A Call For A Set Of Ahwahnee Principles For Water
Taken from a speech by Martha Davis
Closing Points
For all the angst that water issues have generated in California, and
I have a file cabinet filled with newspaper clippings, the truth is that
we have been willing to spend more time and money on fighting over the
minutia of water contracts than we have in getting on with the development
of real water supplies within our communities. I would also argue that,
given the importance of water supplies as a fundamental resource within
our communities, we have been remarkably passive. The old way of thinking
about water is that someone else would ultimately “take care of the
problem” be it your local wholesaler, the state or even the federal
government.
I submit that no one else will take care of developing the water supplies
we need unless we do it ourselves. And no one will do it with the sensitivity
to the needs of our local communities unless we do it ourselves.
The good news is that we have an array of choices (demonstrated through
this conference). And we can develop approaches that will support the new
urban design principles.
Martha Davis is the Executive Manager for Policy Development, Inland
Empire Utilities Agency. This is the text of her closing speech to the
Ahwahnee Conference on March 16, 2003.
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