Column: Water is a precious resource, but we don't treat it that way in the U.S.
In jeopardy is the Colorado River and its dwindling water that feeds tables and drinking glasses. The upper basin states, which include Colorado, fight the lower basin states of California, Arizona and Nevada over water allotments, and although talks have not reached a standstill, negotiations have reached a stalemate.
Since publication of Robert Bilott's book "Exposure," 14 states of the Ohio River basin are engaging in talks about water and pollution. We expect this, since half the world's lakes and rivers are losing water and drying up.
Why? The U.S. has been on a binge to pave, tile and dam for almost a century. Paving stops infiltration so that rainfall runs off. Thirty percent of Iowa roughly, 80% of its cropland, is tiled for drainage. Early entry into fields with tractors makes 94-day hybrids possible. That translates into higher yields. Levees, a kind of dam, rob floodplains of their ecological service, namely the recharge of soil water and wells.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, known for damming rivers, is now known for damning them unawares. On the world scene, China is winning the hearts and minds of Africa by damming rivers — 330 dams in all parts of the world. But the hidden agenda is hydropower that enables the metallurgy of rare metals needed in computer chips, cars and weapons. These dams also court climate calamity, because layers of water promote air-less decay whose microbes waft methane, the worst greenhouse gas. Meanwhile, a third of America thinks that the Colorado River would be sufficient to "go around" if they buy bobble heads and golden sneakers!
We have to start being smart about our changing world. For one thing, farms need carbon amendments to hold water in the soil. The University of Michigan would like to capture, store and recycle tile drainage, because it is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, the fertilizers.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service promotes better engineering. Instead of culverts and ditches along forest roads, instead of inboard designs that channelize and drain runoff, the outcropping and crowning of road surfaces can spread rainfall to aid infiltration, soil moisture and the recharge of wells.
Forested watersheds produce more water if we stop paving and start burning. Trees are bio-pumps that suck the Earth dry, and a 100 years of plowing and fire suppression has led to bare land or overcrowded forests with too many trees.
If only farmers would give cover crops a chance, we could have clean rivers again. As it is, if we dip our water quality meters into any Indiana river, the dial swings toward "poisonous."
Pollution is there, just like the air. Health may be the greatest wealth, but it's not coin going into the State's richest pocketbooks.
Bud Hoekstra is a resident of Bloomington.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Columnist urges better water management before its too late
