Water in California and the rest of the western USA - going, going, gone...

[ATCclears]

Pine-Strawberry, Arizona

 

[Idaho44]

"Cadillac Desert", read it and weep!

 

[gmerkt]

There is no water shortage. There is, however, a shortage of cheap water. The shortfall can be made up, but it will involve reality pricing.

Same comment applies to reductions in power generation resulting from shortage of cheap water.

 

[nwslopoke]

Oh, we know you paid for a broke Water system, she says.

Anyone old enough to remember Lilly Tomlin doing The Phone Company skits on Laugh In? "We're the phone company and we don't care". Was that the beginning of monopoly busting? No competition ruining lives.

 

[The Heretic]

There is no water shortage. There is, however, a shortage of cheap water. The shortfall can be made up, but it will involve reality pricing.

There is a shortage of potable water for an increasing human population, especially at the rates that we use/waste water.

Sure, we could convert sea water to potable water, but that is highly inefficient and as you point out, costly, not to mention what happens to the salt waste.

 

[arakboss]

There is a shortage of potable water for an increasing human population, especially at the rates that we use/waste water.

Sure, we could convert sea water to potable water, but that is highly inefficient and as you point out, costly, not to mention what happens to the salt waste.

The great lakes have a lot of freshwater but getting it to those who need it is going to cost ya.

 

[drstrangelove]

I imagine quite a bit of the aquifer problem would be a reduced if people just peed in their back yards, plus the plants benefit from the nitrogen in the urine.

 

[gmerkt]

There is a shortage of potable water for an increasing human population

In the west, it's not just potable water that is in short / cheap supply. In the region, agriculture uses about 80% of water set aside for human use. Farmers pay a tiny fraction of the cost for water that city residents pay. If agricultural users paid what water is worth, food prices would skyrocket.

 

[The Heretic]

And on my mountain yesterday:

Instagram

www.instagram.com

Instagram

www.instagram.com

*shrug* maybe someday I will figure out how to share an instagram link properly

 

[DivCurlGrad72]

Pine-Strawberry, Arizona

Interesting that house prices don't seem to be reflecting this reality:

Strawberry Pine Real Estate - Strawberry Pine Homes For Sale | Zillow

Zillow has 40 homes for sale in Strawberry Pine. View listing photos, review sales history, and use our detailed real estate filters to find the perfect place.

www.zillow.com

How nervous are you as as a seller right now, and on the other side, who'd buy a house there with the water supply drying up?

 

[The Heretic]

 

[Provincial]

Regarding the frequent bathroom trips as her pregnancy advanced:

"This did not annoy Amanda for it had long been her theory that human beings were invented by water as a device for transporting itself from one place to another."
― Tom Robbins, quote from Another Roadside Attraction

 

[joneb]

We need more golf courses and breweries and less dams, ya that will fix it.

 

[gmerkt]

Interesting that house prices don't seem to be reflecting this reality:

It is interesting, because history is dotted with towns abandoned due to water scarcity. We are in America, the idea of "it can't happen here" prevails.

Someone mentioned above that that over-population was a "scare" in the 1960's. Well, with slow, incremental change, it's still in progress. We just don't think about it as an event that comes along and smacks us between the eyes of a sudden. It happens slowly, insidiously. We all notice increases in traffic congestion. We just don't link it up to "over-population." Yet water "shortage" is to some large degree a result of demand pressure. Too many people who want it. And an increasing supply of mouths to feed that depend on agriculture for food.

 

[GWS]

Thank goodness for our open southern border so we can bring in even more mouths to feed and water.

 

[arakboss]

When was the last time the Willamette River ran dry? Wilsonville switched from well water to Willamette River water and hasn't looked back. It cost us though. Filtering that stuff ain't cheap. Columbia River has plenty of water for the Metro area. The SW part of the country is screwed until the drought conditions loosen up. 100+ year long droughts are common down there so they may be struggling for a while. Musk can solve it.

 

[BrentN]

There was money in the recent infrastructure bill (1.6 TTTT....rillion dollars) to address this water "shortage" in the SW US, no? I'm going to hold my breath and watch amazing things happen. These problems were solvable 3 generations ago. Open the border wide open. Maybe when Lake Mead is a mud flat, people will be forced to take it seriously. Pretty sweet when you can take peoples money then just blame the sun god. Maybe one of these government sponsored scientists could let me know exactly how many more millions of people can line up to suck water out of the same reservoir that was built a century ago.

 

[billdeserthills]

Pine-Strawberry, Arizona

We should get rid of the water wasting golf courses immediately

 

[gmerkt]

When was the last time the Willamette River ran dry? Wilsonville switched from well water to Willamette River water and hasn't looked back.

In many places west of the Cascades it won't hurt like Las Vegas. BUT: I recall hearing of wells going dry on Camano Island, for example. Bountiful water west of the Cascades isn't universal. The man-made lake in my county isn't inexhaustible and the population here is increasing all the time.

I watched a documentary on TV lately about the water "problem" in Mexico City. Which used to be surrounded by lakes. Over time, first the water was drained away for development. When the city grew, they started pumping water out of the ground for consumption. Millions of residents needed this water. So much that the city started sinking. Which has resulted in broken underground pipes in many areas. Now they have to truck water around to some residential areas. In fact, a lucrative black market in stolen water has come about. Complete with water crimes, like hi-jacked trucks. etc.

 

[nehalemguy]

We should get rid of the water wasting golf courses immediately

...and almond groves.

-E-