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Article 21 of the Washington state constitution asserts that "the use of the waters of this state for irrigation, mining and manufacturing purposes shall be deemed a public use," but most of us now living have never had to think about water much. West of the cascades it falls like, well, rain. Our mountains are mostly white even in summer and a thick blanket of forest has held and shaded it for steady use. With threats of global warming and increased population, though, it might be a good idea for us to think again.

Understanding the Water Cycle

In second-grade science many of us learned the basics of hydrology. Water from the sky flows downhill, to the ocean, where it evaporates to form clouds and then falls again, right as rain. What is not caught in winter snows to melt slowly throughout the summer goes into the soil. Some water stays in the soil, while other percolates down to form underground pools called aquifers. People without streams can drill holes, to pull up water, but what if the well is dry, or someone else has taken it first? This can be a major issue, as urbanized areas with significant industry and population have proven.

From Clark County to Los Angeles to India to Dune

The area west of the Cascades has long taken cheap and plentiful water as a given. There's a perception that overcast skies and tall mountains guarantee a year-round supply of potable water. This assumes past levels of population, forest cover and glacial ice pack, however, which simply don't apply. As anyone familiar with either the Bureau of Reclamation or Los Angeles knows, disputes over water can change the course of history and the "Cadillac desert" described in Marc Reisner's 1986 book of the same name is not sustainable. Private appropriation of public water for private gain was an issue a century ago in the southeast, is an issue now in India, and is likely to get bigger in the years to come. Although Clark County is not exactly Los Angeles yet, wise water use will become more important, and can manifest around issues as simple as keeping a rain barrel for one's own garden.

Gray Water Systems

"Gray water" is a term often used to describe home-scale water-recycling systems, including small-scale water containment in a pond, barrel or cistern. The term is designed to distinguish such water from "black water" (sewage) and clean, potable water, but such water can also be "gray" in a legal sense.

Although Washington state and Clark county have guidelines to discourage excessive runoff from new development, state law is not as clear as it might be about storing and using water on one's own property. A variety of local businesses sell rain barrels, and small cisterns which temporarily impound water for home use or drip irrigation seem unlikely to draw much attention. Robert Kourik wrote books on gray-water irrigation and drip systems, while more sophisticated gray-water systems can become moderately involved, as anyone who has visited the Water Resource Center can attest. How can we as a community work to make sure that we use water wisely, and that farmers have what they need to help feed us all?

Water Law, Human Rights, Riparian Rights and Prior Appropriation

The law around water can seem gray because it's complicated. Since 1889 the state constitution has protected mining, irrigation and manufacturing, but what of people? Water is necessary for life, so is it a human right like freedom of thought, speech or religion? Given that it's sold, is it simply private property like TV stations and gated communities? It is illegal for new developments to shed runoff without limit, but also illegal to capture and sell all the rain that falls on your property. It may even be technically illegal in some cases to save rain in a bucket. If Coca-Cola moves into a desert community and drains the aquifer for export, is that fair? What if the farm upstream decides to take up waterskiing or raise rice? Things can quickly get complicated, and current laws and trends do not favor all who eat or drink.

The best time for everyone to start thinking seriously about Clark County water was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.

For Further Information

• Fort Vancouver Regional Library will host a panel on "The Future of Our Domestic Water Supply" 7-9pm this coming Thursday, February 19, at 1007 E Mill Plain Blvd, as detailed on the VFN calendar.
• Basic articles on drinking water and the water cycle may be found on Wikipedia, as well as several articles on water law, water trading, riparian rights, prior appropriation, grazing rights and drainage law. Even before impoundment, things can get complicated.
• Marc Reisner's 1986 Book Cadillac Desert: The American West and its Disappearing Water provides a recent historical look at water issues in the United States, while Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune is set on a completely desertified planet, where water is currency. FVRL call numbers for these books are 333.91 REISNER and (in fiction) HERBERT, respectively.
• Maude Barlow's 2007 book Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water from The New Press. This is not currently available at FVRL but can be obtained through interlibrary loan or from the Multnomah County Library under call call number 333.91 B258bc 2008 or from Powells.
• An audio interview with transcript from Democracy Now with Amy Goodman, February 27, 2008.
• An excellent demonstration of suburban gray-water (with video) from the Los Angeles Times.
• Washington State Department of Ecology also has a collection of resources on water rights in Washington.