A recent news article posted by reporter Chase Woodruff on one of my favorite Colorado websites — Colorado Newsline — bore the headline:
55% of Coloradans fear state won’t have enough water in 100 years, poll shows
Should we really be afraid?
And… should we be shopping at Walmart?
Apparently, the poll had been conducted during March by Morning Consult, a data-gathering company based in New York, Washington DC, and San Francisco… on behalf of the Walton Family Foundation, the primary charitable outlet of the Walton family, heirs to Sam Walton’s Walmart fortune. With a combined net worth of $196 billion as of March 2020, the Waltons are the wealthiest family in the world.
The Foundation, founded in 1987, is controlled directly by the Walton family, with all six board seats being held by Waltons. It initially focused on charter schools, a particular interest of Sam Walton and his sons. Over time, the Foundation evolved to focus on three areas: K-12 education, river and ocean protection, and economic development in Arkansas and Mississippi.
Few organizations come even close to the Walton Family Foundation, in terms of influencing government policy around the Colorado River.
According to an October 2021 article by reporter Scott Patterson in the Wall Street Journal:
A Wall Street Journal analysis indicated that the Foundation has given about $200 million over the past decade to a variety of advocacy groups, universities and media outlets involved in the river. No other donor comes close…
The Walton foundation has for years held that water markets are among the best ways to distribute and conserve the water that flows along the 1,450-mile river. A number of environmental groups that take Walton money are prominent water-market boosters…
Besides environmental groups like The Nature Conservancy, a number of news outlets also take money from the Walton Family Foundation, although they don’t always mention that their Colorado River coverage is being funded by the Foundation. News website Politico, for example, ran a feature that quoted Foundation’s head of Colorado River philanthropy, Ted Kowalski…. but forgot to the Foundation’s involvement in promoting specific water-market policies… nor did it mention the $200,000 grant that Politico had received from the Foundation.
The Foundation also funds water-related coverage by Aspen Journalism and by Colorado radio station KUNC… two news outlets often quoted, in turn, by other Colorado newspapers and news websites. (The Pagosa Daily Post does NOT receive funding from the Walton Family Foundation.)
Those news stories often serve to promote ‘water markets’ as a solution to the water problems in the American West.
Putting a monetary value on water has raised concerns among those who benefit from guaranteed access to water and those who believe markets benefit investors while hurting farmers and the poor. Water markets in Australia have been blamed for helping dry up waterways due to overuse by a handful of wealthy farmers and investors…
“Any time that the water starts becoming more valuable than the land, you end up with the possibility of outside speculators,” said Andrew Mueller, general manager of the Colorado River District, a public planning and policy agency that oversees water use in western Colorado. Mr. Mueller said his state has been seeing continued interest in agricultural water and lands by outside investment groups…
According to the Colorado Newsline article, Morning Consult surveyed about 300 registered voters in Colorado. The survey asked a number of questions related to climate change, and also asked respondents where they are getting their news about the topic.
One of the questions referenced by Colorado Newsline reporter Chase Woodruff was this one:
Will your state have enough water to meet its needs in 100 years?
Basically, a meaningless question. What does it even mean, to ‘meet a state’s needs’? Did the respondents assume ‘the status quo’ moving forward, for the next 100 years…?
…or did the respondents assume that big water users would find significant ways to reduce their water demand… but we would still have water shortages?
Did the respondent assume continued population increases, over the next 100 years…?
…Or did they factor in a declining birthrate in countries all around the world, including the US?
And can we ask: What was the ultimate purpose of the Morning Consult effort? Was the ultimate purpose to help spread fear about future water shortages among the people of Colorado… and thus, provide ammunition to a foundation with a clear policy agenda?
From the Colorado Newsline article:
A majority of Coloradans believe the state will face significant water shortages within the next century, a poll released Monday found.
Conducted earlier this month by Morning Consult on behalf of the Walton Family Foundation, the poll surveyed about 300 registered voters in Colorado, among 2,000 respondents nationally.
It found that Coloradans are more concerned on average about the threat of climate change than voters nationwide, with 57% agreeing that rising global temperatures are “having a massive impact on my community,” and 55% worrying that the state won’t “have enough water to meet its needs in 100 years.”
“It’s shocking that more than half of the residents in Colorado don’t think there will be enough water in their home state for their grandchildren to live out their lives,” Moira Mcdonald, environment program director for the Walton Family Foundation, said in a statement. “The Colorado River Basin is living through a historic drought fueled by climate change, and this poll shows there is urgency and unity among all voters to meet these challenges head-on. This is a time for bold leadership.”
Where, exactly, would Ms. Macdonald suggest the leadership ought to come from?
One of the survey questions not mentioned in Mr. Woodruff’s news article, is this one:
How much do you trust each of the following [groups] to use water responsibly in your state?
A majority of Colorado respondents indicated “some” or “a lot” of trust in farmers and ranchers, to use water wisely.
73% said they did not trust “Big business”.
Big business… like… Walmart?
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.