22 votes

The water wars of Arizona - Attracted by lax regulations, industrial agriculture has descended on a remote valley, depleting its aquifer — leaving many residents with no water at all

14 comments

  1. jprich
    Link
    I lived in Phoenix for a year and a half. Bobby Hill was correct in that city is just a testament to mans arrogance. Keep in mind Phoenix doesnt have its own water source. Its all piped in from...

    I lived in Phoenix for a year and a half.
    Bobby Hill was correct in that city is just a testament to mans arrogance.

    Keep in mind Phoenix doesnt have its own water source.
    Its all piped in from elsewhere.
    Yet, they FLOOD their yards with water just so they can have grass in the FUCKING desert.
    Im talking inches of water not just making the grass wet. I mean ankle deep.
    And not just residential either, schools would flood their massive city block sized properties.

    We moved back east for other reasons but the complete lack of sustainability of that place is an additional reason I would never go back.

    7 votes
  2. [12]
    Treemo
    Link
    What a bleak picture. Each time I thought to myself I had a ridiculous answer to what seems like such a hopeless situation the next paragraph would bring me down. Wars will be fought over water in...

    What a bleak picture. Each time I thought to myself I had a ridiculous answer to what seems like such a hopeless situation the next paragraph would bring me down.

    Wars will be fought over water in due time and articles like this and the ones particular to Australia (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/19/you-count-your-blessings-farm-families-battling-drought-photo-essay) really show that human race due to poor management and decision-making are almost wholly responsible. Though, seeing the 9 inches average rainfall (230mm) compared to the 800mm+ I get where I live is shocking. I want to say use large water tanks from roof capture like a lot of Australians but I don't think that's enough to live on and grow any sort of crop. Using a calculator in imperial measurements gets "for every inch of rain that falls on a catchment area of 1,000 square feet, you can expect to collect approximately 600 gallons of rainwater". 9 inches would net 5400 gallons. When we were in drought, it was recommended 37gal per person per day (140L). A 4 person family has 36 days of water supply without aquifer.

    P.S. Please tag similar 'environment' next time, it didn't show up in my custom search and I had to manually find it. Thanks for the share.

    6 votes
    1. spctrvl
      Link Parent
      I do wonder how much it would cost in terms of electricity to pipe in desalinated ocean water from California or Sonora. With the amount of sunlight that falls on Arizona, that might be a viable...

      I do wonder how much it would cost in terms of electricity to pipe in desalinated ocean water from California or Sonora. With the amount of sunlight that falls on Arizona, that might be a viable option. Long term though, the best solution would probably be some sort of federal relocation fund, that helps finance people moving from unsustainable areas like Phoenix or Vegas to more sustainable ones elsewhere. That might be a good thing to set up anyway, with the projected flooding from climate change set to take out many coastal areas.

      3 votes
    2. [4]
      EightRoundsRapid
      Link Parent
      I edited the tags, so it should show for you now. That was quite an egregious omission on my part.

      I edited the tags, so it should show for you now. That was quite an egregious omission on my part.

      2 votes
      1. [3]
        Treemo
        Link Parent
        Egregious is too much! I like environmental articles and your one could have slipped through if I wasn't careful. Would have been a shame as it was worth the read, even if I'm on the other side of...

        Egregious is too much! I like environmental articles and your one could have slipped through if I wasn't careful. Would have been a shame as it was worth the read, even if I'm on the other side of the world.

        Fingers crossed the environment moves out of ~misc and levels out with the likes of ~tv!

        1 vote
        1. [2]
          EightRoundsRapid
          Link Parent
          re this: When we start fighting over water I think first blood will be drawn over The Nile. There's already huge tensions over damming/hydroelectric projects and "fair" extraction quotas.

          re this:

          Wars will be fought over water in due time and articles like this and the ones particular to Australia

          When we start fighting over water I think first blood will be drawn over The Nile. There's already huge tensions over damming/hydroelectric projects and "fair" extraction quotas.

          2 votes
          1. Treemo
            Link Parent
            There is a theory that the Middle Eastern civil problems partially stem from the droughts and decarbonisation of their soil after so many years of poor agricultural practices. "First graze"?

            There is a theory that the Middle Eastern civil problems partially stem from the droughts and decarbonisation of their soil after so many years of poor agricultural practices.

            "First graze"?

            1 vote
    3. [6]
      kiyoshigawa
      Link Parent
      I live in a desert environment similar in climate to Arizona. It's actually currently not legal to collect rainwater in many of these areas, as they expect the rainfall to collect in their storm...

      I live in a desert environment similar in climate to Arizona. It's actually currently not legal to collect rainwater in many of these areas, as they expect the rainfall to collect in their storm water drainage systems and local rivers/streams and be sent to treatment facilities for domestic use. If everyone tried to collect their own water for personal use, I expect that the current system there would begin to fail even sooner.

      1 vote
      1. [4]
        patience_limited
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        Laws against rainwater collection from household roofs are a bit ridiculous. The rooftop area for collection is trivial compared to the uncovered area. There are energy and system losses to pump...

        Laws against rainwater collection from household roofs are a bit ridiculous. The rooftop area for collection is trivial compared to the uncovered area.
        There are energy and system losses to pump treated water back out when locally collected greywater could be available.

        I'd rather see mandatory xeriscaping to replace green lawns in dry regions, and federal agriculture policies that stop subsidizing unsustainable groundwater withdrawal.

        And just while I'm drawing up a wish list, a massive tax disincentive against further housing development in regions which are already at risk of water table depletion with existing population levels. Phoenix, Las Vegas and Los Angeles are on the brink of becoming ghost cities if they can't source affordable water.

        My science-fiction daydream is that nuclear fusion will hit big and we can arrive at cheap desalination, but that's not happening anywhere near soon enough to cope with the immediate harms of rapid climate change.

        Meanwhile, on a policy level, there needs to be a housing relocation subsidy for people trapped in drought zones, to the same extent that we need a relocation subsidy for people trapped in what have become flood zones. The article makes my blood boil that no one is held responsible to compensate the people harmed by the externalities of yet another kind of environmental degradation from resource extraction.

        4 votes
        1. [3]
          spctrvl
          Link Parent
          Energy tech isn't really that much of a limiting factor on desalination, the amount used is reasonable enough, around ten watt hours per liter. That means that a one square meter solar panel...

          Energy tech isn't really that much of a limiting factor on desalination, the amount used is reasonable enough, around ten watt hours per liter. That means that a one square meter solar panel generates enough juice for 50-100 liters of desalination daily.

          1 vote
          1. [2]
            patience_limited
            Link Parent
            That presumes you're living near salt water which can be desalinated. There may not be any means to occupy true desert without extensive piping and pumping.

            That presumes you're living near salt water which can be desalinated. There may not be any means to occupy true desert without extensive piping and pumping.

            1 vote
            1. spctrvl
              Link Parent
              That's true. I would be interested in how much energy it would take to pipe it over distances like that.

              That's true. I would be interested in how much energy it would take to pipe it over distances like that.

      2. Treemo
        Link Parent
        I tried to illustrate with the comment about rainwater that the rainfall wasn't even enough to sustain human settlement on the small scale without aquifer access. Living in deserts at any sort of...

        I tried to illustrate with the comment about rainwater that the rainfall wasn't even enough to sustain human settlement on the small scale without aquifer access.

        Living in deserts at any sort of scale may not ever be possible, or more correctly, sustainable.

        2 votes
  3. Tissues
    Link
    Water is one of the least appreciated resources and is so often taken for granted. I wish people would focus their efforts on things that matter like water conservation instead of the latest...

    Water is one of the least appreciated resources and is so often taken for granted. I wish people would focus their efforts on things that matter like water conservation instead of the latest consumerist thing the media is trying to distract us with.

    4 votes