
The Water Wars of Arizona (2018) - nwatson
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/magazine/the-water-wars-of-arizona.html
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slimsag
I live in Arizona. The people commenting here suggesting anyone living in a
desert should be 'punished' and forced to live without toilets are completely
out of touch with reality. Golf courses, lawns, and toilets are not the issue.

Rural Arizona, in the middle of nowhere in a cotton field? Yeah, you might not
have well water. And that's definitely an issue.

But Arizona is not going to run out of water anytime soon. We're likely in a
far better water-diverse situation than CA is already, because we've been
thinking about water for a _long_ time and have some of the best water
infrastructure in the U.S.

Where does it go? Arizona has 26 _million_ acres of farms and ranches, that is
where:

\- 70% of our water is directed towards agriculture.

\- We produce 90% of the USA's leafy greens.

\- Our cattle industry alone produces 8 _million_ meals annually (pop. 7.1
million).

\- 360 million eggs annually

\- Our agriculture industry is $23.3bn, supporting 162,000 workers (40% of
which are women, and 18k indigenous farmers/ranchers),

We aren't conserving water, we're spending it because it is a valuable
industry for the (unfortunately) extremely poor immigrants and others here.

But there aren't signs in our bathrooms to use less water washing our hands.
You don't have to ask for a glass of water at restaurants -- because these
things _don't matter_.

Want to conserve water in Arizona? You'd be talking about gutting the entire
state's agriculture industry and destroying millions of people's lives.

We can diversify our water supply, and we do. It's not stupidity and lax
regulation, it's a calculated risk and choice by the people living here whose
lives are built on agriculture.

~~~
gwynn
This is an incredibly shortsighted outlook on Arizona's reckless water usage.
The bulk of our water comes from the Colorado River which is a lifeline for
not just us, but for over 40 million people across six different rapidly
growing states. Snowpack for the river is at its lowest level in 30+ years and
is projected to decrease an additional 30% due to climate change over the next
two decades. As a lower-basin state, we are "investing" water which we don't
actually own. Sooner or later lake Mead is going to hit an elevation of
1,075ft and the federal government will mandate that lower-basin states such
as our own face the music. Will it be our blood or the state's billions that
suffer? To avoid this future, all we must do is work together to scale-down
our agricultural industry in favor of other economic avenues. This pointless
"calculated risk" which threatens the future of America's fifth largest city
and its surrounding neighbors can be undone. Sadly, I fear that the current
administration under Doug Ducey cares more about leafy greens than our
children's future.

~~~
slimsag
The bulk of our water usage does _not_ come from the Colorado River. 36% does.

The bulk, 64% of our water (2018), comes from our groundwater aquifers and in-
state rivers (and 3% reclaimed) according to ADWR [1]

Yes, it's still important and I agree we should diversify our economy away
from agriculture, but that is not something you can just do immediately
especially when the citizens that industry is supporting are under-supported
by both the community and the U.S. government as a whole.

I will not blame people immigrating to the U.S. for relying on one of the only
jobs they can get to put food on their tables while our government actively
tries to persecute and deport them, and our citizens inactively support them.
These people need our agricultural industry to live, and until we give them a
replacement somehow we are SOL.

[1] [http://www.arizonawaterfacts.com/water-your-
facts](http://www.arizonawaterfacts.com/water-your-facts)

~~~
gwynn
You're misrepresenting the facts. In-state rivers (21% of our supply) face the
same existential threat of climate change. Furthermore, groundwater aquifers
(currently 40%) are not renewable. The Colorado River is Arizona’s largest
_renewable_ water supply [1]. The second the Colorado gets slapped with
federal restrictions industry and citizens alike will accelerate the depletion
of our aquifers and before you know it the Colorado River will be the De facto
majority again. No one is suggesting we immediately shut down all agriculture,
though we could with the stroke of a pen subsidize hydroponic alternatives,
mandate drip irrigation, enforce water reclamation, and cap and trade further
agricultural development. I do not blame immigrants either, not sure how that
relates to this? I simply do not deny the fact that our current path is
unsustainable. Allowing agriculture to continue to grow at this rate will only
backfire on those communities and cause them to face even worse economic
destruction. Showing restraint now could avoid catastrophe for everyone.

[1] [http://www.arizonawaterfacts.com/water-your-
facts](http://www.arizonawaterfacts.com/water-your-facts)

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mooreds
Two notes.

1\. This is from 2018.

2\. If this interests you, read "The Water Knife", a fantastic science fiction
novel about water wars in the near future.

~~~
paulie_a
There was an idea to build a water pipe from Wisconsin to Vegas
because...reasons

Apparently they needed water for fountains and golf courses.

~~~
MrMorden
That's not from _The Water Knife_; it's in an earlier Bacigalupi short story,
"The Tamarisk Hunter".

~~~
paulie_a
I thought it was tangentially related. This happened in reality but thanks for
incorrecting me

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WalterBright
Meanwhile, it seems the southeast is drowning in floods.

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PorterDuff
From the title, I thought it was going to be about Tombstone vs. the Forest
Service.

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paulcole
I’ve long had the idea for a waterless toilet — think a cat’s litter box but
for people — that would be required for use in desert cities.

Think it could really be a game changer.

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sambal
Why would you bother to hold such an absurd little idea for so long without
caring to look into the actual water usage in desert regions?

Is it a lack of concern for the idea, or the people?

~~~
paulcole
That’s the same thing they said to Einstein and look at him.

Edit: To clarify, I meant the bagel chain founder, not the physician.

~~~
jjtheblunt
physicist rather than physician ?

~~~
paulcole
Apologies for the confusion, I meant Bob Einstein my pediatrician growing up.

