[Vision2020] Regional Water Policy

[Kenneth Marcy]

On Monday 09 March 2009 18:00:49 Paul Rumelhart wrote:
> I am a Moscow native, for whatever that's worth.  Technically, I moved
> here from St. Maries when I was five.  Hopefully that still counts.  I
> even left for two years and came back.

As a youngster my father's father rode a horse with the family's wagon train 
from Michigan to the Palouse. While a young man here he married one of the 
ladies of the longer-established Russell family, attended the agricultural 
course at the University, and produced my father and some of my uncles. Later 
he moved his family northward in Idaho, and prospered as a farmer and mill 
worker, as did my father. I moved to Moscow to attend the University, left 
after graduation for employment, and returned years later for more education.

> Now that we have established my bonafides, I'd like to say that I, too,
> don't wish to see Moscow turn into one long strip mall.  I don't mind a
> few smallish malls, they can be convenient.  But I don't wish to see
> them on every block.

From an urban planning point of view there is something to be said for the 
convenience, practicality, and efficiency of localized groupings of 
residences, shopping and employment. However, given the contingencies of 
development over time, it is difficult to foresee an optimal composition and 
size of such groupings, especially in a relatively small area such as Moscow 
with one major employer among many smaller ones.

> However, the key point here is that the mall that we've all been
> discussing that pertains to the water issue is in another State -
> therefore we don't have much say if any in it's construction.  The only
> thing we can do is make an informed decision about water rights.  Like
> it or not, most of the Moscow/Pullman corridor is in Washington State.

Yes, most of the length of the corridor is in Washington, but the more 
important considerations are what quantities and proportions of the available 
water might be used, and for what purposes might the water be used, within 
the corridor's development. Residential and light commercial development may 
have relatively more modest water use requirements than heavy industrial 
uses. The multiple jurisdictional structures need to arrive at a regionally 
acceptable water development and use strategy to avoid difficulties 
associated with dichotomous decision-making about water policy and use.


Ken