The fight against drought in California has a new tool: The restrictor

Post by dataflow » Mon, Aug 29, 2022, 5:14 AM UTC

jwie wrote: post #153

Consumer water restrictions are 8th order concerns. If we had a serious government in the United States they’d be talking about our annual export of 4.887e11 gallons of water to Mexico from the Colorado River. That’s 1.5 million acre-feet for those more familiar with agricultural water units. There’s your weapon against drought. Just, don’t export hundreds of trillions of gallons of water. Also alfalfa exports to Chi…

Post by binbashthefash » Mon, Aug 29, 2022, 5:18 AM UTC

Siddarth1977 wrote: post #259

wudangmonk wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think they have ever added one of these useless restrictions on California yet it's been mostly posturing. They blame the lawn, and you have people peacocking about their dry lawns in an effort to gain social brownie points. I'm surprised they still blame the lawn and havent moved on to pools or something more easily associated with wealth to really try and stir the poor vs rich debate. Meanwhile even if no g…

Agricultural use of water is actually productive though. Most of us prefer having food to starving. Having a lush, green front lawn in the desert however helps no one (and actively harms the natural plants and animals that belong in a given climate). Additionally, while some water issues are over very large areas (eg, piping water from Colorado River to LA) lots of places have far more local water issues, where a giv…

Post by binbashthefash » Mon, Aug 29, 2022, 5:20 AM UTC

samatman wrote: post #269

Siddarth1977 wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agricultural use of water is actually productive though. Most of us prefer having food to starving. Having a lush, green front lawn in the desert however helps no one (and actively harms the natural plants and animals that belong in a given climate). Additionally, while some water issues are over very large areas (eg, piping water from Colorado River to LA) lots of places have far more local water issues, where a giv…

If you ever drive through the part of the Imperial Valley which is just artichokes, you'll viscerally get the point I'm about to make: you shouldn't be deciding whether square miles of artichokes are a more productive use of water than someone's lawn. No one is starving without artichokes, lawns make people happy. We solve this kind of problem with markets, or in California's case, we flagrantly ignore the solution a…

Post by diffeomorphism » Mon, Aug 29, 2022, 5:22 AM UTC

vilhelm_s wrote: post #255

bigiain wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you suggesting the same dollars per gallon? Because I callus also see a reasonable argument to charge for water in percentage or person that per gallon. As the article mentions, some people are perfectly happy to pay more money. Which’d be fine if there was a guaranteed supply with enough for everyone. But that’s not how the water supply in CA is today. Poor people should not die of dehydration just because rich…

The prices should not go up a lot, because if they did, farming would become unprofitable. E.g., tomato farming produces around $4000 worth of produce per acre and year[0], and requires 2.5 feet applied water. ($4000/acre)/(2.5 feet) = 0.5 cents/gallon. If the water got that expensive they'd need to stop growing tomatoes, since just the water would already cost more than the produce would be worth. By contrast, resid…

Post by idontknowifican » Mon, Aug 29, 2022, 5:39 AM UTC

jwie wrote: post #199

NegativeK wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure Mexico's water rights from the Colorado are protected by treaty. Sure, we could break the treaty - just like the state of Colorado could decide to keep all of their snow melt to themselves. But it's probably better to acknowledge that our actions (like building a dam and diverting a river for local use) can severely affect other people. Or to reduce frivolous water use in a desert.

They are part of a 1940s treaty. But it’s more about what’s not being considered in the drought solution. The US can back out if it chooses. That’s not the best first option, but if it comes down to it that should be considered. The water rights of the Colorado have been friendly up until now, as there’s always been enough water to go around. Giving water to Mexico is only one driver, but it is a big one. The primary…