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With epic drought, is it time for a national water policy?

Thomas M. Kostigen
Special for USA TODAY
Sprinklers water a lawn in Sacramento, Calif., on July 15, 2014.

More than half the United States is experiencing some form of drought. California is in emergency status, left with a year's worth of water in its reservoirs to service its population. Meanwhile, areas around the Great Lakes are seeing some of their highest water levels in 15 years.

The frozen precipitation that blanketed the Great Lakes region through the Northeast is producing above-average freshwater during the melt season. But the West is seeing near record-low snowpack, which typically replenishes water supplies throughout the region in the spring.

One solution to balance the winter season that produced record snow and cold on the East Coast, and record heat and dryness on the West Coast might seem obvious: to ship water from where it's abundant to where it's needed.

The idea isn't new, but it's certainly controversial. During the 2008 presidential election primary, then-New Mexico governor Bill Richardson created a stir when he called for a national water policy, which would have allowed far-spread states to share their water resources. As it stands, water policy is largely devised and enforced on a local level.

A decade earlier, water-hungry countries in Asia tried to purchase freshwater from the Great Lakes — by the tanker. That effort was blocked by Congress.

The Great Lakes and its tributaries comprise the largest freshwater system in the world, and are divided between Canada, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

Currently, the Council of the Great Lakes Governors have an agreement that prevents water diversion to any state or locality but its members. Meanwhile, Alaska is allowing billions of gallons of its freshwater to be shipped abroad via tanker.

Should we share our local natural resources for the benefit of our own citizens? Erratic weather patterns are now, it seems, testing our bonds as a nation.

There are outcries by many over water rights, from environmentalists to bottled water advocates, to farmers and frackers. The water issue flows through them all.

Nature to date has been the great arbiter, sprinkling water about. But nature seems to have turned off the spigot almost completely in some areas.

Now, new studies show California and parts of the West may be in for a 1,000-year drought. And let's remember that California is an agricultural state considered the bread basket for the world.

Perhaps it's time to have a discussion about a national water policy.The Golden State for its part is imposing new water restrictions, calling for a limit to the number of days residents can water their lawns, and prohibiting irrigation during and for two days after rainfall.

It's also tightening restaurant and hotel guidelines, recommending restaurant customers only get served glasses of water on request, and those staying in hotels have the option of non-daily laundry service.

In the meantime, if you live in a drought-stricken area, here are some other things you can do to save water:

Check around your house for leaks. Just a lightly dripping faucet can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water in a year.

Consider replacing old faucets. Try the new low-flow models. Low-flow toilets, too, save water.

Insulate your water pipes. This keeps water hotter longer and prevents pipes from bursting.

Install an instant-hot water heater in your sink. The less time water needs to heat, the less it's wasted going down the drain.

Xeriscape outside. That means less grassy lawn and more native plants, dirt and stones.

Compost. Mixing just 5 lbs. of compost with 100 lbs. of soil can save 25 gallons of water. The mixture is more drought tolerant, retaining water that otherwise dissipates.

Thomas M. Kostigen is the founder of TheClimateSurvivalist.com and a New York Times best-selling author and journalist. He is the National Geographic author of "The Extreme Weather Survival Guide: Understand, Prepare, Survive, Recover" and the NG Kids book " Extreme Weather: Surviving Tornadoes, Tsunamis, Hailstorms, Thundersnow, Hurricanes and More!" Follow him @weathersurvival, or e-mail kostigen@theclimatesurvivalist.com

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