'Five-alarm fire': Arizona water crisis accelerates with tough choices ahead
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- Опубликовано: 6 май 2024
- The Arizona Republic's Joanna Allhands, who's closely followed water issues for several years, says rapidly declining water levels at Lakes Mead and Powell require a swift "month to month" response by water managers. The reservoirs in Northern Arizona supply 40 percent of Arizona's water, as well as hydropower throughout the West. Allhands also discusses what action the governor and Legislature can take, and what voters should be asking 2022 candidates about their water plan.
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We've had years... decades to prepare, yet we did nothing but accelerate water use. There's no one to blame but ourselves.
It's not so much about the demand that is the problem. The problem is a crash in the supply due mainly to reduced snowpack and the mega drought in the west, both as a result of climate change. This is just the beginning. Things will get much, much worse.
@@DirtFlyer And never a mention of Americas contribution to climate change ever anywhere..just the usual tropes about india and china when they still use way less than a tenth of USA footprint per capita .
@@MyKharli I imagine that big oil funded trolls and bots are prevalent in comment sections such as these, spinning false narratives and misdirecting anger all to dutifully protect their master's vast wealth.
well there are more important things arizona has in mind like spending millions recounting Trump's losing Arizona over and over and over and over. Water? That means nothing to me unless God Dumpster Fire is satisfied!!
Blaming yourself is un-American.
Remember, we chose this. We have had 40 years of warnings. We chose this outcome.
We didn’t choose anything. It’s the greedy corporations and the wealthy at fault
Who is actually surprised by this with the hundreds of golf courses,sports complexes,water filled parks and millions of elaborate lawns in Arizona?
Nobody should feel surprised.
Everyone should realize what's going on.
Climate change is what is happening. Had the West not lost its former climate that Colorado river could easily support even the present level of use.
The majority of the water use is agriculture. Many agriculture users have arrogantly still been using flood irrigation the most water inefficient method of farming.
@@stevo9er Your both right
@@stevo9er from Phoenix, where waste water on grass yards and pools. But hey lets blame the farmers. Surprised it wasn't blamed on illegals from Mexico or Californians.
Golf courses aren't the problem. The problem is it's a desert. Why you people surprised that a desert doesn't have water.
Wow, who could possibly have figured that building large cities and towns in the desert was a bad idea?! It's inconceivable.
And not only that give away their water to foreign countries to profit off of it.. corporations and companies and golf courses sucking up all the juice. welcome back to Mexico you guys going to have to have your water shipped into you at a premium of course. Don't get mad you put those people in place. ENJOY...
It wasn't that bad of an idea. Growing crops in the desert that require large amounts of water, and using very inefficient irrigation methods, was a bad idea. 75% of water use is by agriculture. But that pales in comparison to the biggest bad idea, which was continuing to burn fossil fuels at an ever-increasing rate for the last several decades when we knew we were destroying ourselves.
Are you gonna say the same thing about Colorado when it runs dry? Your comment is recycled and without merit.
@@kris6051 And if the water from the Colorado river wasn't used for said cities, towns and farms in the desert they wouldn't have a problem would they eh genius? Too many people equals too great a demand on limited resources. It's not hard to figure out.
@@DirtFlyer No it was a terrible idea, unsustainable even. But greed is a powerful motivator.
If you're a young person who just bought a house in AZ with a 30-year mortgage.... There's a very high probability you won't be able to sell your home come retirement age. Nobody's going to buy a waterless sand trap
No, the Emperor has beautiful clothes!....prices never go down....
I'm in that boat, bought a house here in 2019 without realizing how bad the water issue is. If lake mead hits 1000 feet above sea level (1,050 feet as of today) we're packing up and leaving. It may be too late at that point but still a better chance than 30 years from now.
Forget retirement age. Get out now. You won't be selling in five.
So true. Move to the Northeast, we don't even give water a one second thought, it is very plentiful here.
@@everythingmatters6308 if you live in/very near Phoenix/Mesa or Tucson your probably good for 5-10 years. Maybe even 15-20 "Flagstaff". But after that 🤷
I live in the mountains of Colorado. Decades ago we had snow on the ground - in deep valleys, shaded places - until sometime in June. Some places, including high mountains, had snow and ice all year. No longer. Now, by March/April, the snow is gone and the ground vegetation is dry and brittle. Fire season is year round. And it’s no longer “forest fires”, because fires happen everywhere - cities, parks - anywhere there’s any kind of fuel. The population and sprawl is so great, and politicians and real estate developers/sales people, who profit from it, are unchecked. The western US is in serious trouble - NOW, not years down the road.
I agree! I am from Colorado as well, and the weather has been insane. It's not even May, but it might as well be summer already. No snow, no rain no moisture at all. I hate it! I hate the population explosion, I hate that basically every area I used to love is gone because of development. This is a very concerning and scary time . I miss the Colorado of my childhood, unfortunately it's long gone.
It’s too bad we can’t send water from East of the Mississippi, to the west. I live in Kentucky. It’s never dry here. Lush, green. Sometimes too much rain. If oil can be sent thru pipes, so can water. But water I’m sure isn’t nearly as profitable as oil 🤷🏼♀️
@@dragonsky799 people said the same thing about you when your family moved in.
thats interesting, I was stationed in colorado and when I got up it was below freezing and the plows and salt trucks would come by my dorm every morning so cars could drive. I remember the snow crunching under my boots. loved it.
@@PD-we8vf By the way, they couldn't have said the same thing about me because I wasn't born yet, you clown. Colorado is my place of birth.
Well Tom, are you REALLY that surprised? Was a homeowner in the 80's/90's in central Phoenix. Put in xeriscape immediately after purchase. Illegally used greywater to water trees. Of course, using ONLY biodegradably certified products. Could not get permits to store rainwater, but did anyway. Lived here since the 60's Criminally poor city planning for decades. Complete failure.
Profit is all that matters to the ruling class.
@@KingOfShenanigan This is true, purely a reptilian way of managing the masses.
Collecting rain water is not helping the natural water cycle either. Any rain you collect (no matter how little) is water kept from going into the ground water reservoirs. That's why it's ILLEGAL and it's not the rich who made it so but the conservationists and biological community
And part of the problem is that there are 10's of millions of Americans who, self servingly, refuse to acknowledge that there is a problem and will obstruct any useful remedies.
Lol and refuse to leave a desert. Smh
Exactly. If this gets as bad as I think it will get shortly, then utter chaos is imminent.
Public? Its' been developing for 23 years now! Heads in the sand brought it to this point.
And there's plenty of sand.
And absolutely nothing is done to conserve water. Look at Scottsdale. I was in such a shock moving here from central Texas at the LACK of water conservation. But scottsdale wants front lawns.
And lots of pools
AND Phoenix cities are still issuing 100YEAR water guarantees for new subdivision... Its a developer's hellscape paradise...
Sooner than later an insurer will decline to write homeowner/fire policies for AZ dwellings due to inadequate water supply &/or pressure - thus popping the real estate bubble and stopping the absurd suburban housing developments in their tracks.
Big question. When will banks stop writing mortgages on these properties?
People, really??????????????? this is an emergency
Thus creating poverty.
Thus creating more taxes.. Thus creating more crime.. Ripple effects and all that.
@@steven4315 No fire insurance policy, NO mortgage. Same deal in flood zones. No FEMA insurance, no mortgage either.
Meanwhile…Arizona keeps allowing cities like Phoenix and Tucson to rapidly grow.
money to investor and realstate. No one will live with no water and electricity.
And when I was vacationing in Phoenix I saw many swimming pools filled with water.
@@trainmaster0217 its not the pools or the people. Its agriculture
mostly call center and technology as its a low wage right to work state you want a american on the phone welcome to az buisness
The taps will slowly drip dry soon and real estate will be worth the same amount as the dirt it sits on.
More people moving to the desert in like driving of a cliff.
I hate it here.
Arizona used more water 100 years ago on agriculture. It’s the change in climate.
I'm a fool moved here scared of what's coming 🥵
@@elainebraindrain3174 Sell now while you can! Home values will plummet when the tap runs dry
@@lemme999 that would be good advice but I'm disabled and have nowhere to go.
Lake Mead is losing 1 - 2 feet elevation per week. Prepare to migrate from the desert immediately.
Prepare to move from Southern California as well.
@@tranerekt1731 Literally everyone in the south western part of America will be moving east.
Build the wall around the southwest.
Not long ago a guy who supposed to know about why the water is going low here in AZ. He basically
said we have plenty before we run out. 😂they are building the state like crazy. In Maricopa city alone they are building in every corner. It's about their money, then they flee the state and live happily ever after with their pockets full, while the rest are left literally "high and dry."
Yes, they are supposed to guarantee a 100yr water supply for the new big subdivisions. Somehow they always get around that one.
Exactly!!! And it’s the same in other locations as well. Build, build, build…!!! There should be an immediate moratorium placed on all new construction in the entire Pacific Southwest, but we all know… that will never happen.
Our water resource management should have seen the possibility of this a planned for this. "Failing to plan; is planning to fail"
They did. They reached out to the government for help. But no reply on the matter. This was 5 years ago.
Too busy partying and living large with their government and developer friends
The water issue should have been addressed decades ago. Michigan needs to start pass a law that would charge new residents 50,000 dollars per individual to build desalinization plants on the east coast & the pumping infrastructure. Even communities within Michigan have begun to run out of water, the solution shouldn't be to drain the great lakes 100 percent for today's generations.
People need to remember that this is not a drought. It is "the new normal". This is the situation we need to adapt to. The money to do the needed infrastructure to save a lot of water and also get more is available. It just takes the political will to do it. Sadly a lot of people voted for politicians who said "government can't do anything right" and now expect those same politicians to prove themselves wrong. It is not happening any time soon.
This is a completely normal 20 year drought. It happens. There have been 100 year droughts in the past (tree ring data)
The difference? Farming.
AZ farms have been growing water intensive crops to make more money.
Cotton and rice, much of it shipped overseas.
Why won't the news talk about that?
@@TheBandit7613 The news doesn't talk about the water intense crops for the same reason they won't explain that this is the new normal. Both are politically sensitive topics that some rich folks would rather not be discussed. People looking at the science of it say that droughts are indeed normal but also that the baseline is moving.
I was posted to Phoenix from the U.K. a very rainy place. Even so, In the U.K. we were all advised to be conscious of not wasting water. Imagine my surprise in Phoenix where it hardly ever rained, and the vast majority of the water, for a conurbation of 5.000,000 people, and growing, had to be shipped in by a canal as there was no or very little indigenous supply. I was very amazed that conservation of the water supplies was not a big issue. Only now apparently has the bad news become headline news.
Why is Phoenix approving new residential building permits? New agricultural expansions? How do we prioritize reducing consumption by golf courses, agriculture, residential lawns, and others?
Because capitalism is based on growth. If you're not growing, you're not doing good. Growing businesses mean you need more people for employees. More people in an area means you need more businesses. But if you keep on growing everything, you run out of resources eventually, especially water.
@Rocky In order to wipe out 6 more reservoirs. Saguaro, Canyon, Apache, Roosevelt, Bartlett, and Horseshoe.
We need a long talk about how much water is used for agriculture. You have seen this coming for years, and yet I still see thousands of pools when I fly over Arizona and California, we have been overusing water for so long that it has become the norm.
About 70 to 80 percent of water is used for agriculture, and much of that is used in highly wasteful flood irrigation and for irrigating crops that take large amounts of water. Cities use a very small percentage of the water, and all those pools are absolutely miniscule water use relative to agricultural water use.
@@DirtFlyer It doesn't matter it's still wasteful, no matter how big or small. If your going to complain about a drought, then you really shouldn't argue for more pools haha.
As a farmer its a real issue. The problem is the industry either doesn't care or makes the better options so expensive that a lot of farmers can't afford to upgrade their irrigation.
@@Darkrider8893 I don't blame the farmers, we just need something to make it less water intensive
@@reedfrey2336 We agree, but no one seems to listen or care
Snow pack going down, population and development speeding up. Wow. What a mystery!
Yes, they can say all of this now but AZ has allowed far too many new homes and other facilities to be built in areas that are already so short on water that the water company will not accept any new customers. People are on wells and the new wells are just picking off water from the existing wells' water level. Maricopa County, Phoenix, and the state of AZ only cared about the money being paid by the builders and the new tax base. They have out of state businesses still trying to get approval for more homes and more strip malls near new factories being built, and it looks like they are going to receive approval. Strip malls? The builders and businesses don't care, they are from states with no water shortages at all. There are enough vacant brick and mortar buildings in the greater Phoenix area that there should be no talk about new construction for retail space at all. Fix the real problem........... the politicians allowing this nonsense to happen. There should be laws banning any real grass at private residences in AZ and the ban on real grass should include small businesses as well. The lack of common sense and the greed are mind boggling!!!!!!!!!!
@notsosilentmajority1. Absolutely well put! Just substitute Republicans for politicians and you will get to the root of the problem. AZ has suffered from incompetent and corrupt Republican office holders since the 60's, and will have to pay the price at some point. That point is probably this year or the next, so get ready for some real Mad Max scenarios!
Dear notsosilent: All of what you say is true but unfortunately the horse has already escaped the barn !!! It's much too late to save Southwestern American Big Cities because with oncoming Climate Change they won't be able to service the overpopulated, overdeveloped Big Cities that already exist as they are. MANY Climatologists are talking about millions of Climate Refugees fleeing Southwestern Cities in coming decades and if the the American Mass Media was honest they'd be preaching that now too. But the GREEDY Capitalists want to wrench the last dollar of profit from the poor citizens of Phoenix to the bitter end so they feed us "hopeful" namby-pamby reports like this one through Corporate Owned News to delay the inevitable exodus from Phoenix that will undoubtrdly occur anyway. A well informed Phoenix citizen should think about migrating to the less effected Midwest and Northeast to get the best pick on housing before the millions of Clueless Climate Refugees finally figure out what's really happening. In 50 years, cities like Phoenix will be virtual Ghost Towns. Why wait to see THAT Ugly Scene unfolding before your very eyes ???
@@rickwensel2313
Unfortunately, you are right.
You are absolutely correct! The building is out of control!!
@@debiensell4702
Spot on!! 👍
I don’t understand why Americans never mention the fact that warming winters caused by climate change means snow will continue to decrease. Even if you put in all the sensible water saving measures, you can’t save what you don’t have. 🤦🏽♀️
Because in America, issues aren't real until they directly impact you for an extended time.
Even when issues directly impact Americans they are not issues. Average voter isn’t intelligent over here.
Because the "right" still think climate change is a hoax. They're wrong.
For years we have talked about water pipped in like oil and gas. Good grief.
Lake Michigan to Mississippi to Colorado River ? Or something like that ?
@@hoffrun not gonna happen, that water is there for midwest future growth not to subsidize a place that is fake
No. If you can’t live in a certain area, you shouldn’t. It’s a life safety/sustainability thing.
Canada has a lot of water there was Huge flooding up there this Winter the Frazer River Valley
Montana and northern Idaho have water too
Just imagine paying half million for a house where water is running out …. The bust is going to be something to watch… 2008 all over again.
Worse than 08. Nobody's going to buy a house without water 🏜️
Humans are stupid. Sell now to get out.
@@everythingisfine9988 There are houses currently being built in Arizona that they can't finish because there's no water.
@@LifeOfTheParty323 very true
Lets work this through. Millions of people moving to a desert over a few short decades. Water was gonna be a problem regardless of cyclical droughts.
So... really...water is not the problem. Its the uncontrolled growth. Pools, green yards and parks, golfcourses. In a DESERT. No one has ever said humans were smart.
Arizona uses less water now than it did 50 years ago, despite many time more people living in the state. Municipal use accounts for 20% of the states water use. Golf courses used 120k acre-feet of water in the entire state in 2019. Odd how I never see agriculture mentioned in these posts blaming the people for the water problem. It’s almost like the states biggest user, agriculture at 70%, wants to propagandize people into not looking at their water usage and exports.
@@basedoz5745 Dude, If you can get anymore of that stuff you're smoking, let me know, okay?
Moved to Henderson Nevada in January 1978, 600K people in the whole Las Vegas Nevada valley. Now there's around 2.5M!? Glad I left 10 years ago. I left mainly because I knew then water would run down to nothing in next 15 years. Drought there actually started around mid 90's. Remember the opposite in Summer of 1983, when Lake Mead swelled up to huge proportion and Hoover Dam overflowed. I still have the pictures to prove it! Good luck with water there, as you are actually going to need a miracle!
You won the comment thread 🧵. Extremely logical points
@@440tomcat Bingo! Was there in the 1990's building boom too. Mountains blown up to put houses, condos, apartments, etc...And Mega casinos resorts too. Building anything to make money. Not a care in the world to the builder's. I knew then 25 years ago water was going to disappear or dry up. Prophecy maybe. Too many people, not enough water, but they won't admit it. USA TITANIC now sinking in mud. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha 🤣😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣😭.
Having grass in your yard when you move from Michigan to Arizona. Next they will want a foot of snow in their Phoenix yard in the winter. If you like the grass and snow, just stay in the midwest.
I told my father in 1983 during the El Niño that there would be an extreme drought in our lifetime and the river would run the risk of running dry. He asked me why and I pointed out the warming climate, unrestricted development and wasteful farming irrigation practices. There was a well written book about this called “
Dead Pool: Lake Powell, Global Warming, and the Future of Water in the West.” By James Lawrence Powell.
Also mega droughts have been part of the desert southwest's history for 100's of thousands of years based on petrified tree ring studies.
The very minerals that are found in the southwestern United States are only found as a result of wet periods followed by even longer dry periods. Borax is just one of the minerals . The wet period leach the minerals from the rock formations over millions of years an is able to deposit those minerals because of long dry spells. The politicians a hundred years ago used bad data in allocating water. There was plans an funding decades ago for more reservoirs that never got built. Some books are written an used as a lobby tool . People think just because a book was written it must be true. Dictators wrote books to justify their killing of undesirables by the millions.
It’s not a drought if you already live in a frikin desert to begin with. A dam is not natural. Move to a place with water.
No, this is water feeding your crops
Cool story bro
Well there you have it folks. A perfect example of what happens whenever stupid leads the blind.'Nuff said.
the midwest region has plenty of water. It was called the rust belt for a good reason.
You should think about moving to Indiana, Ohio, or Michigan.
All of CA is coming. Mark my word.
PS: Utah residents pay very little for water which only adds up to very wasteful practices.
When toilets can no longer flush. it's time to move out.
Sounds very funny but your serious . And that is the point. I am already working on moving.
people will make wells in their back yard... people lived century without toilets.
@@aj329912 Then you contaminate the groundwater. Remember Cholera? Waste has to be properly treated before being put back into circulation, whether it be water or compost.
Around 70% of the water is used for farming. They're not growing food. Alfalfa and cotton are the main crops. It typically takes four acre-feet of water each year to grow alfalfa and seven to nine acre-feet for cotton. These are two water-heavy crops.
A fashion industry entirely dependent on obsoleting everyone's clothing on an annual basis is probably a major contributor to world water shortages if the truth be known.
Live stock.
Go vegan ☑️
@@dawnbolton6024 why do we always get a vegan loser on these discussions ?if it was for modern agri farming ,they would not be able to survive
@@michaeld5888 85% wastage in fashion industry,40% of clothes women buy are never worn, there are enough clothes produced each year to clothe 5 generations, unsold fashion is now being dumped in deserts in africa to heights of 50-60 feet deep and leaching toxic dyes into the desert..............just a few of the fun facts about fashion industry,, the same one that clothes all those hypocrites who lecture us at the emmys,grammys etc ..you know them ..the hollywood crowd
Those are the most profitable crops. They should be outlawed from growing them because they require too much water. It's pure greed and irresponsibility to make the state run dry in order to line the pockets of farmers. They don't even grow those crops for domestic markets.
I think a lot of water is STILL being wasted in Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada because they can.
And in California don't they still direct thousands of gallons of fresh water out to the ocean in order to protect the delta snail darter or some such thing.
California still gets more water from the Colorado than any other state even though California doesn’t touch the Colorado. California is essentially the reason the Colorado doesn’t touch the ocean anymore. But it’s all the states faults because they did the allocation during the highway water year the southwest had seen for hundred+ years and never reevaluated the plan because it worked in California’s favor
My family 20 years ago when I was still a child sold our historic land to the state animal reserve of Texas due the well drying up.
My dad told me that he spend 36,000$ to drill 4 wells each 1600ft and deeper to not find a drop of water.
We moved a huge amount of assets out the southern Texas to Northern Texas. It's hard to raise cattle when you can't find water.
Thanks to my farther and his foresight. Me and my brother have moved into more sustainable areas that don't require water or land to keep the family wealthy.
I've heard we need several years of runoff; a 90% snowpack is only providing 30% runoff because the ground is so dry it's soaking in. Az is experiencing an influx of manufacturing and big ag because our water regulations are so lax - and they can't pump water like they want to in other states (Ca) like they can here. They have priority over drinking water. "Don't Ca my Az" is a pr campaign against adding regulations (like water).
@@wcneathery3100 exactly. That's why they are coming to Az because we don't have those restrictions.
@@aikanae1 even if you don’t have those restrictions yet, you will have no choice when the water is no longer available.
@@aikanae1 I just moved to AZ from SOCAL San Diego after 55 years. Its not just water lol lol. That place now is for RICH people. My 1 BR was $2000. LOL
@@kdcromley same in Tempe
@@wcneathery3100 it's areas that had no ag before. Huge pistachio farm near kingman. Large beef and hog ranches near Benson, 100% for export to Saudi and China. There's no limit as to how much they can pump. Calif restricted Nestle from cheap water bottling so they moved to Az. Chip manuf, samsung in buckeye, car plants, batteries in Chandler, everyday (seems like) there's a new plant moved to somewhere in Az. No talk of adding adequate housing. Even using grey water like golf courses do, the supply is inadequate and ag has priority over drinking water. The new pistachio farm uses 100x's more water than the entire city of Kingman, but Kingman may lose all their water. There are dry towns already.
There are over 200 golf courses in the Phoenix area. I have an idea ...
Golf courses use reclaimed water. They have to do something with all that sewage. Do you propose pumping it back into the water supply?
@@everyone8043 As of 2018, less than a quarter of the water used on golf courses in Phoenix is reclaimed wastewater. Has it changed dramatically since then?
@@TouchingClothProd I don't have those statistics. Maybe that should be your platform of reform then since you have all the answers. From what I understand, and in the area I used to work, the rich subdivisions would have their own package plants and that water would be used in accordance with ADEQ discharge rules for the golf courses. The ones that didn't have golf courses would discharge into drywells, possibly with a negative effect to ground water, which ADEQ was trying to stop with their new rules. At one time, don't know if it is still the case, A.J. would discharge theirs into a dry wash.
@@everyone8043 Once treated by tyhe highest quality grey water treatment systems- yes. We need to reclaim as much as possible in these scenarios. The fact your ASKED that like it shouldn't be done belies your ignorance.
@@jdsd744 Since you know what to do, then why aren't you doing something about it? I'm long tired and retired. My fighting days are over. Btw, Mr Know-all, soil is one of mother nature's greatest purifiers. If you think about it, what doesn't evaporate to replenish aerial water, replenishes ground water. Much better than 100' drywells.
Well, I HAD been considering relocating to Arizona from California, where we are having our own water issues that are due to decades-long mismanagement and neglect. I guess I'll continue to look for another place to land!
Go east
Come here to the Great Lakes Basin! We welcome you with a big drink of fresh water. 💧 On the downside, for a couple of months you’ll have to outwit the hungry mosquitoes! 🦟
I thought CA was mismanaged but every time I hear about Arizona, my goodness. Not regulating things really drained their water.
" WELL " " IF " " MAYBE " This is why you all are going to be with out water !
Fire these air heads and get someone there to take care of the problems !
Water is finite. Since 2000, Lake Mead has been in a decline. However, every week now the water level is nosediving. The lower we get in the "V" of the canyons, the faster the water drops. We are currently at 1,055 feet at Lake Mead. In 1 more month, we'll be in a Tier 2A and Tier 2B Water Declaration (shortage). Our city in Gilbert has openly stated they'll start water conservation efforts (public service announcements) first to water restrictions within months.
Israel relies on a lot of drip irrigation, desalination of sea water and reclamation of waste water.
Finite in deserts locations.
@@narlywaves2371 unless the build an aqueduct and pipe in water from where ever you want. Los Angeles started in the 1900's and it was such a huge deal they expanded on it. Los Angeles will never run out of water as a result.
The Desert Rats will have to go to Chemical Toilets and tell rich Folks no more Golf!
Don't know where you got your figures from. Az. gets cut off from lake Mead at 1075. According to your figures were already cut off.
What about desalinating the ocean water and bringing it through some sort of pipeline system to AZ? Is that possible?
Sure, if you want a $500 per month water bill.
Desalinating ocean water and pumping it hundreds of miles might cost $20/gallon. If your life depended on it and there was no other option, maybe. But farmers across Arizona are paying 5¢ a gallon to flood the market with alfalfa and cotton.
@@johnbob4545 Try more like $1,000 /month. Desalination is ridiculously expensive. That's why there are very few plants so far. San Diego county with it's 1.4 million people has only built a single plant... just one. And it contributes less than 2% to the water supply.
That's possible but even easier would be for CA to increase their desalination plants and then take less of the water from the CO River. Per agreement, CA gets more than AZ from the river.
@@Bullwinkle056 There are more people in CA than AZ so I assume that's part of the reason why.
The Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons golf courses have been given as much water as they need. This will also continue for all 5 star resorts and private country club courses.
After them the little guy will have make due.
They need to stop or severely restrict how much water all those golf courses get. And if they could get into permaculture to conserve the little water that they do get.
Stop building houses to invite people to move here from other states,just stop building.
They won’t. They keep building and people will be upside down on their mortgages.
Less houses doesn't end the mega drought or stop climate change.
Dirt flyer your correct, but my concept is the fact is the more people taking up residence here then the more water being used up,the dams along the Colorado river were built for water storage,we have over built our communities beyond the workable capacities of the the storage/lakes to be able to sustain.
@@DirtFlyer climate is not a constant. The earths climate has changed multiple times during its existence!!
WTF does stop climate change mean.!!!
You think it’s possible to control the earth climate so that it never changes.. OMG!!
This has been coming for 25 years. Desalination plants and pipes should have been built years ago.
Are the agriculture companies who us 70% of the water to grow crops to export going to pay for it?
@@basedoz5745 bingo. The water will move from ag to urban uses. Economics
@@basedoz5745 No California has an obligation to bring desalination plants to the West Coast
@@hotdogstandman why does it have an obligation?
@@basedoz5745 Because they use a majority of the freshwater while having unlimited access to ocean water that can be desalinated and sold to agricultural companies and other states
I’m from Kansas this seems to simple and should have been implemented 35 years ago ,only let out what’s coming in ,
Kansas has a serious but not visible water crisis underground.
@@sentientflower7891 Arizona is going to have the same underground water problem, Ogalala aquifer in the 5 state region around Kansas has went down 60 per cent in 40 years
@@tombeilman5579 Arizona already has that problem but solved it politically by not regulating or monitoring their groundwater. So it will end badly for Arizona.
You might want to check out Kansas's aquifer problem.
@@steven4315 ya they have used up 60 per cent in 40 years ,even with regulation and conservation
No big deal….keep building houses!
And yet everyone is moving here and the valley is building a new huge housing development to bring in a million people. I’m getting out early next year before I’m stuck here with no water.
People keep saying desalinization plant and build long pipe from coast to Arizona? why not California build them plants since it's on the coast and give up there water allotment of the Colorado River reliance.
They already do have desalination plants. The reason you don’t see more is they are insanely expensive and don’t produce anywhere close to the water needed unless you want to build many many billions in plants. Instead of asking Arizona or California to pay for it, how about we ask the largest agriculture users to pay for it.
Finally someone who sees the light ✨️
Over population is a deadly problem. My 75 years have witnessed the worst situations I can recall. Climate change is and has been a very real effect for decades. I keep thinking about the Anasazi Indians . . . where did they go when a serious drought drove or killed them out. As more & more people keep moving into the SW "sunbelt" states the demand for well pumped water soon can no be met. On day the water taps will not deliver. . .
I agree that over population, especially in desert areas like this, is a problem when it comes to natural resources. So called climate change is something that leftists have been wailing about for years with little or no evidence that it has caused any damage to any location on the planet.
You seem to be the only commenter that understands the root of the problem.
Like the Indians, people will be leaving sooner than they think.
The ocean has lots of water
How many more years of water does arizona have at current rate of consumption?
That is directly dependent on what stupid crap they decide to build next. My bet is another suburb or golf course.
Seems like we should implement major water restrictions now.
You should have done that years ago. Waiting to the last minute is not the way to go on stuff like this.
@@kensmith5694 The thing about it is they didn't want big government to tell them what to do and look what it got them.
@@LifeOfTheParty323 Yes and it seems that many are still digging the hole deeper. Some cities may have to be abandoned for lack of water.
Maybe Arizonans should grow more alfalfa. Or open some more golf ⛳️ courses. Or grow more lawns. I mean they've tried everything to conserve water, right?
I mean the Arizona politicians are saying:
"We could easily raise 900,000,000
more people in this area!"
It's very serious. We in the Coachella Valley have a large aquifer to fall back on. But how long will that last if this drought is a long term drought.
It already is a long term drought. It's been going on for 22 years now, and so far it is the worst drought in 1,200 years. This is the beginning of the climate change catastrophe. Buckle up.
@@DirtFlyer You live here in the Coachella Valley also right?
@@williamjohnson3201 Nope. But I do live in the western U.S., and practically the entire western U.S. is in a drought.
I remember learning that California is in fact not in a drought if you take into account the weather patterns over the past 20,000 years or so. Approximately between 1900 to 2000 there was an abnormality where it rained significantly more than it ever has in the past. I don’t really know how true that is though. I would look into it more if I were you.
At least there some sort of regulation about how much water you can pump. In Arizona that would have been tapped out by now.
Regardless of what's happening with our water supply, construction of new homes, casinos, and such structures keeps happening every single day. In order to survive we must say, "Enough" and stop the construction. And, we must decrease the human footprint in the region. But, we don't plan for the future, we just live for today. It's a prescription for disaster. But, Mother Nature will handle the problem so don't worry. Just get the hell out of the western U.S. I did and I am very happy. I live in a State where water is plentiful and it will always be available.
Especially the construction of medical facilities because not a lot of people can afford it
Five Alarm Fire is reserved to describe a disastrous fire, not a water shortage 🤔
There is no description for a water shortage this bad so they’re using the fire scale because Arizonans are used to fire classifications and understand that scale
You also lose water for irrigation, food production is crashing
People drawing water from other places will quickly deplete that source
We know and you've known for the past 5years. As long as you can keep watering your golf courses and letting the rich get away with watering their lawns.
In all of these drought articles, I hear nothing about actually correcting the problem. The problem is the turning of wild lands to deserts and the turning of wild lands to roads and homes. This includes turn our cities and home properties into local food forests. If you go back and re-wild the wild places, and re-plant the land that has been laid and left bare, you will get back the moisture absorbing sponge/properties that is the soil and top soil. This sponge is responsible for creating a micro-climate in your areas which would over time contribute to more rain overall. Just going and grabbing and holding all water is not going to help, you would be taking a lot of water that the soil over all needs. We need a living soil again that holds carbon and moisture. Read up on it! Its called retrofitting and restoring the land using permaculture principles. Why did you build there and why are you selling land with homes and building without water? We do not use our resources properly. We do not live within our means. Lawns are a waste, and food is more important. Corporations want you to just keep using fossil fuels and ignore what is really going on.
I worked in the water industry for years. Things can get pretty weird and many decisions that are made are based on politics (and/or threat of being sued) rather than science
Corporations and the governments that keep catering to them.
They'll push desalination. They'll push estates. They'll push gas and oil. They'll keep pushing even after The Colorado has died.
Permaculture and re-wilding could restore it all. They would rather golf.
They had to see this coming for years so why wait till the last minute ? Nobody likes rationing but we're going to have to have stricter water usage laws, now
2022 wasn't the last minute. Climate change predictions placed this catastrophe securely beyond 2050 but those predictions happened to underestimate the acceleration of climate change.
@@sentientflower7891 Yes and no. Climate change predictions have been consistently conservative, and underestimating the effects and speed of climate change. But the world has completely failed to address climate change in the 50 years we've known it was a serious problem.
@@DirtFlyer we have made it worse and have no intention of stopping, ever.
I went on a Lake Powell house boat trip in the mid 90s..... absolutely incredible. So sad to see these photos.
They're just preparing to charge you more for water. There's obviously other places where to extract water.. but they're going to use that as a recent to increase the prices even more
Hogwash. The state is consuming too much water and has been for years. The Ogallala Aquifer has been falling for years. All of the ones under AZ have been going down too. Now as the system is pumped dry people are finally waking up.
I love it! All you fools that say the southwest takes all your aches and pains away! 😂😂😂😂😂
Should have thought about this years ago... bet the golf courses will be green
Green lawns need to be slashed! There is no need to have green grass in a *DRY DESERT* area. It’s been dry for thousands of years for a reason.
Does this mean that the"Golf resorts" are finally cut off?
Maybe if the Colorado river would physically leave the river bed, and shot up to the sky to slap the clouds, maybe… maybe… regular folks will pay attention. I moved out of the southwest, not because of the pandemic. But to escape the water crisis. Does that make me and early American water refugee?
I'm surprised they didn't speak about why there might be a lack of water. I mean really? "its a bandaid" is not enough to explain to people who deny climate change, that your climate is changing. Access to water in the ground is part of the climate in the SW, and its almost gone.
The climate hasn't changed. There were always fluctuations. But the population sure has. There are limits where people start dying. In PNX this already happens. Closing the border to illegals would be helpful.
@@JK-ff6zc Keep denying that facts and science are real. Maybe your magic man in the sky will save you if you tithe enough.
@@DirtFlyer Don't know any magic men but I do understand science. Mann (hockey stick graph guy and hoaxster) lost his libel against Ball and had to pay all costs bc it was his lawsuit. LOL. Ball only used the truth defense. It is not science when dissent is not allowed and punished. See Covid for more "science" where dissent is not allowed. And experts so-called lied to people. Many dissenters are proven correct bc science is not by vote or media agreement. It is by what can be shown using logic and correct data collection techniques. Satellite data shows earth is cooling. Oops...not the hoaxsters narrative. See Michael Moore's film on climate change scammers ... you can't say he is religious or conservative. Not even a little. Just concerned with truth.
@@JK-ff6zc pretty soon Republicans are going to start blaming Mexicans instead of jews for crusifying Jesus on the cross
Earth has been in cooling trend for 20 yrs. Real science does not censor dissidents. Politicized science is unreliable at best. Gore said no snow, Colorado just got a huge snowfall in May.
Too many leaks,,, I mean what % does Cal get of the water? I bet it's a lot and they could get their water from the Pacific with desalination plants like Mexico does.
Amen.
What do the desalination plants do with the salt they remove from the Water?
Please tell me they are not just taking water out, desalinating it and then putting the salt back?? That would not be good
@@valethewolf49 They sale it as table fare.
@@valethewolf49 They sell the salt as table fare.
News anchor: "What happens when we run out of water?" Joanna Allhands " Gulp, we're screwed"
Better start figuring out how to install massive solar plants, water pumps, ocean desalination plants and a massive water pipeline from California/pacific ocean or through Mexico from the gulf.
California’s largest consumer of power is the State Water Project’s pumping water to where it’s needed. Losing power generation at dams due to drought may require nuclear power plants to support pumping water from desalination plants inland.
@@tglass0000 You're not getting any of our water. We're not going to create a pipeline from CA to AZ. Utah already tried that and it got denied.
It would hurt but cut all agriculture water usage. That would actually probably solve the issue.
It sure would have been nice to have a good backup audio connection ...
Meanwhile Phoenix is seeing a huge influx of people moving in. Just in time for the water to run out in that whole area. If anyone is considering moving in the next couple years, you need to tart factoring in climate change in your decision on where to go. In USA, that means stick to North above the Mason Dixon line for liveable Temps and not right on the coast. It's not a theory anymore, it's a strict reality.
So does this mean Las Vegas is no more in the next 10 years? I always find it amazing how water is generated for a city like Vegas. It’s in a freaking desert how is that possible? But with these droughts becoming more prevalent that city is bound to run out.
LV is the only city I know of that captures all the drain water from the streets, filters it and dumps it back into Lake Mead. I know Phoenix gets its annual 10" a year, why haven't they (or Los Angeles) designed an infrastructure to capture this water. Same for the sewer water. Yes even that can be reclaimed.
Water isn't "generated." Water for Las Vegas is drawn from the Colorado River. There is no magic to it. You stick a pipe in the river going by the city, like many, many other cities do.
The west has fiddled while Rome burns for decades now. GROWTH was king. Population growth, housing development growth, agricultural growth, just growth was great. It has been known for a long time that the region had been subject to drought and shortages but none of the new revenue from the growth was put back into groundwater replenishment, conservation, wastewater reclamation and so on. Only idiots would think it is a good idea to entice millions of people to move to the desert, build homes, and plant lush green lawns and golf courses. But that is exactly what was done and now the bills have to be paid. What have cities and towns done about the seasonally heavy rains that fall on them? They built storm water drainage systems to move it OUT of the areas as quickly as possible. They way people live there has got to change, and quickly.
Perhaps those in positions of power should address the extremely wasteful water practices N of Yuma where 2 yrs ago they were installing NEW - MANY MORE ACRES -farms with the most wasteful methods of irrigation you could potentially choose. And that is in addition to farming Cotton, a VERY WATER INTENSIVE crop. But hey, can't possibly impose restrictions or regulation cuz they "kill jobs" (they actually create them across a broad swatch of training, education and abilities). I was out there 2 yrs ago and The Colorado was already so low. The groundwater aquifers are so deep its not economically feasible to extract. The upper aquifers are already dry. Some mined, can never hold water again. its sure stupidity and hubris and greed that brought us to this.
Nothing will happen until it is too late. The ones who will suffer the most are the middle and lower class.
Wait a second.. You mean to tell me if you live in the desert you might run out of water?Spooky🤔🤔🤔🤔
6 states should not have agriculture. Growing crops in a dessert draining ground water for low yields. The dessert farms burn thru water at such a high rate it’s unsustainable. 1. Medium size farm pumps more water for crops than a city of 80k people consume. But that farm doesn’t produce enough to feed 5 k people for a year .
Yes. This!
Bryan you are a heartless man, you want cows in Saudi Arabia to go hungry?
Meanwhile in Maryland we have weekly flood warnings.
How many golf courses are in the greater Phoenix metro?
Why don't you report on the Saudi Arabian companies that purchased land in Bouse, Az and are using trillions of gallons of water to grow hay to send back to Saudi Arabia?
Exactly Frank you got that right.
I hate Saudi Arabia
that has been happening for years!! and it has been reported on. thank the republican controlled government of AZ for allowing it to happen. along with no regulation on underground water usage.
Glad to see this, after reading through all the corporate agriculture propaganda in the comments blaming the minority of users.
@@wcneathery3100 what do leftists have to do with Saudi Arabia farming in AZ? Lol
What's aggravating is that we've known this was coming for at least 5 years and not much has been done. Even now, not enough is being done. Start water rationing like yesterday. No more watering your yard or washing your car or watering the golf course. Any all you folks moving into AZ, just keep on going to the Midwest or some other place that has no water or power issues.
You could get rid of all those uses and not make difference. Meanwhile agriculture is allowed to export crops grown with US water out of the country. How does that help Arizonans?
We've known about the causes and effects of climate change for at least 50 years, and we have completely and utterly failed to address it. The southwest has been in a mega drought for the last 20 years, and studies have shown that so far it is the worst drought in 1,200 years. It is also a direct result of climate change.
@@DirtFlyer
Don't be stupid. 40 years ago the "best scientists on the planet" were predicting an ice age.
@@rthinds no they weren't. This is some propagandist lies.
And all it would take is a few years of abundant rainfall and all of this would be forgotten. This whole situation has been festering for decades, now it’s show time.
as long as we can keep the fountains on at the Bellagio I'll be fine
500 years between 1400 and 1900 the southwest region climate was extreme desert. 1900 hundred to 2000 was an extreme wet period for the southwest. At the same time population growth rocketed up. It appears that the climate has reverted back to the extreme desert cycle. Let's hope not...
Its time to start building multi-state financed desalination plants for the western states.....
Desalination plants use A LOT of electricity.
@@Me-sq9ol Solar!
@@Me-sq9ol Soooo, do nothing? Without the water we lose (not only the water) but huge generating capacity for the western US.
It's time to stop having babies. Overpopulation is the root of the problem.
Think allowing nearly a quarter of a million people stream across the border every month into the US is helping or hurting? We need to start electing folks who care about the American people over politics.
There were years and years to prepare, yet usage increased yearly. As if a solution would poof into thin air when things got desperate. The same thing will happen elsewhere
Whoda thought water would be an issue when you live in a literal desert
This is ridiculous. The policy makers knew this was coming and ignored it. Stop residents that rely on the water from watering gardens and golf courses and swimming pools should not be allowed to use water. Also, doesn't the average American use over double the amount of water in a day as a European? The Americans in the affected states must reduce water use in day to day life. And for goodness sake, stop all the home building and development in the dry states. Madness.
Welcome to Amerika - land of denial and alternative facts.
this has been talked about since last year this isnt something thats being talked about over night. DOBRINICH has been covering it since last spring
So, basically the people entrusted to prevent this have done absolutely nothing for decades. The stupidity is hard to grasp.
I’m in Arizona and yet there are no water restrictions. Why not place restrictions on residents?
We need more golf courses and green grass lawns, that's why!
If you have enough water for golf courses, outdoor swimming pools, house lawns, water intensive crops and cattle, you don't have a water shortage you have misplaced priorities. If all the states got together and simply raised the cost of water 10x tomorrow, your shortages would be over.
What about restaurants and bars, food processors, schools, etc? You raise the cost of water 10x you raise the cost of everything. Golf courses use reclaimed water; they have to do something with all the sewage. Sounds like you have more money than knowledge.
Do you drink your whey/casein protein with milk (from cattle) or do you mix it with water?
@@everyone8043 Generally water increased would be targeted at heavy users more than your standard users. So for your lowest threshold of utility users you just raise the rates a little, the next largest threshold you raise it more and so on. So people with pools and grass are hit harder than people who just shower and do laundry.
People will not live in the PHX area without those amenities. If you want to see economic collapse try taking them away. Closing the border to the illegal hordes coming through would be helpful. The problem is more over population of an arid area than a water shortage. Overpumping ground water makes the forest dry so that will make it hard to live as well as fires become daily concerns.
@@stevo9er They already do. It's called the tier system. Look at your bill.
As a climate change activist for the last 35 years all I have to say is I told you so.
35 years ago you all were saying we were heading for an ice age. You couldn't be more wrong.
Aaagh, sigh. Beggars belief.
@@rthinds no they weren't. That's a propagandist lie.
@@nicklockard
Yes they were. I was alive back then, and I remember reading about it.
You obviously weren't.
@@rthinds in what publication? Can you post up your photocopy?
This has been coming for many years. 3 years of water left in the entire system now.
Arizona has been living on borrowed time beyond limits of sustainability. All of a sudden when it is a crisis and all the prior efforts (if any) failed. Consider the Ancient HoHoKam Indians who once inhabited the "Valley of the Sun". "Why did the Hohokam disappear? The Hohokam people abandoned most of their settlements during the period between 1350 and 1450. It is thought that the Great Drought (1276-99), combined with a subsequent period of sparse and unpredictable rainfall that persisted until approximately 1450, contributed to this process."
It is beyond time to limit future building of residences because there's no water!
Tom, it's farming low yield cotton and alfalafa and selling it to Saudis Arabia that uses 90% of Arizona's water.