U.S. Water News Online
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.-- The biggest danger to future water
security, according
to a New Mexico groundwater consultant, is continued confusion over
legal
usage and physical availability of water supplies. "Water is like
money and
the aquifer is the bank," stated Bill Turner.
In turn, Turner observed, water rights are like checks; without a
supply to
back them up, they are useless. "Water rights regulate who, among
competing
users, has the right to use the available physical supply," he said.
Simply
because someone or some entity acquires the legal right to pump water
doesn't
necessarily mean that there is an endless supply to pump, Turner
pointed out.
"To provide for our future water security, we must quantify our
water
resources and change the way we use it," he stated.
Water conservation programs must be enforced and expanded, the
groundwater
consultant emphasized. "Our water conservation programs must
continue," he
said. "New conservation measures must be developed ... Only by
working
together can we ensure that our underground vault isn't depleted by
needless
withdrawals."
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