Coyote Gulch attended the Bill Richardson breakout session yesterday at Yearly Kos. We were fortunate enough to be able to ask the Governor a water question. Here's what he would do:
Richardson plans to appoint a cabinet level official to work on water policy across the nation. That official will then convene a "Water Summit" to study the issue and produce a water plan for the country.
He said that the Bureau of Reclamation is too far down in the Executive Branch hierarchy to be effective. According to the governor, the approach must be more comprehensive than just conservation because conservation is not enough. Of course BuRec is not the only agency involved in water management and quality. Not being able to ask a followup we couldn't find out if he was going to form a new water agency or stay with the current federal stovepipes.
We're pretty sure that the Governor wasn't just pandering and speaking in generalities to help his candidacy. Being the governor of New Mexico he has to have a deep understanding of water issues, we hope. We found just a few blurbs on his website, one about restoring the Clean Water Act and one about reducing toxic pollution. Another talks about smart growth. Any growth plan should be based on the sustainability of clean water supplies.
We're also cognizant that water is not a big issue for most of the U.S. It will be however when the rest of the country learns about the aging infrastructure, polluted groundwater and the costs associated with it. The Southeast and upper Midwest are also learning about drought the last few years.
Governor Richardson was asked about his commitment to ending worldwide poverty later in the program. We would remind him that tackling sustainable clean drinking water supplies for the world is basic to any economic growth. Thousands die each day from the lack of clean water.
"2008 pres"
9:25:38 AM 
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