3 ms·

Externalities is the word: the real costs that aren't included in the price. Every gallon of water pumped is a gallon less that can be used for drinking, bathin

by ipnon 5y ago

Externalities is the word: the real costs that aren't included in the price. Every gallon of water pumped is a gallon less that can be used for drinking, bathing or other agriculture, but the price for water remains low and fixed. This means there is no economic signal for the water market to respond to in times when water is scarce. If we included the cost of externalities in the price of water, water would only be used for the most useful tasks. First keeping away everyone's thirst, then keeping everyone bathed and sanitary, then watering our staple crops, and then finally we can keep the golf courses green and water slides running. But when changes in scarcity do not affect changes in price, the golf courses stay green while the drinking taps start going dry. There is enough water for everything we need, if not for everything we want.

wwweston 5y ago
There's also a plausible case that even some water-hungry agricultural production may be sustainable with more water-efficient techniques... but someone operating under water right frameworks where use isn't metered has no immediate incentive to adapt to them. It really seems like the framework of water usage in the west needs some serious reconsideration.
- ZeroGravitas 5y ago
  I assume most of these farmers are also getting massive government subsidies, so you possibly wouldn't have to get into the nasty legal tangle of the water rights, just remove subsidies from anyone doing anything they shouldn't be doing, that can include: spraying the wrong pesticides, wasting too much water, not using techniques that store carbon vs release carbon/methane, avoiding monocultures etc. There is an argument for subsidizing farmers, but it also effectively makes them part of the government and somehow those two things are kept very politically seperate.
  - ipnon 5y ago
    On the federal level, the agricultural industry receives Covid relief stimulus sized subsidies every four or five years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_United_States_farm_bill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_United_States_farm_bill

by ipnon 5y ago

wwweston 5y ago

There's also a plausible case that even some water-hungry agricultural production may be sustainable with more water-efficient techniques... but someone operating under water right frameworks where use isn't metered has no immediate incentive to adapt to them. It really seems like the framework of water usage in the west needs some serious reconsideration.

ZeroGravitas 5y ago
I assume most of these farmers are also getting massive government subsidies, so you possibly wouldn't have to get into the nasty legal tangle of the water rights, just remove subsidies from anyone doing anything they shouldn't be doing, that can include: spraying the wrong pesticides, wasting too much water, not using techniques that store carbon vs release carbon/methane, avoiding monocultures etc. There is an argument for subsidizing farmers, but it also effectively makes them part of the government and somehow those two things are kept very politically seperate.
- ipnon 5y ago
  On the federal level, the agricultural industry receives Covid relief stimulus sized subsidies every four or five years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_United_States_farm_bill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_United_States_farm_bill