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The solution is straightforward. Shut down agribusiness (don't call it farming--it's industrial scale) along the Colorado and you will have plenty of water for
by bsder 4y ago
The solution is straightforward. Shut down agribusiness (don't call it farming--it's industrial scale) along the Colorado and you will have plenty of water for people and the ability to refill the reservoirs.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- usrn 4y agoIIRC they're being extremely inefficient with the water because they don't pay for it. Fix that and the problem solves itself.
- refurb 4y agoExactly. Once again the free market to the rescue. Price the water based on supply and demand and watch how much more efficient farmers get.
- formerkrogemp 4y ago> Exactly. Once again the free market to the rescue. Price the water based on supply and demand and watch how much more efficient farmers get. Ah, yes, have the government change the price and the free market will take care of everything. We need regulation and enforcement, not just a movement in decimal point and fine print for a few parties.
- usrn 4y agoRight now the price is zero because the government is giving it away for free.
- intrasight 4y agoThe price is zero because the rights holders own the water rights.
- SR2Z 4y agoWater rights are a good example of how, in practice, property rights are entirely artificial. The system of water rights needs reform.
- refurb 4y agoWho gave the water rights? Or better stated - who owned them originally?
- intrasight 4y agoNot given. Taken.
- calvinmorrison 4y agonow I admit I am not an expert. Does anyone know what percentage of water goes right back into the water table?
- usrn 4y agoProbably near zero. My understanding is the useful kind of aquifer are the result of the shallow ones being closed off via geologic activity.
- themitigating 4y agoIt's not helping the source so it's not really important
- ClumsyPilot 4y agoYou clearly don't understand farming - it only works when water is free. If you make them pay 0.1% of what residential customers pay, farms will go bancrupt. Because the volumes of water required are so enormous. You could improbe efficiency 2x or 3x, but ir won't matter financially Thatswhy water desalination doesnt work for farming
- SR2Z 4y agoAlmonds are a classic example of an extremely water-hungry crop, with 1lb of almonds taking 1600 gallons of water to grow. My water bill, in SF, is $0.0123/gal. Now, 1600gal × 0.0123$/gal × 0.001 is about 2 cents. If farms were forced to pay my water rates, a pound of almonds would be $19.68 more expensive - but they would be paying at worst 10% of what I pay, because they wouldn't need potable water or urban plumbing. I am going to ask that you provide sources for your claim, because it seems ridiculous.
- ClumsyPilot 4y agoYour math is right, but conclusion is wrong - wholesale almonds go for $1 - $1.5 per pound, and farmer gets a fraction of that. Yourl are talking about the privlce going up 10x. Even if its 10%, you are more than doubling the price at farm gate.
- SR2Z 4y agoThe price seems to be somewhere between $2.5 to $3/lb now: https://www.selinawamucii.com/insights/prices/united-states-of-america/almonds/ https://www.selinawamucii.com/insights/prices/united-states-... In any case, doubling the price of almonds is exactly the kind of change I'd expect to see if water was charged fairly. It's one of the worst offenders - if farmers have built their business models around free water during a historic set of droughts, their business models are fundamentally unsustainable and it's the government's duty to fix the pricing sooner rather than later.
- teaearlgraycold 4y agoWhat about food? For people to eat?
- bsder 4y agoTry moving the farms to states with water. Alternatively, if you truly believe in the free market, start charging agribusinesses the same rate as residents for water use.
- formerkrogemp 4y agoWe don't want your shitty alfalfa in our states either. California and the Southwest aren't the only places with water problems. You lot have just depleted yours faster than everywhere else. It'll take decades to build your aquifers back up to nice levels. All of those planned foundries everyone on this site has been excited about in Arizona? Not enough water. Ever hear of Flint, Michigan? Water infrastructure is expensive, and people in this country are allergic to taxes. The Ogalalla aquifer is being depleted, and most people depending on it probably don't know it exists or how to say it. Salt Lake City is drying up, and the little water left there is all that's standing between a few million people and arsenic dust and other toxic, tiny shit. More people to move, and more houses lost early to the changing environment. California is burning, sinking, drying up, and unaffordable. Your rivers are becoming creeks. Lakes dry up. Reservoirs drain to thirsty farms and cities. Water is bottled and sold from California to places with plenty of it. Alfalfa, almonds, and unauthorized weed farms are drinking up most of your water that isn't immediately drained into the ocean. Desalination plants aren't being built in time and have their attendant costs and ecological considerations. Snowmelt is reduced as snowcaps disappear due to global warming. Aquifers are drained after a century of drilling and wells and byzantine water rights and legal doctrines not updated much in a century. The aquifers are so drained that the ground is sinking above the empty cavities of the depleted aquifers. Wild salmon in California will most likely die out. The seas are rising and threatening to swallow up "The Valley" and introduce once-freshwater ecosystems to saltwater. Single-family zoning covers the majority of California. Millions of economic and climate refugees are going to be playing ping pong across the US trying to find that affordable, safe, pleasant life in another state in the American pipe dream, thereby straining the barely-there infrastructure of low tax, reduced government red states and causing local spikes in prices and forcing poor people further and further out. Good luck. . . There's so much work to be done, and I feel tired thinking about it. But, it needs to be done.
- Geonode 4y agoYep. Buy the cranberry farms. Residential water usage is a drop in the bucket.
- downrightmike 4y agoThese 7 industrial farm operations are draining Arizona's aquifers, and no one knows exactly how much they're taking: https://www.azcentral.com/in-depth/news/local/arizona-environment/2019/12/05/biggest-water-users-arizona-farms-keep-drilling-deeper/3937582002/ https://www.azcentral.com/in-depth/news/local/arizona-enviro...
- ClumsyPilot 4y agoHow much is left? What happens when they run out?
- downrightmike 4y agoArizona has been recharging it's reserves since the 90's. https://www.droughtfacts.com/risks.aspx#:~:text=The%20answer%20is%20no.,for%20a%20reliable%20water%20future https://www.droughtfacts.com/risks.aspx#:~:text=The%20answer....
- triyambakam 4y agoThe gif of the drone over the pistachio farm is so depressing. It looks like a generated world with how uniform and repeated it is. So strange
- Ygg2 4y agoWon't that just worsen famine caused by Russia?
- scifibestfi 4y agoOk, now what are the downstream effects?
- throwaway894345 4y ago> Ok, now what are the downstream effects? Is this an intentional or unintentional pun?
- outside1234 4y agoMore water
- SteveGerencser 4y agoTake a look at 'just' almonds. Almonds are a "non-native" plant that came from the Mediterranean. Some 1.6 million acres of almond trees in California. That produces just about 2.8 billion pounds of almonds. It takes around 1900 GALLONS of water to grow one pound of almonds. That works out to about 16 million acre feet of water per year. More than is used by people in Los Angeles. When you take into account all the new things that they keep making out of almonds, everything from "milk" (I prefer the term nut juice) to cleaning supplies (specifically the shells are used in soaps, cutting back on water intense farm products during a 2 decade draught, rather than continuing to expand, makes sense
- dillondoyle 4y agoAlmond milk isn't even healthy I don't understand. At least soy milk has some protein in it.
- Ekaros 4y agoWouldn't other alternative that is as reasonable to kick out people in FIFO principle until the water use is in balance. Or just not supply them. Then they will leave on their own.