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It is a little hard to respond to this claim because I am not very clear of the time-frame you are using to suggest that water and food will be a problem in the future.
This is clearly incorrect as we have a history of improving our food generation (or farming) techniques. Genetically modified crops changed how we plant food. And already, we have the preliminary techniques to start creating synthetic meat in the lab.
I'll be impressed if the US outlasts the Roman empire, but with another 200 years and change to go, I'm skeptical. I saw some physicists talk about if we, humans, can make it to a type 2 civilization, then "we've made it". However, I believe it's still a roll of the dice to see if we'll end up like Star Trek (with some major reforms and obstacles first), or back to Medieval like society.
That post on water in CA being diverted to LA... I read that Texas needs to beef up its infrastructure (pun intended I suppose). They anticipate water shortages, among other infrastructure issues like rising traffic, but would ideally do so without raising taxes.
There is no water in the Southwest, its all brought in from other locations. Yes there is, The Salt, Gila, and Rio Grande Rivers sources are in the Southwest. Rainfall can average 15-20 in the highlands which flows downhill to PHX. Flagstaff averages 100 inches of snow per year. Phoenix gets all their water from the Colorado river. No it doesn't. The majority of PHX's water is from the Salt River and it's reservoirs. The Colorado river is at all time low levels. The level on the river is so low that to keep Hoover damn running and producing power, they are lowering their water input shafts at an expense of 100 million dollars or they would have to shut down the power production of the damn. Per the officials at the damn, without spending the money they would be shut down within a few years. Considering that the Colorado is so very low, and that it's sources are in Wyoming and Colorado, it seems like you should make the same claim for the Mountain West.
Also, not many know this but California has 100% rights to the water on the Colorado river per a legal arrangement signed by both states back in the late 1800's, it still valid today. Arizona will suffer from this has soon as California decides to take Arizona to court.
All states along the river have a share of the water.
There seems to be some strange fear of deserts here on CD which shows mostly in posts by Northerners. One thing to keep in perspective the next time someone gripes ,"why the heck would you build a city in the middle of the desert!" is that the very first cities ever built and first civilizations came from deserts (Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Yellow River Basin) and those places still have cities in them 10,000 years later. Mountains will continue to pull rain down which will flow downhill to desert valleys. Air currents will continue to lift moisture from the ocean and bring it to those mountains. These things by their very nature cannot not do that. Droughts come and go. The ancient city that Phoenix is built upon collapsed in the 1400's because of drought but the city rose again. The people never left, they just adapted (Tohono O'odham, Tohono Ak-chin, Maricopa all never left). If you want to cry about water sustainability in the Southwest then consider equally how sustainable it is how millions of Americans live in places where massive amounts of energy is required to not freeze to death for four months a year, pick your poison.
Last edited by Oldhag1; 06-05-2014 at 12:16 PM..
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What I see now is more and more segregation by idealogy in this huge nation. Within that is further by financial ability. Both liberal and conservative movements are turning in that direction is states ever increasing and in some cases defying federal laws even. Basically we are returning to the past in many ways. As has bee recognized; governing requires the acceptance by the governed.
All states along the river have a share of the water.
There seems to be some strange fear of deserts here on CD which shows mostly in posts by Northerners. One thing to keep in perspective the next time someone gripes ,"why the heck would you build a city in the middle of the desert!" is that the very first cities ever built and first civilizations came from deserts (Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Yellow River Basin) and those places still have cities in them 10,000 years later. Mountains will continue to pull rain down which will flow downhill to desert valleys. Air currents will continue to lift moisture from the ocean and bring it to those mountains. These things by their very nature cannot not do that. Droughts come and go. The ancient city that Phoenix is built upon collapsed in the 1400's because of drought but the city rose again. The people never left, they just adapted (Tohono O'odham, Tohono Ak-chin, Maricopa all never left). If you want to cry about water sustainability in the Southwest then consider equally how sustainable it is how millions of Americans live in places where massive amounts of energy is required to not freeze to death for four months a year, pick your poison.
You are doing a very good job a rationalizing the issues by comparing other areas of the country to Arizona. If you knew I was wrong, you would not have mention power to heat houses in the north as a way to say, see you have problems too. By diverting attention away (a liberal debating method that doesn't work) from the main issue.
You are taking my comments personally (you should not), I'm only commenting on a serious issue that people have decided to ignore. I don't care if you want to ignore the obvious, most people do.
It might be good to research the demographics of the US and the impact that air conditioning has had on population growth in the Southwest. Before AC there was almost no indigenous humans living in Arizona, New Mexico, or most of Texas. Since the 60's the population has expanded from thousands to multi millions. This is the biggest issue with fresh water usage.
BTW I was standing on a bridge in New Mexico last year and the flow of water going down the river bed was only enough to call it a creek (not a river).
Have you heard about the 1 billion dollars that ABQ wants spend to pipe Mississippi river water to them to prevent ABQ from becoming a "dead" city (their words not mine).
If it makes you feel better you could say that at least you don't have mesquites, ticks, and flying bugs like we do here in farm country.
This is already becoming a reality which is beyond scary. I watched a documentary called "Last Call at the Oasis" about the global water crisis. I highly recommend it, it's available on Netflix streaming.
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