From the Associated Press (Cristina Silva) via The San Francisco Chronicle:
Governors from across the West sparred over water and how to make sure everyone is getting their fair share Tuesday during a policy conference designed to drive consensus. Federal experts urged state leaders to weigh water needs over water wants, while state leaders pleaded for less federal oversight and new flexibility on water agreements that detail how much water states get from a limited pool of resources…
The discussion opened the Western Governors Association’s two-day conference in Las Vegas. Governors from 19 states, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands were invited. Water conservation and efficiency remained favorite solutions among government leaders eager to lap up the most use from fresh water sources.
Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter said Colorado is exploring agreements that allow farmers to lease excess water to governments. “A little bit of conservation goes a really long way,” he said…
Despite the common goals, the policy conference at times exposed tensions between federal water officials and state leaders. “I look forward to your assistance, but not too much of it,” Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, deadpanned to [Anne Castle, assistant secretary for Water and Science at the U.S. Department of the Interior] at one point…
“It seems we are nibbling away just at the edge of the antiquated laws that we created along the river that we always have to struggle around because we are so afraid to deal with the politics of the river,” said [Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons], a Republican. “Why is it if we can change the culture of the people in how they use water, we cannot change the culture of how we think about the rational basis of how we allocate water? For example, if Wyoming doesn’t use all of its allocation … can we not utilize that by wheeling it down the river for some other better use of that water?”