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The trouble is that reduced forest leads to reduced rain, and irrigation often reduces ground water which is replenished even slower than before. It accelerates
by steve_adams_86 3y ago
The trouble is that reduced forest leads to reduced rain, and irrigation often reduces ground water which is replenished even slower than before. It accelerates water losses a lot faster than anyone expected.
- Loughla 3y agoYes, but that is a different problem than immediate water availability for crop use.
- xctr94 3y agoI agree that irrigation needs are urgent. However, we also need incentives towards an eventual transition. A basic example: contours to mitigate how fast water moves in elevated terrain. Cheap and effective. Then water collected at dug basins in the bottom. If you have cheap, constant access to water, you irrigate industrially. It’s only when droughts, lack of groundwater, climate effects, etc. kick in that the alternatives become important. But by then, you didn’t put them in place early enough. So I think farming deserves both short- and long-term thinking. Business as usual won’t work as climate conditions get worse.
- Loughla 3y ago> basic example: contours to mitigate how fast water moves in elevated terrain. Cheap and effective. Then water collected at dug basins in the bottom. Before I respond, I have another question: Are you saying this is something we are not doing and should be?
- lrem 3y agoIt's almost as if farmers were inclined to borrow water from their descendants some centuries down the line, isn't it?