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Both agricultural and residential overconsumption need tackling. Both. Example from the article: "326,000 gallons (1.23 million liters), is enough water to sup
by markvdb 4y ago
Both agricultural and residential overconsumption need tackling. Both.
Example from the article: "326,000 gallons (1.23 million liters), is enough water to supply one or two households for a year."
No! That is enough for >16 households a year in this rich part of northwestern Europe [0]. In a naturally dry area, consumption should be substantially less, not 16 times more.
Lowering residential water consumption to these reasonable levels gives an immediate 18.80% savings on total water consumption. That's nothing to sneeze at.
Forcing responsible water use upon non-agricultural users might also encourage a critical look at agricultural water consumption.
[0] https://www.vmm.be/data/gemiddeld-leidingwaterverbruik-gezinnen https://www.vmm.be/data/gemiddeld-leidingwaterverbruik-gezin...
- frumper 4y agoThey might be calculating for loss in getting it from Colorado to Los Angeles. LA averages around 28k gallons a years per household.
- raphaelj 4y agoI'd expect water consumption to be actually higher in a dry area compared to Belgium (not 16x more though). You'd need more water to grow crops, wash your car, hydrate yourself. You might also take more frequent showers.
- markvdb 4y agoOne may think of it as balancing the water budget, or more realistically as somewhat managing the negative externalities of sucking the land dry in ~ four human generations.
- rootusrootus 4y ago> Example from the article ... is incorrect, by at least a factor of 10.
- markvdb 4y agoI wish I had misread my sources[0], but unfortunately, 500000l per year per household really is in there. From the relevant wikipedia article [1]: "Many homes in Sacramento didn't have water meters until recently. They now are gradually being installed after [...] law mandating meters statewide by 2025." In other words: we pretend to care a little, but actually, we don't. The famous French saying is more honest: "Après nous le déluge". Loosely translated: "We'll be long gone before the flooding starts.". Both very applicable and not at all... What we shall tell the children? [0] http://www.irwd.com/images/pdf/save-water/CaSingleFamilyWaterUseEfficiencyStudyJune2011.pdf http://www.irwd.com/images/pdf/save-water/CaSingleFamilyWate... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_in_California#Urban/residential https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_in_California#Urban/resi...