One of the root causes of the dysfunction of water policy in the West is that expectations around water availability were set in the early 20th century which tu

One of the root causes of the dysfunction of water policy in the West is that expectations around water availability were set in the early 20th century which turned out to be historically anomalous. Long term water agreements between states and with Mexico were based on assumption that those water levels would continue. Now we are seeing reversion to the mean, but it takes a long time for water policy to be updated. There is a saying that water policy in the West is 21st century needs on top of 20th century infrastructure and 19th century law.