3 ms·

> But thankfully we don't live in a libertarian utopia where owning all the land means that you automatically run the world Not a libertarian anymore, but this

• MichaelCollins 4y ago
  > It takes years to refill those aquifers if you begin overusing them. Thousands of years if not longer in the case of fossil aquifers. In regions where the aquifers are capped by an impermeable layer, rain water does not replenish the ground water at any meaningful speed. In these regions, using ground water is unsustainable no matter how much money you're charging for it or what you're using it for. Some of these aquifers were filled thousands of years ago during climate conditions drastically different from today, and these will never refill under present or foreseeable climate conditions. Let people farm there using the finite water supply and they'll make a lot of money up front, but that gravy train has to stop eventually. But by the time the water runs out they've made a lot of money, and probably use that money to lobby for wetter regions to hand over their water too. Tapping fossil aquifers should be illegal. If you can't make due with surface water and/or aquifers that refill regularly from surface water, then you should go somewhere else. Don't farm in deserts.