5 ms·
So you pass a law that says no farming in NM? That doesn't fix the rest of the water access policy once the water keeps dwindling. States will keep arguing amon
by throwaway892238 5y ago
So you pass a law that says no farming in NM? That doesn't fix the rest of the water access policy once the water keeps dwindling. States will keep arguing among themselves and the federal government won't get involved until after a few years of FEMA handouts. Policy isn't going to be able to fix this because people won't want to sacrifice. Even if people in AZ and NM welcome regulation, the other states that aren't hurt as bad won't be willing to compromise any of their water or farming rights. Unless there is a quid pro quo, people in southwestern states are just fucked.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y agoI live in NM, and while I may be in a minority here for now, I'd happily support a bill that at the very least banned agriculture that used flood irrigation in NM. A bill that outright banned commercial agriculture might be too much, but I wouldn't rule it out of order if the current drought were to last for say, another 50 years.
- pstuart 5y agoJust make the price of water match the cost of it, and flood irrigation no longer becomes cost effective. Of course wrangling that through the entrenched interests is another story.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y agoWhen you pump the water out of a well on your own property, how do you establish what the cost of the water really is?
- hedora 5y agoWater flows horizontally through aquifers, so water from your well isn't really "yours". California is starting to mandate meters on wells in some counties (as they should).
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y agoI am not 100% sure about the law in CA, but here in NM all the meters could do is check that you do not exceed the water rights associated with the property. Every piece of land has some amount of water rights (possibly zero), and you cannot be prevented from obtaining that much water from the land via wells. In most of the US west, the water you pull from groundwater reserves very much is yours as long as you do not exceed your alloted water rights. None of which helps with establishing the actual cost of the water. Granted, the situation with the CA and AZ irrigation projects is somewhat different, since the water arrives on your land thanks to a massive federal government project. In this case, while it might not be accurate, determining and defining some sort of price is feasible.
- hedora 5y agoI was referring to physics, not laws. The water allotments you describe are clearly unsustainable, unless they vary from year to year based on the local aquifer (if so, it's similar to what the CA meters check). I know the compacts with other states have trigger points that invalidate them during shortages. I wonder if the NM allotments work that way too. (If not, and they're fixed for all time, then NM is probably headed to a situation where there simply isn't any water.) The well water in CA mostly arrives due to snow pack melting and sinking into the aquifer. There are state projects to allow faster spring melts (thanks, climate change!) to reach the aquifer. They basically slow the flood water and cut ruts that let it drain into the aquifer instead of the ocean. Your "massive federal project" is probably referring to the California aquaducts and reservoirs, which are a separate water delivery network.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y agoWater rights in NM are not based on aquifer conditions, they are absolute inalienable rights associated with a piece of land. Yeah, I know, it's absolutely freakin' insane. Of course, nothing about the water rights actually says that you're going to get that much water. The interstate compacts for the Colorado and Rio Grande (also the Pecos) don't have anything directly to do with intra-state water rights. Obviously they are connected in some implicit way because it's all the same water. But this is why in general you can't fulfill water rights by pumping from rivers directly (its not impossible to do legally, just hard). Every drop of rain or snow that falls on NM is effectively pre-alloted (and the federal government already controls a large chunk of it). AFAIU, it's only the water delivered via aquaducts that can really be said to have a controllable cost. I know that CA generally prefers that farmers use that water and not pull from the acquifer, but my impression has been that they can't prevent farmers from using wells if they stay within the water rights associated with the land.
- silisili 5y agoYeah not sure about the north, where you live IIRC, but I was shocked at the sheer amount of pecan trees in the southern half of the state. They flood them so much mosquitoes are bad the whole summer!
- influx 5y agoPlease don't take away Hatch Green Chile.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y agoVery, very growable (in Hatch, naturally) with drip irrigation. And indeed, a number of the chile farms there have or are making the switch.
- influx 5y agoGlad to hear it <3