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Explore the critical roles of watershed management and dam safety in providing water storage and protecting communities from potential disasters. Learn from past environmental disasters like the Aral Sea and failed projects like Tanzania's water sector development program. Discover the efforts of the New Mexico Watershed and Dam Owners Coalition in building and improving dam safety statewide, securing funding for water infrastructure projects, and prioritizing water resource management and planning.
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WATER IS POWER Tom Blaine, P.E State Engineer May 11, 2015 Watershed and Dam Owners Coalition
Thank You • Watershed management • Dam safety • PMP • Providing Water Storage • All critically important and often unnoticed jobs
Its easy to understand the importance of your work when we consider theimpactsof other failed projects
Caption: Aral Sea. Fishing boat on the Aral Sea before its destruction. The Aral Sea was a lake lying between Kazakhstan in the north and Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan, in the south. Formerly one of the four largest lakes in the world, with an area of 26,300 sq miles, the Aral Sea has been steadily shrinking since the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects. By 2007, it had declined to 10% of its original size. By 2009, the south eastern lake had disappeared and the south western lake had retreated to a thin strip at the extreme west of the former southern sea. The shrinking of the Aral Sea has been called one of the planet's worst environmental disasters and the region's once prosperous fishing
The Aral Sea in 1989, and 2014
Scale, Displacement of Citizens Example: Three Gorges Dam, China
The most powerful hydroelectric project in history, China’s “Three-Gorges dam” has slowed the Earth’s rotation down by 0.06 microseconds.
Throwing Money at the Problem World Bank Failure in Tanzania
2007 Problem – 54% of the population does not have adequate access to drinking water $1.4 billion Water Sector Development Program (WSDP) was appropriated to solve the problem showed signs it was not working after five years, the World Bank and other organizations provided even more money without first investing in identifying new solutions to old problems. The initial goal was ambitious: to bring improved access to water to 65 percent of rural Tanzanians and 90 percent of urbanites by 2010, and continue until each and every citizen had safe drinking water.
2007 Solution – Spend $1.4 Billion to bring safe drinking water to 65% of the rural areas and 90% of the urban areas
$1.42 Billion spent but fewer people have access to water than before.
We need to • Plan • Manage • Construct • All of our projects in New Mexico
New Mexico Watershed and Dam Owners Coalition has successfully worked with stakeholders, the OSE and dam owners to build and improve dam safety statewide
2014 Capitol Outlay Governor Martinez secured $89M in funding for water infrastructure projects around New Mexico include funding to repair damaged dams.
Looking Forward • Opportunities to: • Leverage available funding • Coordinate efforts for rehab work • Continue to create Emergency Action Plans.
2015 Priorities Streamlining the OSE permitting process Water Rights Adjudications Defending New Mexico’s water Active Water Resource Management State and Regional Water Planning Building a Sustainable Water Supply Indian Water Rights
