Southwest Water Wars: 8 Things To Know
By Bob Morris | 04/30/2012 | Arizona, California, Energy and Water, Legislation, Nevada, Utah | 2 Comments
Davis Dam on Colorado River. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Stop scapegoating agriculture. Sure, agriculture in the Southwest uses lots of water. It’s also where much of the nation’s food comes from due to multiple growing seasons a year. If those areas grow less, prices for food will increase. Farmers do try to conserve water. Can they use even less water? Sure, but so can everyone else.
Aging water infrastructures are leaky. California water systems lose an average of 10% of their water to leakage, with some as high as 30%. In an era of ever-increasing water scarcity, this is unacceptable. The water systems need to be repaired and upgraded.
Everyone needs to conserve. If you live in an arid or semi-arid area, the era of lush green lawns and multiple golf courses nearby is coming to an end. The Southwest had a bountiful few decades where the water supply seemed endless. Those days are vanishing. Deal with it.
There is too little water for too many people. This is the core issue. It’s not that the California salmon fishing industry is Satan Incarnate while Central Valley farmers are getting shortchanged (or vice versa, depending on your viewpoint) but that an ever-growing population demands more water than is available. New England doesn’t have water wars. The reason is simple. They have lots of water.
The problems are regional and cannot be completely settled within a state. Sure, battles over Sacramento Delta water are internal to California. But its ever-increasing thirst for Colorado River water isn’t. Regional problems require regional solutions.
Desalination is not a panacea. Gosh, some say, let’s just build dozens of desalination plants. Then we will have lots of water. Well, desalination plants are quite expensive and require large amounts of electricity. Did I mention that power generation is the second largest user of water in the Southwest?
Renegotiate the Colorado River Compact. Water allocation from the Colorado is still apportioned based on a 1922 agreement. The population then was tiny in comparison to now. Everyone agrees the Colorado River Compact is a dinosaur but no one wants change for fear of ending up with less water. But events and drought may force change regardless.
Expect and plan for change. There are some indications that the past 150 years in the Southwest were unusually wet. If so, and it reverts to the norm, then there will be substantially less water available. The Anasazi thrived in the Southwest for hundreds of years and were at their peak when several decade-long droughts destroyed their civilization. Just saying…
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2 Comments
Charity
04.30.2012
A couple of other things to consider:
Water is scarce so why aren’t we working to increase storage?
Desalination plants are a practical solution if energy gets down to about 5-6 cents a kwh. But the reason electricity is too expensive and the reason previous desalination attempts have failed is the same = both industries get the crap sued out of them by environmentalists.
More here: http://www.johnmcdonald2012.com/Delta%20Water.html
Mike Hudson
05.01.2012
I would offer a few comments and suggestions to what the article addresses:
1. Stop Scapegoading Agriculture….
Yes, I LOVE the local broccoli, the peppers, tomatoes, ets…. but do we really need to produce 90% of the entire planet’s almonds in our State on about 1 Million acres? Do we need to ship hay to Japan so that the beef growers in Kobe can grow their luxury cattle with CA/AZ/NV water? I say NO.
2. Everyone needs to conserve/too many people too little water….
ALL the people in CA combined with ALL their businesses together only use 20% of all the developed water (that’s diverted water which mostly comes from our reservoirs). Should we as people decide (just for example) not to allow the growing of export hay (sudangrass – google it), we might have enough water for an extra 48 million people in the southwest – not that we really need another 48 million people – just saying. Export numbers suggest that in our Southwestern States we grow in the neighborhood of 3 Million acres of sudangrass. At 4′ of water, which maybe the high average, that means we use 12 Million acre feet of water for this crop, enough for 48 Million people. At 3′ water, it would still be enough for 36 Million residents.
Expect and plan for change: Exactly. I’d think that change must happen in the Ag industry first and foremost. Farmers are hard-working folk who have my utmost respect – but their combined impact on our resources is nothing short of a “Tragedy of the Commons” – another phrase you should google if you have the time.
Thanks for reading.