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> Most water in the region isn't used for drinking -- there's plenty for that. I live in a densely populated region of the world where water tables have lowere

> Most water in the region isn't used for drinking -- there's plenty for that. I live in a densely populated region of the world where water tables have lowered due to droughts over the last couple of years while rain diminishes. Groundwater is pumped by farmers over the summer, further lowing water tables to a point where water companies sound the alarm: if the water table lowers below a certain level, water stops coming out of the household water taps. This literally happened this summers in a few municipalities. People didn't have access to clean water for basic hygiene, cleaning and drinking. You might think "what's so bad about that? They can just buy bottled water, or install a storage tank?" Well, this is a public health concern. The big reason why diseases raged so easily in the past in the Western world - and still is in the rest of the world - was/is the lack of public access to clean water. Diseases such as Cholera are directly attributed to poor sanitation and lack of clean water. Privatizing water sounds good in theory, but if the price of drinking water increases to prohibitive levels for less fortunate groups in society, you will also see an uptick in public health crises. The associated costs are - once again - deferred to the public (e.g. healthcare costs)

kortilla 6y ago
Water for drinking takes up a tiny fraction of uses. If this all becomes and open market, tons of wasteful crops like almonds will get wiped out way before drinking water is a noticeable expense
- Aerroon 6y ago
  To put some numbers to this: >The water footprint of California almonds averaged 10,240 liters per kilogram kernels (or, 12 liters per almond kernel) [0] The average human needs about 2.7-3.7 liters of water a day or roughly 1,000-1,350 liters per year.[1] [0] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X17308592 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X1... [1] https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2004/02/report-sets-dietary-intake-levels-for-water-salt-and-potassium-to-maintain-health-and-reduce-chronic-disease-risk https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2004/02/report-sets-d...
  - kortilla 6y ago
    It’s mind-blowing to realize that a $5 can of almonds is an entire year of water for a family.
- CaptArmchair 6y ago
  > Water for drinking takes up a tiny fraction of uses. The argument isn't how much water is used for different purposes relative to each other in absolute terms. The argument is availability. Fresh water isn't distributed equally across the globe. That's exactly what makes it a scarce commodity. > If this all becomes and open market, tons of wasteful crops like almonds will get wiped out way before drinking water is a noticeable expense As long as those almonds can be exported to profitable global markets, almond producers will be able to afford pumping up water / buying up water supplies, causing water related problems locally.
  - eru 6y ago
    > As long as those almonds can be exported to profitable global markets, almond producers will be able to afford pumping up water / buying up water supplies, causing water related problems locally. The commenter you are replying to is implying that in many places, like California, by and large almonds won't be able to be grown profitably to be sold to the global market when you take water costs into account. Access to global markets doesn't magically make everything profitable. (Often just the opposite for specific industries, because you'll also face global competition.)
  - kortilla 6y ago
    > As long as those almonds can be exported to profitable global markets, They can’t though and that’s the point. They essentially don’t pay for the water from the Colorado river and if they paid the rate consumers are charged the cost of Almonds would 10x. Almond demand would likely fall 95% or so at that point and a lot less water would be wasted. Americans are subsidizing almonds with free (or next to free) water while we bicker over the scraps of water leftover (restaurants not automatically pouring table water in CA).

kortilla 6y ago

Water for drinking takes up a tiny fraction of uses. If this all becomes and open market, tons of wasteful crops like almonds will get wiped out way before drinking water is a noticeable expense

Aerroon 6y ago
To put some numbers to this: >The water footprint of California almonds averaged 10,240 liters per kilogram kernels (or, 12 liters per almond kernel) [0] The average human needs about 2.7-3.7 liters of water a day or roughly 1,000-1,350 liters per year.[1] [0] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X17308592 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X1... [1] https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2004/02/report-sets-dietary-intake-levels-for-water-salt-and-potassium-to-maintain-health-and-reduce-chronic-disease-risk https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2004/02/report-sets-d...
- kortilla 6y ago
  It’s mind-blowing to realize that a $5 can of almonds is an entire year of water for a family.
CaptArmchair 6y ago
> Water for drinking takes up a tiny fraction of uses. The argument isn't how much water is used for different purposes relative to each other in absolute terms. The argument is availability. Fresh water isn't distributed equally across the globe. That's exactly what makes it a scarce commodity. > If this all becomes and open market, tons of wasteful crops like almonds will get wiped out way before drinking water is a noticeable expense As long as those almonds can be exported to profitable global markets, almond producers will be able to afford pumping up water / buying up water supplies, causing water related problems locally.
- eru 6y ago
  > As long as those almonds can be exported to profitable global markets, almond producers will be able to afford pumping up water / buying up water supplies, causing water related problems locally. The commenter you are replying to is implying that in many places, like California, by and large almonds won't be able to be grown profitably to be sold to the global market when you take water costs into account. Access to global markets doesn't magically make everything profitable. (Often just the opposite for specific industries, because you'll also face global competition.)
- kortilla 6y ago
  > As long as those almonds can be exported to profitable global markets, They can’t though and that’s the point. They essentially don’t pay for the water from the Colorado river and if they paid the rate consumers are charged the cost of Almonds would 10x. Almond demand would likely fall 95% or so at that point and a lot less water would be wasted. Americans are subsidizing almonds with free (or next to free) water while we bicker over the scraps of water leftover (restaurants not automatically pouring table water in CA).