Institutional Framework for Modeling Water Availability and Allocation

Effective water resources management requires assessments of water availability within a framework of complex institutions and infrastructure employed to manage extremely variable stream flow shared by numerous, often competing, water users and diverse types of use. The Water Rights Analysis Package (WRAP) modeling system is fundamental to water allocation and planning in the state of Texas in the United States. Integration of environmental flow standards into both the modeling system and comprehensive statewide water management is a high priority for continuing research and development. The public domain WRAP software and documentation are generalized for application any place in the world. Lessons learned in developing and implementing the modeling system in Texas are relevant worldwide. The modeling system combines: (1) detailed simulation of water right systems, interstate compacts, international treaties, federal/state/local agreements, and operations of storage and conveyance facilities, (2) simulation of river system hydrology, and (3) statistical frequency and reliability analyses. The continually evolving modeling system has been implemented in Texas by a water management community that includes the state legislature, planning and regulatory agencies, river authorities, water districts, cities, industries, engineering consulting firms, and university researchers. The shared modeling system contributes significantly to integration of water allocation, planning, system operations, and research.

Institutional Framework for Assessing Water Availability and Allocation

Effective water resources management requires assessments of water availability within a framework of complex institutions and infrastructure employed to manage extremely variable stream flow shared by numerous often competing water users and diverse types of use. The Water Rights Analysis Package (WRAP) modeling system is fundamental to water allocation and planning in the state of Texas in the United States. Integration of environmental flow standards into both the modeling system and comprehensive statewide water management is a high priority for continuing research and development. The public domain WRAP software and documentation are generalized for application any place in the world. Lessons learned in developing and implementing the modeling system in Texas are relevant worldwide. The modeling system combines: (1) detailed simulation of water right systems, interstate compacts, international treaties, federal/state/local agreements, and operations of storage and conveyance facilities; (2) simulation of river system hydrology; and (3) statistical frequency and reliability analyses. The continually evolving modeling system has been implemented in Texas by a water management community that includes the state legislature, planning and regulatory agencies, river authorities, water districts, cities, industries, engineering consulting firms, and university researchers. The shared modeling system contributes significantly to integration of water allocation, planning, system operations, and research.

Creating Accountability with Interstate Cooperation

While lacking coercive power to compel enforcement, interstate compacts create accountability through multiple sources and layers connecting enforcement behavior to oversight. Using logistic regression, we test a model of accountability and enforcement of unauthorized water usage on the Klamath River. Findings indicate unauthorized water usage is far more likely to be reported and enforced on the Klamath River than on neighboring rivers in the same counties. Conclusions indicate the increased institutional layers of interstate compacts lead to more accountability and stringent enforcement and reporting of unauthorized water use.

Interstate Water Compacts: Partnerships for Transboundary Water Resource Management

While there are both successes and challenges related to the use of interstate water compacts, in their most effective forms they allow states to take a comprehensive, holistic approach to water management. Successful compacts tend to encompass the natural hydrologic boundaries of the water basin. They are more likely to utilize a commission type governance structure with sufficient authority to carry out the mission and goals of the compacting agreement. Successful compacts are flexible and allow for future developments (including climate change) while being cognizant of the need to protect and enhance the environment. They are also sensitive to the needs and desires of various stakeholders, including federal, state, and local governments as well as non-governmental organizations. Water compacts also face a variety of challenges. They must answer to a wide and diverse constituent base, often with conflicting interests. Stronger states can and do attempt to “bully” other states, severely limiting or eliminating altogether the usefulness of the compact. Governance structures that fail to integrate the interests of all states into a single body simply make the compact into an arena where small scale water wars can be fought. To illustrate an area where interstate water compacts could make a significant contribution, this paper concludes with a case study highlighting South Carolina’s transboundary water issues with North Carolina and Georgia. Recommendations for South Carolina include beginning negotiations toward the development of federal-interstate compacts as well as considering action in the Supreme Court in the event that these negotiations fail.

Marketing Interstate Harmony

As the population of the American West continues to rise, increasing conflicts over water are inevitable. Complicating matters, the existing supplies are often far from demands and are often shared between states. To satisfy future demands, states must learn to transfer and share water. There are currently three methods for resolving water disputes between states: litigation in the Supreme Court, congressional allocation, and Interstate Compacts. All three are costly and take many years to reach a conclusion. However, most resources, like oil or timber, do not require special allocation methods. Instead, the market efficiently and equitably allocates these resources. While requiring regulation, water markets are also able to match water supply and demand. In recent years, every Western state has increased support of water markets within its borders. Encouraging water markets between the states would result in more efficient and equitable interstate distribution of water. Additionally, water markets increase water-use efficiency and provide incentives to move water to higher uses. Potential barriers to markets operating between the states are either unconstitutional or insignificant.

The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact: Making the Business Case

ABSTRACT The United States Constitution established and the Supreme Court has affirmed the proper role of states in regulating medicine throughout American history. However, the opportunities and mounting pressures of modern medical practice have called into question the viability of state-based regulation to address the increasing practice of physicians across state lines. This article will argue that the crossroads at which state medical boards find themselves provides an opportunity for an interstate compact as the best solution for adapting to the forces of current and future trends. A brief examination of the history of state-based licensing, and the dynamics that led up to the formation of the Federation of State Medical Boards will provide a basis for consideration of interstate compacts as a constructive response to critiques of the present regulatory structure. With a common understanding of the utility and widespread use of the interstate compact, we will turn our attention to how it emerged as a viable option, key specifics of an interstate compact for medical licensure, and the extent to which the model that has been crafted by the FSMB can complement the existing authority of state medical boards.