Water, water everywhere . . . and not a drop to drink. (global warming, energy, better)

[Gunluvver2]

Forget about Global Warming! A bigger threat to California and other states may be running out of water for drinking and irrigation. An extended drought in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and other Western States may be catastrophic to ALL Western States.

If any of you have ideas in how to prevent this possible disaster I would like to hear what they are. I have a few of my own I will post in a few days if they aren't duplicated by others here.

GL2

[Omaha Rocks]

Stupid suburbanites, in arid regions, need to stop watering their lawns.

Problem solved.

[Kaye02]

Originally Posted by Gunluvver2

Forget about Global Warming! A bigger threat to California and other states may be running out of water for drinking and irrigation. An extended drought in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and other Western States may be catastrophic to ALL Western States.

If any of you have ideas in how to prevent this possible disaster I would like to hear what they are. I have a few of my own I will post in a few days if they aren't duplicated by others here.

GL2

Conserving water they do have and desalinizing ocean water and transporting it to these states are the only solutions I can think of. I have read conflicting reports about this water crisis though. Some act as if it's the end of the world and other articles say there's no danger of a water crisis. I have no clue which is correct, I guess time will tell.

[Gunluvver2]

Kaye02,
I don't know where you live but I you want to take a trip that will open your eyes to the potential water shortage facing SoCal drive up to the high country and notice the water levels of various Lakes that are reservoirs for CA and NV. Lakes like Lake Powell, Lake Mead, Shasta etc. Water levels have recovered somewhat from two years ago but you will notice the high water marks are still a lot higher than current water levels.

Conserving is a small part of the solution. Desalination will require vast amounts of energy. A total reversal of building Nuclear plants in California would be required to even begin to provide a fraction of the energy needed to process the quantities of water needed.

GL2

[Teak]

Originally Posted by Omaha Rocks

Stupid suburbanites, in arid regions, need to stop watering their lawns.

Problem solved.

The bulk of the water use in the west remains for agriculture. For example, 90% of water use in Colorado is for farm and rangeland. Cotton is one of the worst crops for its heavy requirement for water.

When I visited Tucson and Phoenix in 1999, I noticed that a lot of suburban housing used desert landscaping: rocks, cactus, drought-tolerant tree species. I think that the city planners and managers are aware of the wastefulness of bluegrass lawns.

I thought that only imbeciles called people stupid.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/ma...&ex=1193198400

[Omaha Rocks]

Go ahead and call me an imbecile for stating the obvious, but seriously folks, SHUT OFF THE LAWN SPRINKLERS!

Over 50% of residential water usage goes to lawns. And though a nice green lawn is lovely, it's not necessary.

What is so hard to figure out?



Shutting Off Water to Bluegrass Lawns

Las Vegas Ripping Up Lawns to Save Water, But is it Enough? : Planetsave

[Teak]

Omaha Rocks,

Agreed. People should switch from blue-grass to no-grass lawns.

But, the fact is that irrigated agriculture is the heaviest user of water. Of course, I would rather eat than look at a bluegrass lawn, but the USA may have to get back to dryland agriculture.

The Ogallala aquifer under the Great Plains has been depleted by....(A) bluegrass lawns, or (B) irrigated agriculture. I haven't heard too much press about people flocking to retire in Kansas, so I would guess (B).

Largest Aquifer in the US is Running Dry | The Water Conservation Source

[Omaha Rocks]

Originally Posted by Teak

Omaha Rocks,

Agreed. People should switch from blue-grass to no-grass lawns.

But, the fact is that irrigated agriculture is the heaviest user of water. Of course, I would rather eat than look at a bluegrass lawn, but the USA may have to get back to dryland agriculture.

The Ogallala aquifer under the Great Plains has been depleted by....(A) bluegrass lawns, or (B) irrigated agriculture. I haven't heard too much press about people flocking to retire in Kansas, so I would guess (B).

Largest Aquifer in the US is Running Dry | The Water Conservation Source

Your original link spoke of water usage in Colorado only. And though that's relevant, Colorado wasn't one of the states mentioned in the OP.

Since you seem to have missed the link I provided, which spoke about water usage in Las Vegas, you can check this one out.

Top Las Vegas-area water users revealed, schools top list


The point is that SOME conservation measures are very easy to figure out, and do not adversely affect people's ability to make a living. They affect cosmetics.

[Teak]

The USGS published combined data for five states (AZ, CA, NV, NM, UT).

In 2000, there was 62.8 million acre-feet of water withdrawn (from rivers, groundwater) for use in those five states.
10.2 million domestic useage
50.2 million agriculture (14.1 million acres of irrigated agriculture)
2.4 million industrial use

The % increase in domestic use, from 1950 to 2000, is higher than for agriculture and industrial useage, but that the total use is still heavily weighted towards agriculture.

I agree with your point about not growing bluegrass lawns, but that alone will not solve the problem.

USGS Publications Warehouse

I am copying one sentence from the above publication. Very interesting: Crop-application rates (water withdrawal for irrigation of crops divided by the irrigated crop acreage) from 1965 to 2000 ranged from 2.32 acre-feet per acre in Utah in 1975 to 6.21 acre-feet per acre in Arizona in 2000.

That means that for every acre of farmland in Arizona, 6.21 feet of water (depth of water) was withdrawn for use. Since an acre is 43,560 ft2, that is a volume of 270,500 ft3 of water per acre! Not all of that water made it onto the land, mind you; much is lost in transmission (heavy evapotranspiration losses from open canals) and elsewhere. Maybe Arizona needs to get out of the farming business.

[Omaha Rocks]

Originally Posted by Teak

The USGS published combined data for five states (AZ, CA, NV, NM, UT).

In 2000, there was 62.8 million acre-feet of water withdrawn (from rivers, groundwater) for use in those five states.
10.2 million domestic useage
50.2 million agriculture (14.1 million acres of irrigated agriculture)
2.4 million industrial use

The % increase in domestic use, from 1975 to 2000, is higher than for agriculture and industrial useage, but that the total use is still heavily weighted towards agriculture.

I agree with your point about not growing bluegrass lawns, but that alone will not solve the problem.

I also have to wonder about the wisdom of a school district that is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to water its lawns. Aren't there better things for schools to spend money on?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Are schools considered domestic or industrial? How about golf courses? Are they considered agricultural?

One of the links I provided showed that, in Las Vegas, some of the biggest users of water are the public schools, followed closely by golf courses.

Again, it's nice to have lush green lawns (and golf courses), but it's not necessary.