wastefully and ineffectively, in part because of the lack of coherent and integrated national water policy. While many water challenges are local, and must be addressed locally, national water policies are also needed to protect public and environmental health. Two dozen different federal agencies have some kind of responsibility for managing and protecting water, but they do not work together in an effective or coordinated manner. Our tap-water quality and the health of our rivers and lakes are not as well protected as they should be. Decisions about energy policy are made without considering the implications for water, leading to growing conflicts in rural communities over access to, and contamination of, local water supplies. Farmers get mixed signals about how to use water, leading to overdraft of groundwater and inefficient irrigation in many areas of the country.

Our national water challenges are part of a broader set of global water problems. Basic water services, including safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation, are still unavailable for between two and three billion people around the world. Surprisingly, however, some of those people are here in the United States. More rural communities are finding their local water supplies to be contaminated with industrial or agricultural pollutants like nitrates, perchlorate, hexavalent chromium, or other contaminants that are un- or inadequately regulated. The failure to provide basic water services to all has direct and indirect public health and economic ramifications for the U.S. We must ensure that all Americans have access to safe and affordable drinking water, and at the same time, we stand to gain substantial international goodwill if we use our technological and economic strengths to help provide clean water and sanitation globally. Many of the world’s most active community and non-governmental water organizations are based in the United States and the nation as a whole can play a leading role in addressing these problems, by redirecting foreign aid budgets and in encouraging international aid organizations to refocus efforts toward meeting basic water needs.

Water-related problems also threaten our national security. In our globally integrated economy, water problems in other countries reverberate back home. Political insecurity and instability is growing in regions where access to freshwater is a problem, including especially in North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, with growing concerns about tensions in the central Asian republics. Less predictable hot spots are also likely to appear and there are growing reports of violence and political disruption over water shortages in parts of Africa. Just this month the BBC reported that over 100 people have died in conflicts between farmers and cattle herders over land and water in Kenya. Because conflicts over water contribute to broader political tensions and conflicts, diplomatic efforts to reduce the risks of conflict must now include an environmental component. Furthermore, military preparedness should include an improved understanding and analysis of the threats associated with water.

To their credit, the U.S. intelligence and security communities are beginning to pay attention to water as a factor in threats to our national security, as noted in the most recent Intelligence Community Intelligence Community Assessment on global water resources from the Defense Intelligence Agency, but more attention should also be given to the best ways to reduce international risks of conflict over water scarcity and contamination and to protect our domestic water system from terrorism.

Climate change will have direct impacts on U.S. water resources. As this year’s brutal drought, extreme summer temperatures, and violent weather have made clear, global climate changes are already occurring. Many of these impacts will intensify in coming years, and many of them will have direct implications for our water resources. Climate changes will alter rainfall patterns, increase water demands, raise the cost of food in our markets, increase the probability and consequences of both extreme droughts and floods, and even affect the generation of energy from thermal and hydroelectric power plants. The U.S. should put in place a national strategy to integrate climate change into water management and planning at all levels. Particular emphasis must be given to two simultaneous efforts: reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with our water systems, and help local communities adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change on water availability and quality. To their credit, more and more local water agencies are trying to do these things, but national guidance and support are needed.

There is some good news. The United States is endowed with abundant, high-quality freshwater and sophisticated water collection, treatment, and distribution systems. Our tap water system is one of the best in the world and should (and can) be even better. Our use of freshwater, while often inefficient, is improving. Water-use productivity in the United States has dramatically increased in recent decades. But far more can be done. If we value water, we will treat it as the critical resource that it is, and we will continue to work toward improvements in access, quality, and use. The nation needs a 21st century water policy that will restructure and streamline Federal water programs, integrate energy and water policies, invest in water systems for underserved communities, improve water-quality monitoring and treatment, modernize and enforce outdated national water quality laws (including the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act), and modify or eliminate subsidy programs that lead to unsustainable water use. A first step should be acknowledgement by our elected officials of their awareness of the problems and their willingness to work toward effective solutions.

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Finally people are waking up to the fact that there are problems with our fresh water sources not only in Louisiana but elsewhere. I am so grateful to LPB programing in bringing this to the public attention. I only wish more TV stations would do this, because this is the most important problem in Louisiana. This show was not about not having our most important industries or farmers using water, it was about responsible withdrawal from our aquifers and use of ground water.

Some of the interviews and panelists that struck me the most were:

Sen. Fred Mills, R- New Iberia, who has worked very hard to try to protect our only fresh water source, the Chicot aquifer with his SB532 MILLS CONSERVATION – Provides for certain requirements for use of ground water from the Chicot Aquifer. SB532 was heard by the Se! nate DNR and Health & Welfare committees. Both committees voted against the bill. This would have help prevent saltwater intrusion into the Chicot aquifer. The bill would have made sure with an Environmental Impact Statement that the Chicot aquifer would be protected against large withdrawals.

Sen. Gerald Long, R-Winnfield, head of the DNR Senate Committee that heard our pleas to get Bill 532 to the floor for a vote, voted against SB532 to help protect the Chicot aquifer from large withdrawals and salt water intrusion.

Don Briggs, lobbyist, Louisiana Oil and Gas Association stated that with the abundance of natural gas we are looking to export the gas. Don Briggs insisted that the oil and gas companies are working with the state to protect our water supplies.

James Welsh, Commissioner of Conservation, DNR, spoke of needing a comprehensive water plan for the state.

Hays Town, Jr., Save Baton Rouge Water, stated that there are problems with salt ! water intrusion in the aquifer that furnishes the water for Baton Rouge because of over use. He stated that before long Baton Rouge will be getting their water from the Mississippi river & paying a lot more for it. http://www.savebrwater.com/

The most important thing learned was it is time for action and not more talk. Thanks again LPB.

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If the Sabine River Authority wants to sell Toledo Bend Reservoir water to Texas or any other state, it would have to get approval of the governor, legislative committees and parish municipal governments under legislation headed for final approval in the House.

SB436 by Sen. Gerald Long, R-Winnfield, doesn’t take away the SRA’s authority to enter contracts which provide for the sale, utilization, distribution or consumption of water outside the boundaries of the state, as long as it gets the written consent of the governor. But it adds the approval of the House and Senate natural resources committees, two thirds of police jurors in the parishes that border the reservoir and two thirds of the municipal government officials in those parishes.

Long says the people affected by possibly lowering the water level of Toledo Bend should have a say in whether water is sold. He said he received numerous complaints about a proposal last year to sell water to the Lower Neches River Authority in Texas when the Toledo Bend water level was low.

“By no means are we going to tell the Sabine River Authority what they can do,” said Rep. Frank Howard, R-Many, who is handling Long’s bill in the House. “All we’re asking for is a little oversight.”

Larry Kelly, of Anacoco, said “This bill kills the ability for the Sabine River Authority to sell water.” He told the House Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee that “as of 8 o’clock this morning” he was still a member of the authority board.

The region has 64 members of police juries and an uncounted number of municipal officials, Kelly said.

Rep. James Armes, D-Leesville, who joined Kelly in opposing the bill, said the SRA “learned a valuable lesson” from its attempt to sell water last year.

Since Texas owns half of Toledo Bend and that state’s authority is selling water, it depletes the water level in Louisiana, too, Kelly said. “Our water is going to Texas and we’re not getting anything for it.”

Committee Chair Karen St. Germain tried to shuffle the bill to the house Natural Resources Committee, but Long said he believes it was sent to the right committee.

The panel rejected St. Germain’s attempt and unanimously sent it to the House floor for debate.

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TOLEDO BEND — Frustration tops the reasons Sabine River Authority Chairman Robert Conyer gave for his unexpected resignation late last week, ending a 4.5-year stint on the Toledo Bend Reservoir governing board.

Conyer, of Zwolle, tendered his resignation hours after the board of commissioners voted unanimously to suspend further movement on a proposed water sales contract that would have sent water to Texas. While Conyer was with the majority, his decision to leave was sealed with that vote.

“I came from a manufacturing background. I kept my job by getting things done and when it came to trying to pull something together to get something done for the SRA, working through politics became the most frustrating thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Conyer said.

He added, “I tried to do the right thing; we tried to do the right thing. We talked to everybody we could talk to. We got an attorney general’s opinion. I just didn’t know what else we could do and it just seemed at every turn there was something else demanded of us to do.”

Commissioners had already decided prior to Thursday’s meeting to end the water sales talks. Opposition from citizens, civic groups and local governing bodies had been growing in recent weeks, even though the SRA had been talking about TB Partners’ proposal for most of 2011 and took the first official vote in its favor in August.

SRA representatives participated in numerous meetings with state officials in the governor’s office to discuss specifics of the contract and at no time did anyone at the state level pull the plug.

Conyer said he and SRA Executive Director Jim Pratt traveled “up and down the basin” talking to government and civic groups to explain how they believed the contract with TB Partners for water sales was the best way to move away from hydroelectric power generation and create a more stable lake level.

“But we just didn’t have ability to get information to all of them and the end result is we were not able to make it work. I’m sorry for the people up and down the lake because there was such a benefit to it,” Conyer said.

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TOLEDO BEND — In excess of 500 people already have submitted comments to the Sabine River Authority of Louisiana concerning a proposed contract to sell water from Toledo Bend Reservoir to Texas.

Perhaps only a dozen lean toward support should the contract get some tweaking. But the rest are adamantly opposed.

Even the Caddo Parish Commission has joined in the discussion with a resolution Thursday also opposing water sales across the state line.

But for those still wanting a voice in the decision, today is the deadline. Comments must be submitted in person, by email or postmarked with today’s date through the postal service. At issue is the proposal from TB Partners seeking a commitment of 600,000 acre-feet of water annually for its Texas customers.

It will pay a $4 million upfront payment by July 1, plus an escalating reservation fee for the first 10 years that could generate more than $40 million. Investors agree to pay 28 cents per 1,000 gallons, an increase over the current rate or 15 cents per 1,000 gallons, that could result in annual income of $54 million, in addition to millions more in compensation tied to overall performance of the project.

The 99-year length of the contract is among the many worries some have about the plan, in addition to future impact to Louisiana should drought conditions in the area continue.

The Caddo Commission’s resolution urges the SRA to delay any commitment to sell water until completion of a regional utility master plan.

“In the next 10 years, water is going to be gold,” Commissioner David Cox said. “If you’ve got it, you better keep it.”

SRA Chairman Robert Conyer was on hand to explain the SRA’s plans. Several commissioners questioned the direct impact selling the water would have on Caddo Parish, which Conyer couldn’t answer.

“That hacks me off when you don’t have to come to the citizens and ask them to vote and approve it,” Commissioner Joyce Bowman said. “It’s not right to have a board to decide something like that. I think that’s something that should go before the citizens.”

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Toledo Bend plan draws criticism

by Mark Ballard

Capitol news bureau

January 03, 2012

The Jindal administration opposes, at least for the time being, a proposal by Republican fundraisers that would sell Louisiana drinking water to Texas.

“There’s talk of a January vote and I think that is way too fast,” Stephen Waguespack said last week. He is reviewing the deal for Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal. The contract will need Jindal’s signature.

The 13-member Sabine River Authority Board, called SRA, is expected to vote later this month on a contract of up to 99 years duration, which would sell to private investors up to 600,000 acre-feet of fresh water — about 195 billion gallons — from Toledo Bend for 28 cents per thousand gallons. The state is allowed to sell up to 1 million acre-feet of the 76-mile-long reservoir, which is capable of storing about 4.5 million acre-feet of water.

If the terms are met and agreed upon, the SRA could net about $54.7 million a year. The SRA reports that in good years, its annual budget is about $4.5 million.

“I don’t think they have worked through all the complex issues with those stakeholders. They need to do that,” Waguespack, Jindal’s chief of staff, said of the SRA. “Stakeholders” include farming communities that depend on the water for irrigation, natural gas drillers in the Haynesville shale fields who use water-intensive processes to extract natural gas, and downstream efforts that use the fresh water from the Sabine River to help rebuild marshes to stop coastal erosion.

But Donald T. “Boysie” Bollinger, the head of Toledo Bend Partners LP, the private company proposing to buy the water, said the contract would provide the SRA, the people living in the parishes next to the reservoir, and the rest of the state, money from a resource presently not being used.

“We’re throwing this water down the Sabine River into the Gulf. It’s excess water for the needs of Sabine River basin parishes,” Bollinger said. If the contract is approved, TB Partners would build a pipeline and sell drinking water to Texas municipalities, he said.

The 2007 State Water Plan for Texas projects future municipal demands will increase 92 percent between 2010 and 2060, from 1.5 million acre-feet to 2.9 million acre-feet.

The minutes of meetings of the Dallas City Council show that Texas’ second largest city has been pursuing drinking water from Toledo Bend since 2008. Houston, that state’s largest city, unsuccessfully sought the water before that.

Bollinger’s family, as well as family members of Aubrey Temple Jr., a banker and businessman from DeRidder, and Billy Joe “Red” McCombs, a San Antonio car dealer and investor, are listed in the proposed contract as owning 10 percent or more of TB Partners, a company with dozens of investors.

Bollinger, a Lockport shipbuilder, his family and their companies have given nearly $1 million in 500 contributions to candidates seeking a variety of offices in Louisiana over the past dozen years, according to disclosures made with the Louisiana Board of Ethics. Temple has given about $53,000 to GOP candidates in Louisiana.

Negotiations between TB Partners and the Sabine River Authority began in January 2011, said Jim Pratt, SRA executive director. A contract was hammered out in June 2011. But Jindal kicked it back, saying because the water is owned by Louisiana taxpayers, the SRA needed to follow established competitive bidding procedures, a process called “Request for Proposals.”

An advertisement ran in the Sabine Index newspaper on Oct. 19 and Oct. 26. The SRA sent out packets to five or six parties that expressed interest, but only TB Partners submitted a proposal, Pratt said.

The difference between TB Partners’ proposal in June and the one presently before the board is that the price paid the SRA for its water increased to 28 cents and terms were adjusted for how a $40 million “reservation fee” would be paid during the seven to 10 years while the pipeline is built. No water would be taken until the pipeline is finished.

The SRA is scheduled to close public comment period Friday and plans a Jan. 12 public hearing, Pratt said. A committee of the SRA Board recommended approving the contract at the next official meeting on Jan. 26.

Louisiana and Texas, which geographically share Toledo Bend, are each allocated 1 million acre-feet of water. Louisiana has historically used less than 3 percent of its annual water allocation, according to an SRA analysis of the proposed water sales agreement. But about 1 million acre-feet of water flows through a hydropower plant that makes electricity, mostly between May and September. Hydropower plant fees account for about 40 percent of the SRA’s budget.

Pratt said selling the water to TB Partners would spread the water use throughout the year, rather than being concentrated in the summer, when recreational use of the lake is at its height. The plant still could make electricity, but only when there is enough water in the reservoir, he said.

At a Dec. 7 meeting held in Baton Rouge, state Soil and water Conservation Commission member Ernest Girouard asked if a severe drought occurred and there is no water to sell, would Louisiana taxpayers be liable? “They could not give him an answer,” stated minutes of the meeting.

Sabine Parish opponents to the contract usually begin by saying they don’t oppose selling water from Toledo Bend. But they then question whether the amount of water being sold can be better controlled by the SRA, as Ted Dove of the Toledo Bend Citizens Advisory Committee, a group made up of homeowners, did during an interview last week.

“We, as a community, have to be assured that all the what-ifs have been studied and analyzed and addressed in the contract,” Dove said. Among several issues the community wants addressed, he said, “We want to be assured that water levels stay at a viable level.”

Chester “C.A.” Burgess Jr., a SRA board member from Evans, said the local opposition is not that widespread. “Why it’s so emotional right now, is because the lake is low because of the prolonged drought,” he said, noting that some boat docks are dry.

Linda Curtis-Sparks, director of the Sabine Parish Tourist Commission in Many, said the tourism industry also “wants assurances about the level of the lake.”

About 200,000 day users visit Toledo Bend’s recreational facilities each year to swim, fish, boat and picnic. About 60,000 stay overnight, according to the SRA analysis. The estimated the annual economic value of recreational boat fishing alone is $38 million, the SRA says.

The height of the reservoir is usually about 172 feet m.s.l. Mean sea level, or m.s.l, is the standard measurement of the elevation in bodies of water.

The hydro-electric generating plant is legally required to shut down when the lake goes below 168. The lake is not navigable at about 163 feet m.s.l. Drought has caused Toledo Bend elevations to hover around 160 through much of 2011.

The “Drought Contingency Plan,” which is an attachment to the contract, outlines how much water would be taken should the reservoir’s water elevation fall below specific levels. For instance, if water levels drop to 160.42 feet m.s.l, the SRA could vote to reduce the amount of water available for sale by up to 20 percent.

Many Mayor Ken Freeman, whose sales tax revenues have decreased because of the drought-caused decline in tourism, said if the board invoked the full 20 percent reduction on today’s level, Toledo Bend levels would drop another 3 feet or so from the water that is taken under the proposed contract’s drought protocol.

But Freeman said there is an even bigger issue at stake: the growth of the world’s population and the growing need for fresh water. The contract would lock in a price —for up to 99 years — for a commodity whose value could explode, he said.

“How much money are we leaving on the table by not going out to advertise this to the people who understand high finance and commodities and the next big thing?” Freeman asked.

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By Vickie Welborn

Not surprisingly, most who offered comment at a state water management plan public meeting Wednesday night continue to be worried about the effect of hydraulic fracturing on the area’s ground water level and quality.

From Wayne Medlin, of Stonewall, who shared how water wells on his and another family member’s property went dry as natural gas wells were drilled nearby into the Haynesville Shale, to Sarah Boswell, who called for a halt to all industrial use of ground water and limited use of surface water.

Boswell related a story about growing up in California, where strict water conservation meant bathtubs couldn’t be filled beyond the depth of the first pinky finger joint.

“Water is the most precious resource we have. “» It’s dumbfounding to me we allow industry to take water from the ground.”

Her comments were met with applause from the audience, which numbered about 70. That’s far below the attendance some predicted given the drought-induced water emergencies plaguing this region in recent months.

The meeting was one of five spread out over the state in the past two days to allow the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources to solicit public comment on the draft ground water plan that ultimately will morph into a final document governing the management of the state’s surface and ground water resources.

A professional consulting firm crafted the 520-page document containing history of the state’s water laws and recommendations for change. The final report is scheduled to be submitted to the Louisiana Legislature in March.

John Adams, an attorney for the state conservation office, presided at the meeting. Audience members were encouraged to comment on their concerns or suggestions. No questions were answered; however, Adams offered clarification on some issues.

A copy of the proposed plan is available on the DNR website. And transcripts of the public meetings in Shreveport, Monroe, Alexandria, Crowley and Baton Rouge will be added to the site as soon as they are completed, along with a copy of the formal presentation, Adams said.

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By Vickie Welborn

TOLEDO BEND — Less than 24 hours after the Sabine River Authority board of commissioners voted unanimously to approve an out-of-state water sales contract, the governor’s office put the brakes on it.

Executive counsel Stephen Waguespack faxed a letter to board Chairman Robert Conyer saying the SRA’s agreement with Toledo Bend Partners will not receive “written concurrence from this office unless it is, at the minimum, a product of a competitive (request for proposals). As you surely recall, I articulated this requirement in our meeting last week and again during our phone conservation yesterday. For your benefit and that of the board, I wanted to reiterate this requirement in writing.”

SRA commissioners readily acknowledged at a board meeting Thursday that the signature of Gov. Bobby Jindal is required for any out-of-state water sales from Toledo Bend Reservoir.

However, it was only last week — as plans were made to ink the final deal after nine months of negotiations with the TB Partners in conjunction with the governor’s office — was the idea of getting bids from other interested parties suggested by Waguespack, who made personal calls to Conyer and Commissioner Larry Kelly, who also chairs the Water Sales Committee.

The board is “evaluating what to do now,” Kelly said. “We will work within the guidance given. We will do what’s best for the SRA and the citizens.”

TB Partners wants to pipe 600,000 acre-feet of water a year to Texas and is willing to pay an annual reservation fee, an increased water purchase price and other incentives that would mean millions of dollars in revenue for the SRA over the life of the 99-year agreement. Actual pumping of water was estimated to be seven or more years away since the infrastructure hasn’t been built.

But that’s a good thing, commissioners agreed, as Toledo Bend slowly dips toward the historical low of 161.25 reached in October 2006. It measured 161.48 Friday.

A drought contingency is included in the TB Partners agreement — and would be in any other contract — to shut off the flow when the reservoir suffers from insufficient inflow.

The SRA will get input from the attorney general and state Department of Economic Development on how to craft a request for proposals.

“We’ll lean on them for their expertise and guidance,” Executive Director Jim Pratt said. “And before we have another meeting, we will have something definite from the AG and iron this all out before sending out RFPs.”

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