215
US water use, and use in all sectors except agricultural, declined between 2005 and
2015, while agricultural use increased only slightly.
4
This increase is largely due to
the increased reliance on irrigation in US states east of the Mississippi River.
8.2 The U.S. Regulatory Framework by FEW Sector
The following sections outline some important regulatory frameworks at the federal
level for the water, energy, and food sectors. The list is by no means exhaustive and
focuses on critical regulations designed primarily to regulate one sector but which
turn out to have significant impacts on other sectors at the food–energy–water
nexus. It may be helpful here to recall the discussion on the micro, meso, and macro
scales of nexus effects and policies in Chap. 12.
8.2.1 Water
In Sect. 2.5, we introduced the concept of water systems at various scales. Similarly,
some US laws and policies also are based on hydrologic units such as the watershed
or catchment basin; some are based on political, jurisdictional boundaries such as
states, counties, towns, and cities; and still, others are based on “hydro-economic
units” such as irrigation districts. The term, hydro-economic unit is often used in
modeling. In this text, it denotes a group of people who share, for a distinct economic
purpose, water that is in one or more hydrological units.
Water governance in the USA is complicated by the division between water
quantity laws and water quality laws and the historical lack of recognition of the
intimate hydrological connection between surface water and groundwater flows.
Water quantity law prioritizes obtaining maximum utility from water resources,
promoting multiple users and beneficial uses of any given water body. Water quality
law, meanwhile, focuses on preventing degradation and improving impaired waters,
goals arguably more subjective and difficult to measure. The two regulatory systems
are sometimes at odds with one another. For example, maximizing use of water
quantity in a stream can degrade its quality.
Water quantity regulation is critical to food and energy production; conversely,
production of food and energy substantially impacts water resources. Of all
freshwater withdrawals in the USA in 2010, irrigation and thermoelectric power
generation accounted for 36% and 40%, respectively, both of which are much larger
than the 14% used for public water supplies (Maupin et al. 2014). This contrasts
with the global average, where irrigation comprises about 70% of water usage
(Black 2016). These decreases may be attributed to increased efficiency in irrigation
4 See USDA, NASS, Quick Stats, http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/.
8 US Governance
US water use, and use in all sectors except agricultural, declined between 2005 and
2015, while agricultural use increased only slightly.
4
This increase is largely due to
the increased reliance on irrigation in US states east of the Mississippi River.
8.2 The U.S. Regulatory Framework by FEW Sector
The following sections outline some important regulatory frameworks at the federal
level for the water, energy, and food sectors. The list is by no means exhaustive and
focuses on critical regulations designed primarily to regulate one sector but which
turn out to have significant impacts on other sectors at the food–energy–water
nexus. It may be helpful here to recall the discussion on the micro, meso, and macro
scales of nexus effects and policies in Chap. 12.
8.2.1 Water
In Sect. 2.5, we introduced the concept of water systems at various scales. Similarly,
some US laws and policies also are based on hydrologic units such as the watershed
or catchment basin; some are based on political, jurisdictional boundaries such as
states, counties, towns, and cities; and still, others are based on “hydro-economic
units” such as irrigation districts. The term, hydro-economic unit is often used in
modeling. In this text, it denotes a group of people who share, for a distinct economic
purpose, water that is in one or more hydrological units.
Water governance in the USA is complicated by the division between water
quantity laws and water quality laws and the historical lack of recognition of the
intimate hydrological connection between surface water and groundwater flows.
Water quantity law prioritizes obtaining maximum utility from water resources,
promoting multiple users and beneficial uses of any given water body. Water quality
law, meanwhile, focuses on preventing degradation and improving impaired waters,
goals arguably more subjective and difficult to measure. The two regulatory systems
are sometimes at odds with one another. For example, maximizing use of water
quantity in a stream can degrade its quality.
Water quantity regulation is critical to food and energy production; conversely,
production of food and energy substantially impacts water resources. Of all
freshwater withdrawals in the USA in 2010, irrigation and thermoelectric power
generation accounted for 36% and 40%, respectively, both of which are much larger
than the 14% used for public water supplies (Maupin et al. 2014). This contrasts
with the global average, where irrigation comprises about 70% of water usage
(Black 2016). These decreases may be attributed to increased efficiency in irrigation
4 See USDA, NASS, Quick Stats, http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/.
8 US Governance