The colorado river is in crisis, and it's getting worse every day (Mead: how much, house)

[Mike from back east]

At 74 it's been my observation that the cowards elected at the Federal and State levels will do nothing until people die and/or the profits of big money donors dry up; mostly the latter. Nothing focuses the attention of pols like the prospect of losing re-election due to a severe crisis, but is has to be truly severe else they just throw money at it and tell us to go shopping.

We built the 800-mile Alaska oil pipeline under hurry up conditions in a dreadful climate across pristine lands, but we can't find the will to build an 835-mile water pipeline to move some of the prodigious flow of the Columbia River from Boardman, OR to drop it into the COLO River at Moab, UT. The Columbia River has a huge average flow of 265,000 cubic feet of water PER SECOND compared to 22,500 cubic feet of water per second for the Colorado River.

Nor can we find the courage to cover thousands of miles of canals to stop the evaporation and put solar panels on the tops of the canal canopies to generate electricity lost to low water flows in the river systems.

I read elsewhere that irrigation is used to grow hay in western states that is shipped to China and/or the Middle East.

We've got to stop growing cotton in arid places like CA, AZ and TX which is shipped to India for British textile firms to make towels and bedsheets, with low cost labor of color, and then sell back to us at high prices. These are some of the same British textile firms that bought cotton from slave states before the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. When I think about this it is nothing more than the continued colonization of America by the British; we pump our water resources dry to farm cotton with brown labor from Mexico, for these British firms to turn into valued added products with brown labor in India while all the profits go back to merry old England. As long as the Citizens United ruling allows unlimited dark money to flow into our elections from offshore interests the fleecing of America by foreigners will continue as they keep us distracted with culture war nonsense like the insanity of arguing the saying of Merry Christmas versus Happy Holidays.

There is no shortage of solutions to our problems, but the biggest shortage we have are big thinkers and political doers. Does Elon Musk have to fix everything?

[Dogmama50]

We were just in Palm Springs and I was shocked at the amount of water they use. People watering lawns in the middle of the day, lush green grass framing sidewalks, water puddled in the streets from run off. They are talking about water management but it doesn't seem like they are doing anything about it. A lot of my neighbors in are talking about xeriscaping and hoping our backwards HOA will approve it over lawns.

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by Dogmama50

We were just in Palm Springs and I was shocked at the amount of water they use. People watering lawns in the middle of the day, lush green grass framing sidewalks, water puddled in the streets from run off. They are talking about water management but it doesn't seem like they are doing anything about it. A lot of my neighbors in are talking about xeriscaping and hoping our backwards HOA will approve it over lawns.

That's been what Southern Nevada has been saying for 3 decades. Lawns are not allowed on any new builds and old builds are losing lawns quickly due to incentives. Even more importantly, Southern Nevada pretty much recycles all its water. Sewage goes through a couple of big filters, then is sent to be "recharged" In wetlands and then back into Lake Mead. It's sad few people realize this but this is what you do to insure a water supply in a desert. When are the California, Arizona, and Utah deserts going to get on board and do the same?

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

I read elsewhere that irrigation is used to grow hay in western states that is shipped to China and/or the Middle East.

Irrigation is used also to grow almonds, that are shipped to China. And now REIT's have gotten in on the cash crop; they've bought up somewhat marginal land around the periphery of the Central Valley, and have planted almond trees, a very water-intensive crop, but the water's cheap in California.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Irrigation is used also to grow almonds, that are shipped to China. And now REIT's have gotten in on the cash crop; they've bought up somewhat marginal land around the periphery of the Central Valley, and have planted almond trees, a very water-intensive crop, but the water's cheap in California.

REITs will try anything to make a buck, even though many farmers in California have been ripping out their almond trees due to the drought.

Hope this link works, it's to pages of pictures of removed almond trees.

[StealthRabbit]

Almonds (Buy them while you can get them...)

California is the only state that produces almonds commercially. The 2020 almond crop totaled 2.25 billion pounds valued at $5.5 billion. (NASS)
Per person consumption of almonds in the United States has generally been increasing and reached 2.38 pounds in the 2019/2020 crop year. (ABC)

Internationally, the United States remains the largest producer of almonds, harvesting 78 percent of the world's crop, followed by the European Union. California is the largest producer in the United States. (ABC)

https://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/nuts/almonds

BTW... The Columbia River is NOT USA originated water (and not available or desired for CA confiscation)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_River

the fish will win the volumes required. (more Dams will be demolished)

https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/70039373/report.pdf

We (USA) should have bought Canada Territory a century and 1/2 ago. But... we would have been all the more wasteful, and likely be in the same fix as today.

AZ should ship HEAT (gained under asphalt) to MN in underground storage tubes. And have MN send back COLD!!!! Get the transit cycle correct with requirements and you could have a 'closed loop' solution.

[thrillobyte]

Originally Posted by Colorado Rambler

The Colorado River is in crisis — one deepening by the day.

It is a powerhouse: a 1,450-mile waterway that stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Sea of Cortez, serving 40 million people in seven U.S. states, 30 federally recognized tribes and Mexico. It hydrates 5 million acres of agricultural land and provides critical habitat for rare fish, birds and plants.

But the Colorado’s water was overpromised when it was first allocated a century ago. Demand in the fast-growing Southwest exceeds supply, and it is growing even as supply drops amid a climate change-driven megadrought and rising temperatures.

States and cities are now scrambling to forestall the gravest impacts to growth, farming, drinking water and electricity, while also aiming to protect their own interests.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...-river-crisis/

This is an excellent article from the WaPo - well worth checking out. The pictures are very good as well. The seven states which formed the Colorado River Compact near the beginning of the last century are in serious trouble, and many people who live here don't even realize it.

Among other things, it is highly likely that Lake Mead will be sacrificed in order to save Lake Powell. I always thought it would be the other way around, but apparently Powell's ability to generate hydroelectric power outdoes that of Mead.

Arizona is in worse trouble than any other state except possibly California. Yet still, new housing developments continue to rise up in the desert around Phoenix. Where the water for these projects will come from is anyone's guess, but people continue to flock to the desert and throw away their money at what can only become mirages.

The same is true on Colorado's Front Range. New housing developments are popping up everywhere along with prices that seem to be aiming for the moon and beyond. Frankly, I cannot think of a worse time to buy a new home in Colorado then now. Costs have risen to impossible sums and the water which will sustain all those new developments is evaporating off into the clear blue sky thanks to climate change. And then there's the upcoming war with agricultural interests on the Western Slope. Buy your tickets now - seating will be limited!

I started a thread some months ago about the water crisis Arizona is facing in the not too distant future. Another poster who's a resident of Phoenix insisted it was all overblown hype and that Arizona had plenty of water available from other sources. What's the truth I wonder.

[Natnasci]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Almonds (Buy them while you can get them...)

California is the only state that produces almonds commercially. The 2020 almond crop totaled 2.25 billion pounds valued at $5.5 billion. (NASS)
Per person consumption of almonds in the United States has generally been increasing and reached 2.38 pounds in the 2019/2020 crop year. (ABC)

Internationally, the United States remains the largest producer of almonds, harvesting 78 percent of the world's crop, followed by the European Union. California is the largest producer in the United States. (ABC)

https://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/nuts/almonds

BTW... The Columbia River is NOT USA originated water (and not available or desired for CA confiscation)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_River

the fish will win the volumes required. (more Dams will be demolished)

https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/70039373/report.pdf

We (USA) should have bought Canada Territory a century and 1/2 ago. But... we would have been all the more wasteful, and likely be in the same fix as today.

AZ should ship HEAT (gained under asphalt) to MN in underground storage tubes. And have MN send back COLD!!!! Get the transit cycle correct with requirements and you could have a 'closed loop' solution.

Considering we weren't for sale, that was never an option.

[bus man]

I know of a large body of water located to the west of Lakes Powell and Mead that is in absolutely no danger of running dry anytime soon. It's called the Pacific Ocean. Is it time to start talking about desalination? Or do we have to wait until the Colorado River is as dry as the Salt "River" in Phoenix before we start doing something about it?

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by thrillobyte

I started a thread some months ago about the water crisis Arizona is facing in the not too distant future. Another poster who's a resident of Phoenix insisted it was all overblown hype and that Arizona had plenty of water available from other sources. What's the truth I wonder.

The truth is as I posted earlier; the AZ state government is investing heavily in propaganda to convince its residents there's no water shortage, and that, like a loving mommy, it has seen to residents' water needs into the foreseeable future. I may have been on that thread with you. I've had the same experience on the AZ threads.

Maybe AZ is doing this to attract more transplants to add to their tax base? I can't imagine why they would be deliberately misinforming their taxpayers.