For more than a century, a system of government and legal agreements has largely resolved water disputes among those living in America’s most arid region of the country.
The methods of conflict resolution were at work in December when water bosses in California, Nevada and Arizona agreed to cut their use of Colorado River water to avoid penalties under a compact that divvies up the river among seven western states and Mexico.
But a new cause of conflict threatens that system already straining to respond to the region’s worst drought cycle in 1,200 years. Instead of adjusting water consumption to the reality of a changing climate, officials are having to respond to the fallout of false claims that cuts in water use are part of an elaborate government plan to starve and depopulate the earth. Some of the talk of a violent standoff last summer in Oregon’s Klamath River Basin was laced with the language of this anti-government conspiracy theory.
Such claims don’t have to be true to effectively exploit the fears of farmers and others who have relied on government guarantees to irrigate their fields and accommodate development, said Joe Vitriol, a researcher at Stony Brook University with an expertise in political psychology.
“They’re not necessarily truly expressing a belief in some conspiracy, but this is how they’re expressing their distrust, concern and skepticism of official accounts,” Vitriol said of those drawn to conspiracy theories. “Most people do not adopt those...
Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP advises Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) investors that the firm is investigating potential legal claims arising from alleged false and misleading statements about the co...