Avoiding New Water Storage Facilities

May 21, 2008 Resolutions

Number: 2008-06

 

WHEREAS, rivers and streams that provide important fish and wildlife habitat and water supply for growing human populations have been significantly altered for water supply, irrigation, energy production, and flood control; and

WHEREAS, once altered and disconnected from their wetlands and floodplains, these rivers and streams provide degraded habitat for fish and wildlife, and are rendered more susceptible to the impacts of global warming; and

WHEREAS, several United States Governors, responding to predicted population growth, and the threat of reduced water availability resulting from global warming, have announced programs to plan new water storage and conveyance facilities; and

WHEREAS, new dams, reservoirs, and other water storage and conveyance facilities would likely result in the further degradation of imperiled habitat for fish and wildlife populations as well as inundation of high value wetland, floodplain, and in stream habitat; and

WHEREAS, existing water storage and conveyance facilities are aging and nearing life-expectancy capacity due to upstream erosion and in-basin sedimentation; and

WHEREAS, efficient use, conservation, reuse and recycling of water resources can reduce the need for additional storage facilities such as reservoirs, and natural storage maximized in forested headwaters, floodplains, braided channels, and wetlands can keep water resources available to fish, wildlife, and people while minimizing the need for storage facilities;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, at its annual meeting assembled May 14-17, 2008, in Keystone, Colorado, opposes development of new water storage projects, unless the following criteria are met:

  1. Performance of detailed needs assessments that incorporate demand management and full-cost pricing in projections of future demand;
  2. No lower-impact alternatives, such as conservation, reuse or using existing, rehabilitated or re-operated reservoirs, are available;
  3. Maximization of existing water supplies through efficiency, conservation and reuse of wastewater in both non-potable and potable applications;
  4. Adoption of integrated water resource planning and management approaches, in order to optimize the performance of existing water infrastructure;
  5. Completion of an analysis of the effects of climate variability and climate change on the reliability and performance of existing freshwater supply systems, as well as on water needs for fish and wildlife;
  6. Protection and restoration of fish and wildlife habitat and populations as part of the projects, well beyond that needed to mitigate the direct environmental and social impacts of siting, constructing, and operating the projects;
  7. Identifiable beneficiaries of water supplies or other benefits pay pro rata shares of the project’s costs, including construction, operation and maintenance; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges federal, state and local owners of existing water storage and conveyance facilities to implement Best Management Practices (BMPs) available through existing under-utilized conservation programs to significantly reduce upstream erosion and extend the useful life of existing water storage and conveyance facilities.