Transcript

John Keys: We've got all the water we're ever going to get

We see the challenge of the 21st century as being water. No matter what any of us say, we have got all the water we are ever going to get. They are not making any more, and we have to make the best use out of it. In some of the programs that we are working with, we are looking to the recycling and re-use of wastewater as the next river to tap. The southern California work that Dr. Getches talked about before is something that we're heavy into. Right now we've got about a dozen projects going there, but we see that expanding into the agricultural areas so that we are actually taking those wastewaters and using them where it is appropriate and saving the good water for where we need it. Another thing we are trying to do is make it easier within our project areas to transfer water. In other words, to convert it from one use to another. As our farmland is taken up, convert that water to municipal use, which is one example. We are looking to try to find easier ways to serve water to rural areas and to the Midwest. We've got these humongous projects out there, cost-wise now, that serve a few people. We are trying to find a new way to do that. So the challenge of the 21st century to us is water, and we think that Reclamation is in a unique position to help do that -- working with the states, with local groups, and with the Congress of the United States.

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