Launch of Center for Land and Water Policy celebrated in Arizona.
PHOENIX, May 2, 2017 — The Lincoln Institute today announced the establishment of the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy, the centerpiece of a new initiative to integrate land use planning and the management of an increasingly scarce resource.
The Center, which will be based in Phoenix, is named for Bruce Babbitt, former Arizona governor, Interior secretary, and longtime board member of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
An initial activity will be to develop a map, using satellite imagery, for selected tributaries of the Colorado River Basin.
"We seek to help state and local officials integrate land and water policies across an entire geography, to imagine better futures."
At the same time the Babbitt Center is launched, the longstanding joint program between the Lincoln Institute and the Sonoran Institute, previously known as Western Lands and Communities and now renamed Resilient Communities and Watersheds, will aim to better integrate land use planning and water management at the local level.
Ultimately, it is hoped that the Babbitt Center will become a hub that connects the people and practices of the arid American West to people and practices in the rest of the world.
"The Lincoln Institute has emphasized the importance of land and land policy in addressing the world’s toughest problems, and the stewardship of water resources is at the top of the list.
"We are optimistic as we all share the goal of ensuring water for future generations," said Holway, formerly director of the Lincoln Institute-Sonoran Institute joint program and assistant director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, who currently serves on the board of the Central Arizona Project.
SOURCE Lincoln Institute of Land Policy