NYT article. Bottom line is that all of those states who share the Colorado River water were given 60 days to figure out how to share the resource. They didn’t bother, so now the government is going to do it for them. The squalls of outrage are already happening, with places like Wyoming saying that they only use the river, not Lake Meade, so they shouldn’t have to be rationed. This is likely to turn into a major political shit storm.
As Dr. Ismail Serageldin said back in 1995: “If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water – unless we change our approach to managing this precious and vital resource.”
Water rights have been an issue forever, especially in farming/ranching country, but it’s now becoming critical for everyone, with useless places like Las Vegas sucking up more than their fair share for casinos, hotels, etc.
Agree. Cities and golf courses are the usual high-profile targets for painting this issue with a broad brush, but agriculture uses the large majority of western water.
And, California’s Central Valley does not import water from the Colorado.
I think my point about Las Vegas is that the place produces nothing that couldn’t be made elsewhere. There is no agriculture that I’m aware of, no ranching, etc. So nearly all of the water consumption there is for large businesses and the people who work in them. I’m assuming that these businesses are there because they’re getting large tax breaks from Nevada.
I’m aware of the agricultural/ranching practices that not only use a lot of water, but also contribute to polluting the downstream supply. Eastern Oregon ranchers have an ongoing dispute with Native tribes who claim ancestral rights.
The problems go way beyond the Colorado River issues, of course. The Oglala Aquifer is another impending disaster, and companies like Google, who have tried to keep their cooling water use a “trade secret”, have been forced to reveal that they use 4.3 billion gallons of water a year worldwide (the equivalent of 29 golf courses use).
I wasn’t able to read the link, but I don’t doubt that the issue is dire.
In fact, Nevada uses only a small portion of the Colorado river water. California and Arizona use much more. Las Vegas actually has some progressive policies with respect to water, such as subsidizing water friendly landscaping, although there are issues with groundwater overuse.
Yeah, it’s all about what the Sierras will get in a given year. A roll of the dice. Denver and the Colorado front range is the same. But from the Rockies of course. I can see the reservoir that feeds Colorado Springs from my house.
If anything, I have too much water where I live. It’s snow. But snow levels can vary and does.
My Wife and I are thinking about moving to a lower elevation when we retire. It’s absurd the amount of snow we deal with. That could change though. I think it’s going to be wildly dramatic from dry to wet years.
Yep. Kansas has been in a drought for some time, and the water in the Ogallala is necessary to keep the corn growing to feed the livestock that get sent to the slaughterhouses. Without it, the economy in the state will suffer terribly. Now, the Kansas legislature has been tasked to figure something out. Good luck with that, as those clowns are far too concerned with limiting abortion access and making sure that Kansas is the last state to legalize pot.
The city uses a small amount of non-arable land to great benefit. Net revenue per square foot of ground or acre foot of water is very high. Net revenue generated per resident is around $30 million per year. Other than water it uses little natural resource. The city is engaged in a very efficient major industry with a novel billing process.
To say that western water rights issues are complex is a vast understatement. Gun rights are trivial by comparison.
Yeah I have nothing against Vegas on this issue. I think they are doing a lot of right things considering their climate. The one thing they probably use more than average is electricity for cooling in the summer. But, that can probably be said for all metros in the SW.
Regarding the urban/agriculture divide on this issue, I am quite sure the alfalfa and hay farms along the Gila river in Arizona will be allowed to die long before people in Scottsdale resort to “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down.”
I can’t see it from where I sit, but it does give me comfort to know that Lake Michigan is right over there. And makes me wonder about the folk who are fleeing the “Rust Belt/Third Coast” states to live in deserts or above shrinking aquifers.
I wasn’t terribly impressed w/ Austin, Texas when I visited, but I was reassured to see that they at least had a plentiful water supply. I long ago stopped being surprised by people who has NO IDEA when I asked them where their water came from.
I have 2 kids in Denver. Their system of reservoirs and tunnels is amazing. And enipla, I remember stopping off at a rest stop not too far from you that was essentially buried under snow. Hard to believe you live there!
I don’t know much about LV. At one point, I thought there was an issue as to how much electricity they would draw from the Hoover Dam. But if ever there were a place appropriate for solar…
I remember being gobsmacked flying into Phoenix, seeing long open-air canals. I guess they need to get the water there SOMEHOW, but evaporate much?
It will be interesting to see how water rights are dealt with in the future. Different areas differ vastly WRT how much various users can draw from a common supply. I would be interested to see a listing of the true cost of water being used for various purposes in various locations. It might just be that certain activities - living/growing/producing - ought to be much more expensive than they crrently are.
And over a third of the country’s vegetables and three-quarters of the country’s fruits and nuts are grown in California. That doesn’t include what is exported, of course. I can’t speak to whether or not their use of water is efficient or not, but letting CA revert to its original state is not an option.
This is the issue though, the California water laws drawn up over a century ago has made water too cheap and the farming industry won’t police itself and is very wasteful. Could probably reduce water use by 20% pretty easily with regulations and changes to the water laws.
I have no reason to doubt you on that. This country has always had a difficult time breaking its bad habits. It doesn’t help that there is a growing segment of the population that thinks everything is a lie propagated by the government for. . .reasons.
I, for one, understood your point perfectly. I just think it’s way too glib and easy. Las Vegas was created from almost nothing, and it will go back to nothing if the tap is turned off, or even significantly reduced. Maybe that wouldn’t be your proposal, but since you haven’t made one, I can only assume.
This is likely to turn into a major political shit storm.