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RBC | If there’s a dominant force in the Colorado River Basin these days, it’s the Walton Family Foundation, flush with close to $5 billion to give away.
STOCK PHOTO
Run by the heirs of Walmart founder Sam Walton, the foundation donates $25 million a year to nonprofits concerned about the Colorado River. It’s clear the foundation cares deeply about the River in this time of excruciating drought, and some of its money goes to river restoration or more efficient irrigation.
Yet its main interest is promoting “demand management,” the water marketing scheme that seeks to add 500,000 acre-feet of water to declining Lake Powell by paying rural farmers to temporarily stop irrigating.
After two months without any significant moisture here on the Westside, it was nice to wake up one day last week and see 3 or 4 inches of snow. The dogs cavorted happily, the neighborhood seemed magical and I hoped that the sun would melt it away so that I wouldnât have to shovel the sidewalk.
I found myself thinking about water, and what it means for the future of our state and city.
Letâs start with the snow that fell on my yard, and maybe on yours as well. Itâs only partially the gift of heaven to our desiccated landscapes, since much of it will run off, evaporate or seep into the aquifers beneath. Once gone, it becomes the property of others. Those others include the city, which owns the water beneath your property and claimants to water that flows down Monument/Fountain creeks and eventually into the Arkansas River.