US government planning dramatic Colorado River water cuts due to drought, overuse
Posted by errie_tholluxe@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 31 comments
northrupthebandgeek@reddit
The entirety of the Colorado River water shortage would be a non-issue if California would build an adequate number of desalination plants.
CaiusRemus@reddit
If El Niño doesn’t bring a giga-winter for the basin next year, it’s gonna be bad. It’s already bad, but it’s gonna be bad bad.
Actually, even just median and the system will manage to stay propped up on toothpicks for another year or too. Below median or well median? Yeah, prepare to see migration. Imagine that, seeing significant populations of internally displaced people in 2026. Meanwhile the general populace seems to think we are on the path to avoiding catastrophic global warming.
MaddogBC@reddit
And we're talking about the richest country on earth. The poorest are in for a world of hurt. Climate migration will become a humanitarian catastrophe the likes of which mankind has never seen.
Selieania@reddit
RemindMe! 2 years "Climate migration will become a humanitarian catastrophe the likes of which mankind has never seen."
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Parking_Chance_1905@reddit
Somehow the current administration will try to pin it on Biden... and not the years of mismanagement under red states.
errie_tholluxe@reddit (OP)
But her emails!
stirtheturd@reddit
Just in time to build a golf course next to a data center! Genius!
Rob_P_Champagne@reddit
Saudis are growing alfalfa and have bought water rights to feed their camels for racing….
Saturn_winter@reddit
"I think we all know that unless Mother Nature starts doing her job, it's going to be closer to the bottom end of this range," said Buschatzke.
Yeah blame mother nature, that'll do it.
redditmodsRrussians@reddit
Just like a bunch of spoiled kids....blaming their mom for all their problems
JohnnyBoy11@reddit
Sounds like the typical entitled supervisor who wants you to work for free. Yo buschatzke, how much you paying mother nature to do this job of yours??? And what's its job anyways? Maintaining homeostasis? Sounds like she's doing her job just fine, unlike you who let the whole situation reach this point.
Parking_Chance_1905@reddit
Not like constantly watering golf courses in the middle of the desert has anything to do with it.
No_Foundation16@reddit
Gee maybe we shouldn't allow stuff like this?
About a decade ago, having depleted their own ancient aquifers to grow livestock feed, some wealthy Middle Eastern nations, along with China, began tapping into the largely unregulated aquifers of drought-stricken American states. Notably, megafarms in the Arizona desert and in other Western states have been exporting vast quantities of precious groundwater in the form of alfalfa hay.
tje210@reddit
Oh. Thanks for pointing out that he's a moron. Makes sense, he's the 🚩Arizona 🚩 director of water reclamation. Delusional would be an improvement; educated and honest are forever or of reach.
kowycz@reddit
Foods gonna get a lot more expensive in the short term.
The exodus from the west is gonna be otherworldly....
I do wonder if some foolish mega-project will be tried (way too late).
IntrepidEditor2497@reddit
Just pump water over the mountains from the Great Lakes. It’s so simple, what are they stoopid? It’s only a 1000 miles
DeltaForceFish@reddit
I bet the data centers wont see any cuts to their water usages
James_Fortis@reddit
Or alfalfa fields for livestock feed
No_Foundation16@reddit
Not before the workers get their water cut for sure.
errie_tholluxe@reddit (OP)
Submission statement : The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation proposed a 10-year plan in which Arizona, California and Nevada would potentially cut water use by up to 3 million acre-feet per year to maintain water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the river's severely depleted reservoirs, Buschatzke told a meeting of Arizona water stakeholders on Wednesday. Three million acre-feet of water is enough to supply 6 million to 9 million households for one year, more than the number of homes in Arizona and Nevada.
This effectively means a large portion of the southwest (sorry Phoenix your time as the largest growing city is about to end) is going to be on water rationing.
In California this means either they quit wasting water on high water needs agriculture or lose a lot of the remaining agriculture, in Nevada it means the dying Las Vegas may go back to being the desert it started from.
errie_tholluxe@reddit (OP)
None of this of course even takes into account people.
moosekin16@reddit
Republicans will never pass legislation that would restrict the water usage of companies and farmers.
Doesn’t matter it’s mostly middle eastern countries buying the desert-grown water crops, republicans on principle hate restricting companies in what they’re allowed to do.
Our only hope is that the Iran war drives fertilizer prices up enough that it’s no longer profitable to grow alfalfa in the fucking desert.
Of course the other side of that is what happens first - will these idiotic farms go out of business before or after legislature decides to restrict people’s water access?
MaddogBC@reddit
I enjoy watching farming on youtube and try to ignore the politics as a product of where these people are from. It's been very, very interesting watching them try to explain this away for their viewers.
Right now I think they're planning for 100$ an acre in extra fertilizer costs, but that's likely to be quite optimistic. They're planting into dry ground going into a drought year and rolling the dice. Next year is going to be a massacre.
GreatPlainsFarmer@reddit
Do you watch any who raise alfalfa in the west? I wonder if they fertilize at all. They don’t need nitrogen, and probably not potassium or calcium. I’d guess phosphorus and sulfur would be about the only major nutrients needed. Maybe some micros.
I hadn’t thought much about it before, but fertilizer might not be a significant expense for alfalfa in the west.
MaddogBC@reddit
Very interesting, no, this was corn specifically.
GreatPlainsFarmer@reddit
Do you mind sharing which channel you’re thinking of?
spacebeez@reddit
Seems obvious we should not have built huge sprawling communities with grass laden golf courses in the middle of a landlocked desert.
PeaOk5697@reddit
UK gets water form the Colorado river in the US?
legosgrrl@reddit
10k ft here, we are fucked.
StatementBot@reddit
The following submission statement was provided by /u/errie_tholluxe:
Submission statement : The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation proposed a 10-year plan in which Arizona, California and Nevada would potentially cut water use by up to 3 million acre-feet per year to maintain water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the river's severely depleted reservoirs, Buschatzke told a meeting of Arizona water stakeholders on Wednesday. Three million acre-feet of water is enough to supply 6 million to 9 million households for one year, more than the number of homes in Arizona and Nevada.
This effectively means a large portion of the southwest (sorry Phoenix your time as the largest growing city is about to end) is going to be on water rationing.
In California this means either they quit wasting water on high water needs agriculture or lose a lot of the remaining agriculture, in Nevada it means the dying Las Vegas may go back to being the desert it started from.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1teccy4/us_government_planning_dramatic_colorado_river/om1evbz/