Colorado and the West is running out of water . . . (Denver: coastal, summer)

[Indigo Cardinal]

I know that the water situation is a chronic problem here, but it seems surreal when they're saying the Platte and the Cache la Poudre are overflowing/on flood watch, and right now it's thundering and raining.....

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by Indigo Cardinal

I know that the water situation is a chronic problem here, but it seems surreal when they're saying the Platte and the Cache la Poudre are overflowing/on flood watch, and right now it's thundering and raining.....

It has always been feast or famine.

[Mike from back east]

Here are interesting stats I found in today's NY Times.

Water needed to grow / do these things.

- A handful of 10 Almonds: a gallon per Almond, thus 10 gallons.
- A head of lettuce: 12 gallons
- A mandarin orange: 14 gallons
- A ten minute shower: maybe 25 gallons
- A load of laundry: maybe 35 gallons
- An egg: 53 gallons
- A pound of chicken: 458 gallons
- A gallon of milk: 880 gallons
- A quarter-pound burger: 450 gallons (that's 1800 gallons for a pound of ground beef)

Excerpt: "... while we associate extravagant water use with swimming pools and verdant lawns, the biggest consumer, by far, is agriculture. In California, 80 percent of water used by humans goes to farming and ranching."

The article concludes: "....the central challenge can’t be solved by a good rain because the larger problem is an irrational industrial food system."


EDIT: Today's 60 Minutes has this 14-minute segment on water, mostly how California is pumping itself dry for farm irrigation.

[EricNorthman]

This link is from the article in Mike From Back East's post. It allows you to enter your own information to see your own personal water footprint and in what areas you use the most water.

Water Footprint Calculator - National Geographic

[rumline]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Excerpt: "... while we associate extravagant water use with swimming pools and verdant lawns, the biggest consumer, by far, is agriculture. In California, 80 percent of water used by humans goes to farming and ranching."

[...]
EDIT: Today's 60 Minutes has this 14-minute segment on water, mostly how California is pumping itself dry for farm irrigation.

This is one of the many reasons I hate California*. They want to fine us 1000s of $$ if we run our sprinklers more than twice per week, saying "we all have to do our part to help save water! Together we can make a difference for CA!!!" While at the same time agriculture, who uses by far the lion's share of water, is exempt from any rationing. It's completely asinine.

* Not that other states are somehow immune from retarded citizenry / public policy shenanigans.

[xeric]

Originally Posted by EricNorthman

This link is from the article in Mike From Back East's post. It allows you to enter your own information to see your own personal water footprint and in what areas you use the most water.

Water Footprint Calculator - National Geographic

You think it's hard to get people to give up their lawns? Try getting them to cut back on beef, pork, chicken, dairy; to cut back on driving; or to choose high MPG vehicles over size. All of these latter factors were big factors in the water footprint calculations above.

It's interesting to debate these issues, but really it comes down to local choices. Given continued growth in the urban west and the reality of senior water rights vested in the agricultural sector the choice has and will (I believe) continue to be between more water diversions/dams vs. much stronger urban water conservation.

[Colorado Rambler]

According to the most recent statistics I could find, overall, jobs in agribusiness provided 2.38% of income in Colorado or $4.8 billion in 2007; agribusiness employment is declining as a percentage of total employment in the state —from 4.9% in 1992 to 3.3% in 2007.

So, Colorado is nothing like Kansas or Nebraska or California when it comes to the value of agriculture for the state's economic well-being. In addition, smaller farms are vanishing and the state is getting dominated by large scale outfits. My prediction is that the big outfits will increasingly allow their lands to go fallow and sell their water rights to urban areas for a nice profit. Water shares are sold with the land. Yes, the people first in line get first dibs at the water shares. But nowhere that I'm aware of does the water law dictate WHAT those shares can be used for or how much they can be resold for. If you want to use your water shares to make a huge artificial lake in the middle of a bunch of sagebrush that does no one any good, you are allowed to do so. I saw a spot like that today. The farmer (now retired) had his water shares passed down along with the land from his family who had pioneered the ranch he inherited. He decided it would be fun to make a giant lake in the middle of the semi-desert here and just let his family and friends use it for picnics and such. It's a really stupid waste of water - especially out here - but he can do what he pleases. I imagine that when his kids or grandkids inherit the place, they'll sell that water to the city of Cortez or else the Utes out at Toawoc for a very goodly sum.

Agriculture is dying out in Colorado. The average farmer's age is now 57. Then factor in how much more money you can make by selling your water to Denver rather than trying to raise wheat in a drought. Me? I'd sell out and not think twice about it. Then I'd move to Wyoming.

[empires228]

I have a close friend who works for Douglas County Parks and their boss encourages them to purposely overwater EVERYTHING even with the recent rains.

[empires228]

Originally Posted by Colorado Rambler

I hope you didn't think that I was lumping you in with the clueless out-of-staters (ie Easterners) here in Colorado who couldn't care less about the huge water problem that is descending on the West like a tidal wave - a tidal wave of dust. As a matter of fact, I was pleased to see your mention that Colorado "already faces legal action every few years from Kansas and Nebraska for overusing the Republican and Arkansas Rivers" - a good reminder that we are all connected out here in the same way that creeks feed into streams and the streams flow into a mighty river. When I turn on a water tap in Pueblo, I'm taking water from western Kansas. When I water my garden here in SW Colorado, I'm using water that could have gone to California (among many other places) instead. The "Law of the River" as it applies to the Colorado River and other rivers which flow through the Western states needs to be revised. Right now all that is happening is a war between urban and rural; Las Vegas against Denver and Phoenix against the world. Plus, in your part of the world, the Ogallala reservoir is being drawn down at an alarming rate.

Finally, here in Colorado, towns are also buying up farms to get their irrigation shares. Pueblo especially is fond of this tactic. I live in an old ranch house in rural western Colorado. The family who who farm the land which surrounds my home bought the land for the irrigation shares that came with it. This house was just a sort of after thought. So, lucky me - I get to live on a beautiful hay and alfalfa farm, the rent is a major steal, and I'm even allowed an entire water share (oh, priceless gift!) to water a garden that's as big as I have the energy to grow and to make sure all the fruit trees on the property get a good watering on a regular basis all summer.

It makes me heartsick to imagine this family losing their irrigation shares just because Denver wants to build another suburb complete with blue-grass.

I have a cousin who once had a farm in western Kansas. I've never seen two people work as hard as my cousin and her husband, trying to make a go of it on that place. Alas, a combination of factors - not the least of which was drought - finally forced them to sell out. They now live in Loveland and make frequent visits to Pawnee National Grasslands.

I'm on your side. Don't think I'm not.

Yours,
Colorado Rambler

I meant no ill will . I figured you (and several other rational Colorado residents) had a similar mindset about the unstability of water use in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and the states to the west of Kansas. Most of the "Down with Colorado" farmers I know are on OK terms with CO at the moment because the recent wet weather has forced them to let out the required flow from John Martin and Pueblo reservoirs for the first time in almost 20 years.

I'm sure water rights out in Western Kansas will become just as valuable in the near future. I'm glad my family owns the water under the neighbors vacant land so they can't drill a new well and run ours dry.

[EricNorthman]

I found this interesting article about Sao Paulo and the major water issues it faces. Could it be a look into our future here in the US? I hope not. It sounds awful.

São Paulo