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Now, if people had been smarter with their water consumption, could this have been a better scenario? Maybe, maybe not. Cannot really know. But we need to stop wasting water (we've made leaps over the past decades but we still waste a lot of water).
Now, if people had been smarter with their water consumption, could this have been a better scenario? Maybe, maybe not. Cannot really know. But we need to stop wasting water (we've made leaps over the past decades but we still waste a lot of water).
I saw that photo yesterday! Absolutely stunning, isn't it? I know this sounds a little self-serving, but I'm planning a larger garden this year and stocking up on canning jars, so I'll have tomato sauce come winter. Up to now I had hand-watered my raised beds, but this year I'll be putting in a carefully planned drip system to ensure that not a drop of my irrigation water goes to waste. I think we're going to see some pretty dramatic price jumps at the grocery later this year.
It's gonna get ugly for sure. Maybe people will start realizing water is not as disposable as we thought? Maybe it's not such a bad idea to have a rain barrel to irrigate our gardens instead of using the water that has been treated (wasting energy). Maybe "if it's yellow let it mellow" applies to more than just people with tanks. Maybe shutting the shower off while soaping up isn't crazy. Maybe diverting your washer machine's drainage to your yard isn't such a crazy thing to do.
It's amazing some small changes we can make that would save quite a bit of water and the processing of water.
I don't have the option of a rain barrel because I live in Colorado, an upper basin state, and the drier lower basin states of California, Nevada, and Arizona count on us to protect the flow they receive from the Colorado River. Even if our resevoirs are full, as they are right now, it's important for us to conserve. Fortunately, there are lots of other ways we've found to reduce our water usage, some of which you've mentioned.
Last edited by randomparent; 02-26-2014 at 09:04 AM..
Yes, for those of us who receive municipal water, which is the vast majority of Coloradans. Those who have wells and, therefore water rights, are allowed to have cisterns. I know it's a weird concept for people in wetter regions of the country, but in the west, the Colorado Compact ensures that there is enough water for everyone, meaning that those of us upriver have a responsibility to protect water access for those downriver.
Last edited by randomparent; 02-26-2014 at 09:56 AM..
So here's my confusion. They don't want you to impact the river for downstream towns, but, you're going to use muni water, which has been treated, because you can't use rain water. so your net consumption of water is greater, because you're using treated water. no?
So here's my confusion. They don't want you to impact the river for downstream towns, but, you're going to use muni water, which has been treated, because you can't use rain water. so your net consumption of water is greater, because you're using treated water. no?
You're getting into territory I don't fully understand, so I'm afraid I can't further elucidate the matter. Sorry.
i'm not articulating it well. But essentially my point is....you're consuming the water either way, it's not like you're hoarding it in a massive tank. Consuming rain water means your saving rain water for the non rainy days to wet your garden. If you need to wet your garden though, you'll have to turn a sprinkler on with a hose? So now, you're using water from the city that was "treated" - which required energy, which requires water. So you're using more water than you otherwise have to.
It's like towns with grey water systems for toilets...you can conserve water by using grey water for certain things, and treated water only where necessary.
Someone can probably explain it far better than I can, but that's the basic understanding i have.
i'm not articulating it well. But essentially my point is....you're consuming the water either way, it's not like you're hoarding it in a massive tank. Consuming rain water means your saving rain water for the non rainy days to wet your garden. If you need to wet your garden though, you'll have to turn a sprinkler on with a hose? So now, you're using water from the city that was "treated" - which required energy, which requires water. So you're using more water than you otherwise have to.
It's like towns with grey water systems for toilets...you can conserve water by using grey water for certain things, and treated water only where necessary.
Someone can probably explain it far better than I can, but that's the basic understanding i have.
Okay, I see now where you're going with this. All I can say is that there are many many competing interests in the western water wars.
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