In this final installment of the Western Water 101 series we’ll turn our attention to current events to draw together some of the topics and themes we’ve explored over the course of the series. With the extremely dry conditions throughout the West, TU’s work—from on-the-ground projects to legislative advocacy and agency collaboration—is more important than ever. The current drought crisis in the region draws together many of the themes discussed over the course of this series:  

• How much water is there, especially in a climate that is increasingly drier and warmer, and how do we “best” use it? 
• The movement from conflict to collaboration in twenty-first-century western water management.  
• The need for twenty-first-century solutions, approaches, and infrastructure to confront the twenty-first-century challenges in the region.   

We’ll focus on the Colorado River Basin to do a deeper dive on the current drought and how these themes are playing out in the watershed.  

Along with the on-the-ground project work and agency relationship-building we focused on in the last two posts, TU also works for legislative change that improves habitat, provides tools to respond to drought, preserves a thriving agricultural economy and works toward water security in the West.

One of the legislative vehicles through which we work is the Farm Bill. This omnibus law is renewed every five to six years and covers a wide range of programs from crop insurance to commodity support to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP, formerly known as food stamps). It also includes the Conservation Title, which governs a number of programs that provide assistance to agricultural producers through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Services Agency (FSA) to address environmental issues such as water quality and quantity, soil health and fish and wildlife habitat.

Join us as we talk with Trout Unlimited’s Senior Counsel and Water Policy Adivsor, Laura Ziemer about all things Farm Bill.

In this episode, we’ll talk about how Trout Unlimited works with federal agencies to ensure that the projects they authorize and fund include projects that provide environmental uplift, increase water security and help answer the perpetual question of how best to use the West’s water resources in the twenty-first century.

TU staff work with federal agencies to make sure programs and funding respond to the West’s needs. In order to do this, we undertake detailed research and analysis of key programs run by federal agencies to see how the program has performed and whether it has fulfilled its statutory purposes. TU also draws on the deep well of experience from TU staff, volunteers, ranchers, farmers, and other partners engaged in putting projects on the ground in collaboration with the federal agencies. From this research and experience, we determine if there are agency-level or legislative changes we can advocate for to bring the greatest benefit to the West’s rivers, streams, and the communities that depend on them. We then work with agency staff, members of Congress and stakeholders to make these changes. Through this work TU has built deep relationships with the people who are engaged in these issues, and we are seen as a trusted, experienced and nonpartisan organization working for improved water management, water security, ecological health and a thriving agricultural economy in the West.