Rob Harmon: How the market can keep streams flowing

Translator: Alvaro Moya Reviewer: Jone Aliri Lazcano

This is a river.

Hau ibaia da.

Hau erreka da.

This is a stream.

This is a river.

Hau ibaia da.

Hau herri osoan zehar gertatzen ari da.

This is happening all over the country.

There are tens of thousands of miles of dewatered streams in the United States.

Dozenaka mila kilometro

daude Estatu Batuetan erreka lehorrez beteta.

On this map, the colored areas represent water conflicts.

Mapa honetan,

gune koloratuek ur-gatazkak irudikatzen dituzte.

Similar problems are emerging in the East as well.

Antzeko arazoak daude Ekialdean ere.

Arrazoiak estatu batetik bestera aldatzen dira.

The reasons vary state to state, but mostly in the details.

batez ere, xehetasunetan.

Badaude erreka lehorretako 6.400 kilometro

There are 4,000 miles of dewatered streams in Montana alone.

Montanan soilik.

They would ordinarily support fish and other wildlife.

Haiek normalean arrainak eta beste basa-bizitza barne hartuko lituzkete.

They're the veins of the ecosystem,

Ekosistemaren zainak dira,

eta, maiz, hutsik daude.

and they're often empty veins.

Kontatu nahi dizuet

I want to tell you the story of just one of these streams,

horiek bezalako erreka baten istorioa

because it's an archetype for the larger story.

istorio askoz handiagoko arketipoa delako.

This is Prickly Pear Creek.

Hau da Prickly Pear Creek.

It runs through a populated area from East Helena to Lake Helena.

Biztanle askoko gune baten zehar iragaten da

East Helena-tik Lake Helena-ra.

Basa-arrainak mantentzen ditu

It supports wild fish including cutthroat, brown and rainbow trout.

amuarrain mota batzuk, arrunta barne

baita ortzadar-amuarraina ere.

Nearly every year for more than a hundred years ...

Ia urte guztietan

orain dela ehun urte baino gehiagotik.

errekak hau bezalako itxura hartzen du udan.

it looked like this in the summer.

How did we get here?

Nola heldu ginen egoera hontara?

Beno, dena XIX. mendearen hondarrean hasi zen

Well, it started back in the late 1800s

Montana bezalako lekuetara biztanleak heltzean.

when people started settling in places like Montana.

In short, there was a lot of water and there weren't very many people.

Hitz gutxitan, ur asko zegoen

eta ez zegoen jende gehiegi.

But as more people showed up wanting water,

Baina ur bila jende gehiago zetorren heinean,

the folks who were there first got a little concerned,

aurretik ailegatu zirenak pixkat kezkatu ziren,

and in 1865, Montana passed its first water law.

eta 1865. urtean, Montana-k bere lehenengo ur-legea onartu zuen.

Lege horrek horrela zion, errekaren ondoen dagoenak

It basically said, everybody near the stream can share in the stream.

erreka parteka dezake.

Oddly, a lot of people showed up wanting to share the stream,

Eta, jende askok erreka partekatu nahian zetozen.

and the folks who were there first

eta aurretik ailegatu zirenek

got concerned enough to bring out their lawyers.

izugarri kezkatu zirenez, euren abokatuak ekarri zituzten.

There were precedent-setting suits in 1870 and 1872,

Auzi batzuetan jarraibideak eman ziren

1870. eta 1872. urteetan,

both involving Prickly Pear Creek.

Prickly Pear Creek errekarekin zerikusia zutenak.

Eta 1921. urtean,

And in 1921,

the Montana Supreme Court ruled in a case involving Prickly Pear

Montanaren Auzitegi Gorena-k

Prickly Pear errekarekin zerikusia zuen auzi batean erabaki zuen

that the folks who were there first had the first, or "senior water rights."

aurretik ailegatu zirenek

lehen mailako ur-eskubideak zituztela.

These senior water rights are key.

Lehen mailako ur-eskubide hauek gakoak dira.

Hots, Mendebalde osoan zehar arazo bera pairatzen dela

The problem is that all over the West now it looks like this.

dirudi.

Some of these creeks have claims

Erreka horietako batzuek

for 50 to 100 times more water than is actually in the stream.

errekan dagoen urarekin konparatuz

50 edo 100 aldiz gehiagoko ur-eskaerak dituzte.

And the senior water rights holders, if they don't use their water right,

Eta lehen mailako ur-eskubide horien jabeek

ur-eskubidea erabiltzen ez badute

they risk losing their water right --

ur-eskubideak galtzera arriskatzen dira,

baita uraren erantsitako balio ekonomikoa ere.

along with the economic value that goes with it.

Hots, haiek ez dute pizgarririk zaintzeko.

So they have no incentive to conserve.

So it's not just about the number of people;

Jende-kopurua ez da arazoa,

the system itself creates a disincentive to conserve

sistemak berak zaintzeko ardura suntsitzen baitu,

pertsona batek bere ur-eskubideak gal ditzakeelako, erabiltzen ez baditu.

because you can lose your water right if you don't use it.

So after decades of lawsuits and 140 years, now, of experience,

Beraz, hamarkadak pasa ostean auzitan jartzen

eta 140 urteko eskarmentua eta gero,

we still have this.

Oraindik horrela gaude.

Sistema apurtua daukagu.

It's a broken system.

There's a disincentive to conserve,

Zaintzeko ardura ez dagoelako

because if you don't use your water right, you can lose your water right.

ur-eskubideak eralbiltzen ez badira

ur-eskubideak gal daitezkeelako.

And I'm sure you all know, this has created significant conflicts

Eta ziur nago badakizuela, horrek gatazka galantak sortu dituela

between the agricultural and environmental communities.

nekazarien eta ekologisten artean.

OK, now I'm going to change gears here.

Ondo. Orain martxa aldatuko dut zeharo.

Gela honetako gehienak pozik egongo zarete jakitean

Most of you will be happy to know that the rest of the presentation's free ...

aurkezpenaren gainerakoa doan dela.

(Laughter)

Eta zoriontsuak izango zarete garagardoarekin zerikusia duelako.

and some of you'll be happy to know that it involves beer.

(Laughter)

(Algarak)

There's another thing happening around the country,

Beste gauza bat ari da gertatzen gure herrian,

eta enpresak hortaz kezkatzen hasi dira,

which is that companies are starting to get concerned

euren ur-aztarnaz, hain zuzen ere.

about their water footprint.

They're concerned about securing an adequate supply of water,

Ur-hornikuntza egokia ziurtatzeaz kezkatzen dira.

they're trying to be really efficient with their water use,

Ur-erabilpen egokia garatzen saiatzen dira,

and they're concerned about how their water use

eta kezkatzen dira nola ur-erabilpenak

affects the image of their brand.

euren marken irudiari eragiten dion.

Well, it's a national problem,

Hau herri osoko arazoa da

but I'm going to tell you another story from Montana ...

baina Montana-ri buruzko beste istorio bat kontatuko dizuet,

and it involves beer.

eta garagardoarekin badu zerikusirik.

I bet you didn't know, it takes about 5 pints of water

Ez zenekitela 5 ur-pinta behar direla

to make a pint of beer.

garagardo pinta bat ekoizteko.

If you include all the drain,

Prozesu osoa kontuan hartzen baduzue,

it takes more than a hundred pints of water to make a pint of beer.

100 ur-pinta baino gehiago behar dira garagardo-pinta bat ekoizteko.

Orain arte Montanan garagardo egileek

Now the brewers in Montana

have already done a lot to reduce their water consumption,

lan dexente egin dute

euren ur-kontsumoa murrizteko.

but they still use millions of gallons of water.

Baina oraindik milioika litro ur erabiltzen dituzte.

I mean, there's water in beer.

Hau da, ura beharrezkoa da garagardoa ekoizteko.

So what can they do about this remaining water footprint

Orduan, zer egin dezakete

gainontzeko ur-aztarna horri buruz

that can have serious effects on the ecosystem?

zeinak ondorio kaltegarriak izan ditzakeen

ekosisteman?

These ecosystems are really important

Ekositema hauek garrantzi handikoak dira

to the Montana brewers and their customers.

Montanako garagardo egileentzat eta euren bezeroentzat.

After all, there's a strong correlation between water and fishing,

Azken finean, oso erlazio sendoa dago

uraren eta arrantzaren artean.

and for some, there's a strong correlation between fishing and beer.

Batzuentzat arrantzaren eta garagardoaren artean ere

erlazio sendoa dago.

(Laughter)

(Algarak)

So the Montana brewers and their customers are concerned

Montanako garagardo egileak eta euren bezeroak kezkatuta daude

and they're looking for some way to address the problem.

eta irtenbidearen bat bilatzen ari dira arazoa bideratzeko.

So how can they address this remaining water footprint?

Nola bidera dezakete gainontzeko ur-aztarna hori?

Gogora ezazue Prickly Pear.

Remember Prickly Pear.

Up until now, business water stewardship

Orain arte,

ur-negozioen ustiapena

has been limited to measuring and reducing,

murrizten eta kontrolatzen soilik saiatu da,

gu hurrengo urratsa iradokitzen ari gara

and we're suggesting that the next step is to restore.

berriztatzea.

Gogora ezazue Prickly Pear

Remember Prickly Pear.

It's a broken system.

Sistema apurtua.

You've got a disincentive to conserve,

Zaintzeko ardura ez dago,

because if you don't use your water right, you risk losing your water right.

ur-erabilpena erabiltzen ez bada, ur-eskubidea galtzera arriskatzen delako.

Well, we decided to connect these two worlds --

Guk bi mundu horiek elkartzea erabaki genuen --

enpresen mundua

the world of the companies with their water footprints

euren ur-aztarnekin

and the world of the farmers

eta nekazarien mundua

with their senior water rights on these creeks.

erreka horietako lehen mailako ur-eskubideekin.

In some states,

Estatu batzuetan,

senior water rights holders can leave their water in the stream

lehen mailako ur-eskubideen edukitzaileek

utz dezakete ura errekan bertan

while legally protecting it from others,

besteenganako babesa legalki zaintzen duten

eta euren ur-eskubideak mantentzen dituzten bitartean.

and maintaining their water right.

Azken finean,

After all, it is their water right,

euren ur-eskubidea da,

and if they want to use that water right to help the fish grow in the stream,

eta haiek ur-eskubide hori erabili nahi badute

errekan arrainak hazten laguntzeko

it's their right to do so.

bere eskubidea da hau egitea.

But they have no incentive to do so.

Baina ez daukate pizgarririk hori egiteko.

Bertako ur-hornitzaileekin lanean,

So, working with local water trusts, we created an incentive to do so.

pizgarria sortu genuen hori egiteko.

We pay them to leave their water in stream.

Haiei ordaintzen diegu ura errekan bertan utz dezaten.

Hori da argazki honetan gertatzen ari dena.

That's what's happening here.

This individual has made the choice and is closing this water diversion,

Pertsona horrek bere erabakia hartu du

eta bere atea ixten ari da,

leaving the water in the stream.

ura errekan bertan uzten.

He doesn't lose the water right,

Ez du ur-eskubidea galtzen,

he just chooses to apply that right, or some portion of it,

baina eskubide hori erabiltzea aukeratzen du,

edo eskubide osoaren zatia,

to the stream, instead of to the land.

errekarako eta ez lurretarako.

Because he's the senior water-rights holder,

Lehen mailako ur-eskubideen edukitzailea delako,

errekaren ura beste erabiltzaileengandik zain dezake.

he can protect the water from other users in the stream.

Ados?

OK?

He gets paid to leave the water in the stream.

Dirua irabazten du ura errekan bertan uzteagatik.

Pertsona hau uraren maila neurtzen ari da

This guy's measuring the water that this leaves in the stream.

errekan bertan uzten duen ura.

We then take the measured water,

Guk ur-neurtua hartzen dugu

we divide it into thousand-gallon increments.

mila-litroko gehikuntzetan zatitzen dugu.

Each increment gets a serial number and a certificate,

Gehikuntza bakoitzak serie-zenbaki bat eta egiaztagiri bat du,

eta garagardo egileek eta besteek

and then the brewers and others buy those certificates

egiaztagiri horiek erosten dituzte

as a way to return water to these degraded ecosystems.

ura itzultzeko era balitz bezala

ekosistema degradatu horietara.

The brewers pay to restore water to the stream.

Garagardo egileek ordaintzen dute

errekako ura berriztatzeko.

It provides a simple, inexpensive and measurable way

Hau oso era erraza, merkea

eta neurgarria da

ura berriztatzeko ekosistema degradatu horietara.

to return water to these degraded ecosystems,

while giving farmers an economic choice

Aldi beran, nekazariei aukera ekonomikoa ematen zaie

and giving businesses concerned about their water footprints

eta ur-aztarnaz kezkatuta dauden enpreseei laguntzen zaie

an easy way to deal with them.

euren arazoa modu sinplean konpontzen.

After 140 years of conflict and 100 years of dry streams,

140 urte gatazkaz beteta pasa ostean

eta erreka lehorrekin 100 urte pasa eta gero

a circumstance that litigation and regulation has not solved,

auzitegiek eta arauketek

ez dute egoera konpondu,

horregatik, merkatu-mekanismo bat martxan jarri dugu

we put together a market-based, willing buyer, willing seller solution --

erosle eta saltzaile prestuen irtenbidea

auzitegirik eskatzen ez duen irtenbidea.

a solution that does not require litigation.

It's about giving folks concerned about their water footprints

Gakoa

euren ur-aztarnaz kezkatzen direnei

a real opportunity to put water where it's critically needed,

erantzukizuna ematea da,

ura behar den lekuetan jartzeko,

ekosistema degradatu horietan,

into these degraded ecosystems,

while at the same time providing farmers a meaningful economic choice

eta, aldi berean

nekazariei aukera ematea,

aukera ekonomiko adierazgarria,

about how their water is used.

euren ur-erabilpenari buruz.

These transactions create allies, not enemies.

Transakzio horiei esker lagun bihurtzen dira eta ez etsai.

They connect people rather than dividing them.

Transakzio horiek jendea lotzen dute eta ez banandu.

And they provide needed economic support for rural communities.

Eta landa-komunitateentzako beharrezko euskarri ekonomikoa ematen dute.

Eta askoz garrantzitsuagoa, ibili badabil.

And most importantly, it's working.

We've returned more than four billion gallons of water to degraded ecosystems.

15.000 mila milioi litro erreketara bueltatu ditugu

ekosistema degradatuetara.

Lehen mailako ur-eskubideen edukitzaileen

We've connected senior water-rights holders

eta Montanako garagardo egileen lotura lortu dugu

with brewers in Montana,

with hotels and tea companies in Oregon,

baita Oregon-go hotelena eta te-enpresena ere

and with high-tech companies that use a lot of water in the Southwest.

eta Hego-mendebaleko goi-mailako teknologia enpresena, zeintzuk ur asko erabiltzen duten.

And when we make these connections,

Eta lotura horiek egiten ditugunean

we can and we do turn this ...

hau bezalako egoera

into this.

HAU bilaka dezakegu.

(Applause)

Thank you very much.

Mila esker.

(Applause)

(Txaloak)