Mike Dombeck served as U.S. Forest Service chief from 1997 to 2001 and now teaches at University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point in the College of Natural Resources. Dombeck is noted for significant efforts toward watershed health and restoration, sustainable forest ecosystem management, sound forest roads and roadless area protection.
Is there a water crisis brewing?
Absolutely. I think not only worldwide, but in the United States as well. March 22 was World Water Day, proclaimed by the United Nations, and was the start of the Water for Life decade, 2005�. An estimated 1.1 billion people lack access to improved water sources; 2.6 billion lack adequate sanitation. There are 4 billion episodes of illness and 2.2 million deaths each year—mostly young children—related to water sanitation issues.
Where I live, in the Great Lakes states, most of the aquifers have declined by several hundred feet already, and this on the shore of the fifth–largest freshwater lake in the world, Lake Michigan. The Oglala aquifer, which stretches from South Dakota to Texas, is down anywhere from ten to a hundred feet below once–measured levels. So what we’re talking about here in the U.S. is only a matter of time.
Why aren’t people alarmed by the possibility of a water crisis?
There are a lot of people alarmed, but not enough. I think that there’s a lack of leadership on the part of the White House and the administration on these issues. When we’re talking about national security, we ought to be talking about securing the long–term health of the land, securing safe drinking water and adequate water supplies, not only for the American public, but for the people of the world.
I think that we are going to pay a price in future years for not having these issues on the front burner right now.
Part of the problem is that we don’t have nearly enough humility as a society when we think about this. Somehow we think that there’s going to be a technological fix, or that it’s OK to truck water from Vermont to California and it’s OK to buy bottled water as long as we can afford it. I think that it’s a little bit of an issue that’s out of sight, out of mind right now with a large part of the population. But it’s also our responsibility to make sure we deal with issues before they are crises, and this is where I think the administration is falling short.
What kind of policy changes could make people aware of water as a crucial issue?
Education, of course, is the key in helping people understand where water comes from, how aquifer recharge occurs and the basics of watershed function. But even more important, there’s an old saying that what gets talked about gets done. And I think a great example of that is this whole issue of terrorism and national security that’s been at the forefront that last two or three years. Just think about it. If we had an administration or a president or political leaders talking about the need to maintain our long–term water supply and what we have to do to keep it healthy, to keep it clean, to keep it plentiful, if they talked about that just 10 percent as much as they’re talking about national security, how would that increase the level of awareness? We need leadership at the highest levels on this issue now more than ever.
Right now, what is the biggest issue regarding water?
Depending on where you are, all of them. I think the biggest challenge we have is creating the awareness. Some of our high–growth areas in the Southwest are playing roulette with the water, and I really worry about where some of these places are going to get water in the next twenty–five to fifty years. Because as sprawl occurs and as development occurs, we’re encouraging people to move to places where there are not sustainable supplies of water. It’s going to cause big problems. I think it’s really a lot of the policymakers, and those of us in developed countries, especially the United States, who are ignoring this water issue. It’s not going to go away; it’s only going to get worse as population increases. The amount of water worldwide, or in the United States, is not increasing.
I think a challenge overall in conservation and natural resource management is connecting people to nature, because we live in these highly technological, affluent societies, yet one of my bedrock beliefs is that all wealth and quality of life stems from the land, in one form or another. We tend to have forgotten that, and we need to be continually reminded of all the things we get from nature. Scientists call it ecological services—when we try to replicate the things that Mother Nature does for us, we can’t even come close.
It seems that a lot of people care about the timber fights, a lot of people care about mining, grazing, recreation and other issues, but yet, when all is said and done it’s only a small percent of people that really care about these issues. So how do you get people to care about nature, to care about national forests and what we do on them? My belief is that water is one of the best issues to help people understand why the environment is important.