Winning the Water Wars | WWD Weekly Digest

Jan. 7, 2021
Water policy and regulations are a source of many legal, ethical and moral arguments among utilities, agricultural interests, environmentalists, private landowners and other stakeholders’ interests in California.

Water policy and regulations are a source of many legal, ethical and moral arguments in the state of California. Utilities, agricultural interests, environmentalists, private landowners and other stakeholders’ interests create a complicated web when determining who gets what amount of water.

Steve Greenhut, journalist and author of Winning the Water Wars, talks about how the state can address its water issues by creating water abundance rather than managing water scarcity. He highlights how reframing the conversation can shift attitudes to create common ground between water stakeholders throughout the state. And he notes California’s experience with these discussions can become lessons for water scarcity in other states in the U.S.

  • Intro: (0:00)
  • Why research and write a book about Western U.S. water scarcity?: (0:44)
  • What does creating water abundance mean?: (4:07)
  • Unpacking the complexity of California water politics: (8:20)
  • Using California as a model for ensuring water abundance nationally: (11:44)
  • Weighing regional versus national water policy options: (15:27)
  • Funding follows crises and how to place attention on water culturally: (22:15)
  • Outro: (25:27)

Check out Steve Greenhut’s book “Winning the Water Wars”: https://www.amazon.com/Dealing-Drugs-Consequences-Government-Control/dp/0936488077

Watch last week’s video about the On-Site Chlorine Generation 2020 WWD Top Project: https://www.wwdmag.com/videos/site-chlorine-genearation-tai-po-wtw-2020-wwd-top-projects

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