The temptation to dismiss reporting violations as mere technical infractions is often strong, especially among the violators. But one of the best explanations of the importance of reporting water use information is found on the website of the Commission on Water Resource Management. We quote:
“Water use information is essential to the understanding of the behavior and response of our water resources to stresses from water withdrawals. Such information also ensures that demand is managed effectively within the sustainable limits of our water supply. Water use information can also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative water management policies, regulations, and conservation activities; assess the impacts of population growth and corresponding increases in water demands; develop trends in water use; and make projections of future demands.
“In an effort to implement management policies of the Commission identified through the State Water Code, its Rules, and the Water Resource Protection Plan, well owners are required to document and report their total water uses on a monthly and annual basis so that our public trust resources can be better understood and managed for future generations.”
According to Deborah Ward, public information officer for the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Water Commission, the commission is attempting to address the compliance issues identified in the report to the legislature. In an email response to written questions, she stated: “The commission is developing a system that will automate the collection and monitoring of water use information to male it easier for permittees to submit their reports and for staff to enforce reporting requirements. Part of the solution will be through the departments’ recent efforts to facilitate resource enforcement through its Civil Resource Violation System, which the Board of Land and Natural Resources approved on December 12, 2008.
— Patricia Tummons
Volume 19, Number 11 May 2009
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