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Huh? water usage is a huge environmental issue. Only people far upstream really can say it’s not. We are amazing at not only diverting freshwater from streams a

Huh? water usage is a huge environmental issue. Only people far upstream really can say it’s not. We are amazing at not only diverting freshwater from streams and rivers, we’re also really good at pumping it out of the ground and diverting aquifer water from reaching downstream as well. While fresh water is largely renewable, it’s not like it’s an infinite resource and it’s very hard to see the long term effects of changes we’re making to our water shed. To say there’s no long term value in trying to reduce water usage is just wrong in much of the world. Worse, is drying up rivers and swamps can have an exascerbating effect. Dry soil doesn’t hold water nearly as well as wet soil, and results in greater risks of flooding from what would otherwise be typical rain patterns in an area.

Gordonjcp 4y ago
Water usage isn't an environmental issue. There's as much water now as there ever was, barring a few hundred litres aboard the ISS. The issue is that you want to live in a desert but with a lifestyle like you're not in a desert. The hard conversation you need to have is that California is not habitable. There's no water and there's nowhere to grow food. If you want to make it habitable you'll need to turn all those golf courses into farms, raise cows on them, plant more trees, and try to expand those green areas as much as you can. If you want to live in a green city, move to Glasgow, where there's loads of water and because it never gets above about 25°C or below about 5°C it's t-shirt weather all year round and you don't need to refrigerate your house.
- throwaway894345 4y ago
  California is habitable, but they need to import food from the midwest and elsewhere rather than insisting on growing it in the desert with borrowed water.
- hardlianotion 4y ago
  If you think Glasgow is t-short weather all year round, you are quite inured to the cold and wet.
  - Gordonjcp 4y ago
    Glasgow is drier than Rome, and on average about 5° cooler at any given time of year.
    - n4r9 4y ago
      Glasgow average rainfall (https://www.holiday-weather.com/glasgow/averages/ https://www.holiday-weather.com/glasgow/averages/): Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec mm 130 90 120 50 60 70 70 60 80 110 100 Rome average rainfall (https://www.holiday-weather.com/rome/averages/ https://www.holiday-weather.com/rome/averages/): Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec mm 25 20 19 18 33 6 7 0 42 38 49 96 120 Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean by "drier" ?
- paul_f 4y ago
  In my opinion, much of the farming in Southern California needs to end. Or at least we should revisit the now 100-year-old agreement on how the Colorado River water is used. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_Compact https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_Compact
sacrosancty 4y ago
Damaging the environment by producing water in an environmentally damaging way is optional. You can always get it some other way using money or energy. It's tempting to just take the cheapest option when it's available though.

Gordonjcp 4y ago

Water usage isn't an environmental issue. There's as much water now as there ever was, barring a few hundred litres aboard the ISS. The issue is that you want to live in a desert but with a lifestyle like you're not in a desert. The hard conversation you need to have is that California is not habitable. There's no water and there's nowhere to grow food. If you want to make it habitable you'll need to turn all those golf courses into farms, raise cows on them, plant more trees, and try to expand those green areas as much as you can. If you want to live in a green city, move to Glasgow, where there's loads of water and because it never gets above about 25°C or below about 5°C it's t-shirt weather all year round and you don't need to refrigerate your house.

throwaway894345 4y ago
California is habitable, but they need to import food from the midwest and elsewhere rather than insisting on growing it in the desert with borrowed water.
hardlianotion 4y ago
If you think Glasgow is t-short weather all year round, you are quite inured to the cold and wet.
- Gordonjcp 4y ago
  Glasgow is drier than Rome, and on average about 5° cooler at any given time of year.
  - n4r9 4y ago
    Glasgow average rainfall (https://www.holiday-weather.com/glasgow/averages/ https://www.holiday-weather.com/glasgow/averages/): Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec mm 130 90 120 50 60 70 70 60 80 110 100 Rome average rainfall (https://www.holiday-weather.com/rome/averages/ https://www.holiday-weather.com/rome/averages/): Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec mm 25 20 19 18 33 6 7 0 42 38 49 96 120 Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean by "drier" ?
paul_f 4y ago
In my opinion, much of the farming in Southern California needs to end. Or at least we should revisit the now 100-year-old agreement on how the Colorado River water is used. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_Compact https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_Compact

sacrosancty 4y ago

Damaging the environment by producing water in an environmentally damaging way is optional. You can always get it some other way using money or energy. It's tempting to just take the cheapest option when it's available though.