Colorado River basin states reach agreement on water cutbacks (loans, home)

[Tulemutt]

Wow

“ what ended up materializing at the end of January were two competing offers: a joint document from six out of the seven states and a separate proposal from California.

… “California and our partners in Arizona and Nevada have developed a plan to better perform and protect the Colorado River system than either action alternative identified in the current draft SEIS,”


https://thehill.com/policy/equilibri...sage-cutbacks/

[Ruth4Truth]

Well, the problem was, that they were already over-consuming their allowance in the first place. So by the time they cut back, they'll still be over-consuming in relation to the dwindling CO river volume.

But still, it's a step in the right direction, I suppose.

[CA4Now]

The agreement among the seven states gives California, especially, some additional time (although very little) to prepare for a drier future, including a much steeper permanent reduction in its allotment of Colorado River water.

The 20th century brought a Western population and economic boom that was largely enabled by the river and the great engineering projects that harnessed it. We now know that it was also an unusually wet period that allowed us to delude ourselves into thinking there would always be more than enough to go around. Now we know better, but we’ve already set urban and agricultural patterns that rely on water in amounts we won’t be seeing again.

It’s too easy to pretend otherwise. The recent wet and snowy winter may tempt us to believe that our water crisis is behind us.

That wet abundance helped pave the way for the current short-term accord. So did, counterintuitively, the pandemic and inflation, which spurred federal spending programs, including the Inflation Reduction Act. That legislation appropriated $5 billion for conservation.

But the federal largesse and the unusually wet weather are anomalies. They prevented the federal government from imposing unilateral cuts this time, but they’re unlikely to return on an annual basis, refill the still vastly reduced reservoirs, or bail California and its neighboring states out of their water crisis. California takes the most Colorado River water by far, so its cuts now and in future operating agreements will also be the largest and most deeply felt.

The West lives amid two competing and contradictory narratives. We are the home of the pioneering, can-do spirit, where initiative and engineering can outthink Mother Nature and turn deserts into sparkling cities and emerald fields of kale and romaine (and almonds and pistachios). Or we’re thirsty fools who built our lives and fortunes on an evaporating resource.

Colorado River water deal gives California another reprieve. For now:
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...prieve-for-now

[Ruth4Truth]

This is going to hit the ag sector the hardest. Farmers will have to spend $$ to switch over to drip irrigation, those who haven't done so already. Some experts debate whether drip irrigation actually does save water. Perhaps more water-efficient farming methods will need to be developed. Maybe the more marginal areas will have to be abandoned and returned to desert, or used for alternative energy development or some other use.

It's going to be a tough transition. There will be noise. There may be demands for low-interest business loans to facilitate whatever accommodations need to be made. Then the smaller farmers will end up shut out of the loans, after corporate agribusiness swoops in to scoop up the loans.

Rough roads ahead.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

This is going to hit the ag sector the hardest. Farmers will have to spend $$ to switch over to drip irrigation, those who haven't done so already. Some experts debate whether drip irrigation actually does save water. Perhaps more water-efficient farming methods will need to be developed. Maybe the more marginal areas will have to be abandoned and returned to desert, or used for alternative energy development or some other use.

It's going to be a tough transition. There will be noise. There may be demands for low-interest business loans to facilitate whatever accommodations need to be made. Then the smaller farmers will end up shut out of the loans, after corporate agribusiness swoops in to scoop up the loans.
Rough roads ahead.

Perhaps humanity needs to recognize that hosting fewer people and simplified lifestyles solves all problems.

Just thinking off the top of my head here

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

Perhaps humanity needs to recognize that hosting fewer people and simplified lifestyles solves all problems.

Just thinking off the top of my head here

Just try and get humanity to stop producing future generations, and to simplify their lifestyle. Actually I think the latest trend toward "minimalism" may be a step in the right direction. But then, there are all those other people, who aren't into that.

So.... where does that leave us, policy-wise? Legislated limits to family size? To home size? Not gonna happen.

Any more great ideas? I mean, I agree with you, but how to pull i off is another matter. Humanity is notoriously difficult to work with at all, much less--unify under a cause.


Sorry for dragging reality into it...

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Just try and get humanity to stop producing future generations, and to simplify their lifestyle. Actually I think the latest trend toward "minimalism" may be a step in the right direction. But then, there are all those other people, who aren't into that.

So.... where does that leave us, policy-wise? Legislated limits to family size? To home size? Not gonna happen.

Any more great ideas? I mean, I agree with you, but how to pull i off is another matter. Humanity is notoriously difficult to work with at all, much less--unify under a cause.


Sorry for dragging reality into it...

Nah. Been through this about 8 billion times on these forums (heh … 8 billion. Get it?)

No draconian laws required.

Incentivize. Incentivize. Incentivize.


Soooo much cheaper and easier to implement than *Build baby build!*

[Exitus Acta Probat]

I don't know about everybody else here, but I'm really getting sick of being told that we now should be taking shorter showers, perhaps only showering every other day, and to no longer have lawns. And don't fully wash your clothes or dishes. And don't run your clothes or dish washers between 5 PM and 9 PM anyway, because we don't have the infrastructure for the electricity. And why all this, et al? Because we have scumbags running this place who can't decline the money they get from developers to grease the wheels and get the entitlements, variances, permits, zone changes, etc., to build stuff that none of us CA natives asked for, and we're simply left in the lurch with our stinky bodies, dirty clothes, grimy dishes, filthy cars, and dead lawns. Why would we want this?!

Enough!

Take the build-o-rama to Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, or some other less populous state -- we're at capacity. Well, actually, we're beyond capacity, and have been for a long time. So happy trails -- go east, young man, go east...

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

I don't know about everybody else here, but I'm really getting sick of being told that we now should be taking shorter showers, perhaps only showering every other day, and to no longer have lawns. And don't fully wash your clothes or dishes. And don't run your clothes or dish washers between 5 PM and 9 PM anyway, because we don't have the infrastructure for the electricity. And why all this, et al? Because we have scumbags running this place who can't decline the money they get from developers to grease the wheels and get the entitlements, variances, permits, zone changes, etc., to build stuff that none of us CA natives asked for, and we're simply left in the lurch with our stinky bodies, dirty clothes, grimy dishes, filthy cars, and dead lawns. Why would we want this?!

Enough!

Take the build-o-rama to Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, or some other less populous state -- we're at capacity. Well, actually, we're beyond capacity, and have been for a long time. So happy trails -- go east, young man, go east...

The 80's was a dry decade, a precursor of the Great Drought. Everyone was urged to cut back on water use. So my parents took military showers the entire decade, and had a bucket in their shower to catch what little splash there was, and use it to water the plants. And they never really stopped doing that. Hauling a big bucket downstairs and out the door to water the plants, taking short showers.

So the question is, how do you cut back any further from that?! There's nothing left to cut!

[njbiodude]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

This is going to hit the ag sector the hardest. Farmers will have to spend $$ to switch over to drip irrigation, those who haven't done so already. Some experts debate whether drip irrigation actually does save water. Perhaps more water-efficient farming methods will need to be developed. Maybe the more marginal areas will have to be abandoned and returned to desert, or used for alternative energy development or some other use.

It's going to be a tough transition. There will be noise. There may be demands for low-interest business loans to facilitate whatever accommodations need to be made. Then the smaller farmers will end up shut out of the loans, after corporate agribusiness swoops in to scoop up the loans.

Rough roads ahead.

Why are we growing thirsty crops in a desert? Drip irrigation is helpful but some crops just straight up shouldn’t be grown in dry regions either. Not all crops are viable food sources and many food sources are exported