Rob Harmon: How the market can keep streams flowing

Translator: Montse Valcárcel Reviewer: Xusto Rodriguez

This is a river.

Isto é un río

Isto é un regato.

This is a stream.

This is a river.

Isto é un río.

Isto está ocorrendo en todo o país.

This is happening all over the country.

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

Hai decenas de miles de quilómetros

de cursos de auga secos nos Estados Unidos.

On this map, the colored areas represent water conflicts.

Neste mapa,

as áreas coloreadas representan conflitos pola auga.

Similar problems are emerging in the East as well.

Problemas similares están xurdindo tamén no Leste.

As razóns varían de estado a estado,

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

pero, sobre todo, nos detalles.

Hai 6.400 km de cursos de auga secos

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

só en Montana.

They would ordinarily support fish and other wildlife.

Que normalmente deberían ter peixes e outra vida salvaxe.

They're the veins of the ecosystem,

Son as veas do ecosistema,

e, a miúdo, son veas baleiras.

and they're often empty veins.

Quero contarlles a historia

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

dun destes cursos de auga

because it's an archetype for the larger story.

porque é un arquetipo dunha historia máis grande.

This is Prickly Pear Creek.

Isto é Prickly Pear Creek.

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

Discorre a través dunha área moi poboada

dende o East Helena ata Lake Helena.

Ten vida piscícola

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

como a troita esganada, a troita común

e a troita arco iris.

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

Case todos os anos

desde hai máis dun cento deles,

parecíase a isto no verán.

it looked like this in the summer.

How did we get here?

Como chegamos a isto?

Ben, todo comezou a finais dos anos 1800

Well, it started back in the late 1800s

cando a xente comezou a asentarse en sitios como Montana.

when people started settling in places like Montana.

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

En resumo, había un monte de auga

e non había moita xente.

But as more people showed up wanting water,

Pero a medida que aparecía máis xente, máis auga cumpría,

the folks who were there first got a little concerned,

a xente que chegou antes comezou a preocuparse,

and in 1865, Montana passed its first water law.

e en 1865, Montana aprobou a súa primeira Lei de augas.

Basicamente dicía que toda persoa de preto dun curso de auga

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

pode compartir ese ben.

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

Curiosamente, presentouse unha gran cantidade de xente querendo compartir o curso de auga,

and the folks who were there first

e os que chegaran alí primeiro

got concerned enough to bring out their lawyers.

preocupáronse abondo como para levar os seus avogados.

There were precedent-setting suits in 1870 and 1872,

Houbo preitos que sentaron precedentes

en 1870 e 1872,

both involving Prickly Pear Creek.

os dous relacionados con Prickly Pear Creek.

E en 1921,

And in 1921,

the Montana Supreme Court ruled in a case involving Prickly Pear

o Tribunal Supremo de Montana

pronunciouse nun caso relacionado con Prickly Pear sentenzando

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

que a xente que chegara alí primeiro

tiña dereitos primarios, ou superiores, sobre a auga.

These senior water rights are key.

Estes "dereitos superiores" son a clave principal.

O problema é que hoxe en día todo o Oeste

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

ten este aspecto.

Some of these creeks have claims

Algúns destes regatos

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

teñen reclamacións por de 50 a 100 veces máis auga

ca a que hai actualmente no seu curso.

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

E os titulares de dereitos superiores sobre a auga,

se non os usan,

they risk losing their water right --

arríscanse a perdelos,

xunto co valor económico que implican.

along with the economic value that goes with it.

Xa que logo, non teñen ningún incentivo para conservar.

So they have no incentive to conserve.

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

Non se trata só da cantidade de xente;

the system itself creates a disincentive to conserve

o propio sistema desincentiva a conservación

porque un pode perder o seu dereito á auga se non o usa.

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

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

Así, logo de décadas de demandas

e 140 anos de experiencia

we still have this.

aínda temos isto.

É un sistema roto.

It's a broken system.

There's a disincentive to conserve,

Desincentívase a conservación

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

porque se un non usa o seu dereito á auga

pode perdelo.

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

E, estou seguro que todos o saben, isto creou importantes conflitos

between the agricultural and environmental communities.

entre as comunidades agrícolas e os ambientalistas.

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

Ben. Aquí vou cambiar de marcha.

A moitos de vostedes agradaralles saber

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

que o resto da presentación é gratis.

(Laughter)

E algún alegrarase de saber que hai cervexa polo medio.

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

(Laughter)

(Risos)

There's another thing happening around the country,

Hai algo máis que está sucedendo no país,

e é que as empresas están empezando a preocuparse

which is that companies are starting to get concerned

por súa pegada hídrica.

about their water footprint.

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

Preocúpaos asegurar unha subministración axeitada de auga,

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

están tratando de usala de maneira moi eficiente

and they're concerned about how their water use

e interesados en saber como afecta o seu uso de auga

affects the image of their brand.

á imaxe da súa marca.

Well, it's a national problem,

Ben, é un problema nacional,

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

pero eu voulles contar outra historia de Montana,

and it involves beer.

e que ten que ver coa cervexa.

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

Aposto a que non sabían que cómpren 5 pintas de auga

to make a pint of beer.

para facer unha pinta de cervexa.

If you include all the drain,

Se se inclúen os sumidoiros,

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

son máis de 100 pintas de auga para facer unha pinta de cervexa.

Agora ben, os cervexeiros de Montana

Now the brewers in Montana

have already done a lot to reduce their water consumption,

xa fixeron moitas cousas

para reducir o seu consumo de auga,

but they still use millions of gallons of water.

pero aínda empregan millóns de litros.

I mean, there's water in beer.

Digo, hai auga na cervexa.

So what can they do about this remaining water footprint

Que poden facer eles

con esta pegada hídrica remanente

that can have serious effects on the ecosystem?

que pode afectar seriamente

o ecosistema?

These ecosystems are really important

Estes ecosistemas son realmente importantes

to the Montana brewers and their customers.

para os cervexeiros de Montana e os seus clientes.

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

Despois de todo hai unha forte correlación

entre a auga e a pesca.

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

E, para algúns, hai unha forte correlación

entre a pesca e a cervexa.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

So the Montana brewers and their customers are concerned

Por iso os cervexeiros de Montana e os seus clientes están preocupados

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

e están buscando algunha maneira de enfrontar o problema.

So how can they address this remaining water footprint?

Como poden enfrontar esta pegada hídrica remanente?

Recorden Prickly Pear.

Remember Prickly Pear.

Up until now, business water stewardship

Ata agora,

a administración comercial da auga

has been limited to measuring and reducing,

limitouse a medir e reducir,

e estamos suxerindo que o próximo paso

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

sexa restaurar.

Recorden Prickly Pear.

Remember Prickly Pear.

It's a broken system.

É un sistema roto

You've got a disincentive to conserve,

Hai desincentivo para a conservación

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

porque se un non usa o seu dereito á auga, arriscase a perdelo.

Well, we decided to connect these two worlds --

Pois ben, nós decidimos conectar ambolos dous mundos:

o mundo empresarial

the world of the companies with their water footprints

coa súa pegada hídrica

and the world of the farmers

e o mundo dos granxeiros

with their senior water rights on these creeks.

cos seus dereitos superiores sobre estes regatos.

In some states,

Nalgúns estados

senior water rights holders can leave their water in the stream

os titulares dos dereitos superiores

poden deixar a súa auga na corrente

while legally protecting it from others,

mentres que a protexen legalmente de terceiros e

e manteñen o seu dereito sobre ela.

and maintaining their water right.

Despois de todo

After all, it is their water right,

é o seu dereito á auga

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

e se queren usalo

pra promover a cría de peixes no curso de auga

it's their right to do so.

teñen dereito a facelo.

But they have no incentive to do so.

Pero non teñen incentivos.

Por iso, traballando cos fideicomisos locais de auga

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

creamos un incentivo para facelo.

We pay them to leave their water in stream.

Pagámoslles para que deixen a auga no curso do río.

Iso é o que está sucedendo aquí.

That's what's happening here.

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

Esta persoa tomou a decisión

de pechar esta comporta,

leaving the water in the stream.

deixando a auga no regato.

He doesn't lose the water right,

El non perde o seu dereito á auga,

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

só elixe aplicar ese dereito,

ou unha parte del,

to the stream, instead of to the land.

ó regato, no canto de aplicalo á terra.

Because he's the senior water-rights holder,

Dado que é titular do dereito superior

pode protexer a auga fronte a outros usuarios do regato.

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

De acordo?

OK?

He gets paid to leave the water in the stream.

Págaselle para que deixe a auga no regato.

Este fulano está medindo a auga

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

que deixa no regato.

We then take the measured water,

Despois tomamos a auga medida

we divide it into thousand-gallon increments.

e dividímola en incrementos de miles de litros.

Each increment gets a serial number and a certificate,

Cada incremento recibe un número de serie e un certificado,

e despois os cervexeiros e outros

and then the brewers and others buy those certificates

mercan eses certificados

as a way to return water to these degraded ecosystems.

como unha forma de devolver a auga

a eses ecosistemas degradados.

The brewers pay to restore water to the stream.

Os cervexeiros pagan

para restituír a auga ao regato.

It provides a simple, inexpensive and measurable way

Isto proporciona unha maneira simple, barata

e medible

de devolver a auga a estes ecosistemas degradados,

to return water to these degraded ecosystems,

while giving farmers an economic choice

á vez que lles dá aos granxeiros unha alternativa económica

and giving businesses concerned about their water footprints

e ás empresas preocupadas pola súa pegada hídrica

an easy way to deal with them.

unha maneira fácil de lidar con eles.

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

Tras 140 anos de conflito,

e 100 anos de cursos de auga secos,

a circumstance that litigation and regulation has not solved,

unha circunstancia que o litixio e a regulación

non foron quen de resolver,

nos elaboramos unha solución de mercado,

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

de compradores e vendedores dispostos;

unha solución que non require litixios.

a solution that does not require litigation.

It's about giving folks concerned about their water footprints

Trátase de dar

ás persoas preocupadas pola súa pegada hídrica

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

unha oportunidade real

de poñer auga onde se necesita con urxencia,

nestes ecosistemas degradados,

into these degraded ecosystems,

while at the same time providing farmers a meaningful economic choice

mentres que á vez

propónselles aos granxeiros

unha alternativa económica coherente

about how their water is used.

sobre o uso da súa auga.

These transactions create allies, not enemies.

Estas transaccións crean aliados, non inimigos.

They connect people rather than dividing them.

Conectan a xente no canto de dividila.

And they provide needed economic support for rural communities.

E dan o apoio económico necesario para as comunidades rurais.

E, o máis importante é que funcionan.

And most importantly, it's working.

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

Levamos devoltos máis de 15 mil millóns de litros de auga

aos ecosistemas degradados.

Levamos conectado aos titulares de "dereitos superiores" sobre a auga

We've connected senior water-rights holders

con cervexeiros de Montana,

with brewers in Montana,

with hotels and tea companies in Oregon,

con hoteis e empresas de té de Oregon

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

e con empresas de tecnoloxía que usan moita auga no Sudoeste.

And when we make these connections,

E cando establecemos estas conexións,

we can and we do turn this ...

podemos e facémolo,

transformar iso en isto.

into this.

(Applause)

Moitas grazas.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)