How The West Coast Drought Could Cause More ‘Water Wars’

Water is a cornerstone of economic activity, and when it runs low, communities face tough choices. The U.S. West is facing extreme drought conditions that are straining water resources and providing a fertile ground for wildfires. How will the West Coast face this climate challenge?
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How The West Coast Drought Could Cause More ‘Water Wars’

[@marshtiao]

Cities are built over deserts and now there is a water problem?

[@Peace-lr7mt]

They forget to mention that part, or the fact that the earth is in continual change. Humans haven't been around that long so people are acting like environmental changes are some sort of anomaly.

[@dsloan3164]

its just americans (mankind in general) thinking they can tame and control everything

[@lecookie007]

Who would have have thought, huh

[@neeljavia2965]

@@Peace-lr7mt Not true.

[@markschultz2897]

@@thatskrazy8145 What are you talking about?

[@cconnors]

Hopefully having the richest part of the world encounter a water problem will lead to novel solutions that help people worldwide.

[@ghasanahmed6159]

Very true we take it for granted, but I hope we learn b4 we start filling up jugs to take showers.

[@johna.4334]

@Kevin Tewey Don't be a dolt.

[@climatechangedoesntbargain9140]

Their solution will be simply to move...

[@Big-Government-Is-The-Problem]

@Kevin Tewey so socialism is the better system? the system where you wait in line for your government water and food? it blows my mind how someone with access to the internet aka research can think that voluntary trade and private property is bad lol. i assume you grew up in some socialist shithole country so thats why you have this sunk cost fallacy desire to continue defending socialism, or whatever non capitalist ideology you have.

[@ghasanahmed6159]

@Kevin Tewey what do you wager Mr. I live on a ranch that has water well. Been there done that. Capitalism works for me, I don't know gove system you have in mind that will solve this problem..

[@truthfinder10490]

farming uses 70% of the water, yet they throw away 43% of the product they produce.........cut the size of the farm, super farms are wasting water and food at the same time.

[@Psyberify]

We need to stop growing corn for ethanol.

[@Galactic_fart_sniffer]

We need to lower carbon emissions, clean our oceans, and invest and build carbon capture. We need to also invest in solar and mirror power plants and invest and build large indoor farm plants and stop draining our lakes and rivers dry for the sake of industrial farming. These are just a few things we need to do

[@aremedyproject9569]

@Windy Soluciones Like you’re gonna eat a bruised apple or insect damaged celery or drink the milk of a cow on medication for an infection lol. Lower your standards and then talk.

[@Galactic_fart_sniffer]

@@aremedyproject9569 industrial indoor farming is the answer

[@davidtruelove5022]

@@aremedyproject9569 I agree that the consumer is part of the problem, but government has the ability to form industry so that it fixes these issues. I don’t like when people assume it’s people’s fault. These corporate and government institutions are 99% of the problem. It not me babe

[@tanjoy0205]

Don’t plant rice or water-heavy crops in drier regions

[@oneeyeddog6127]

Seems like common sense but the majority of humans lack that trait.

[@tanjoy0205]

Agreed

[@garygoulet4526]

Goodbye cowtown

[@johna.4334]

@Gary Goulet Vacaville?

[@syogamurthy]

How about asking nestle and all the water bottling companies to stop siphoning water from ground aquifers

[@rafaelsanchez3961]

It’s almost like growing water intensive crops in a dry climate will cause water scarcity issues

[@Doug923]

I would believe that what the farmers grow depends on the price of future contracts of such commodities. If we believe in the system of demand and supply, the foods we eat and the cloths we wear are driving what type of crops farmers grow. But who would take the risk to hype the foods made from drought crops are the most deliciousest things on earth.

[@rafaelsanchez3961]

@@Doug923 I agree that consumers have a large role to play in this problem, however there are many places in the world that have plentiful water and the correct climate to grow said crops. It is irresponsible on part of the farmers to grow water intensive crops in dry climates

[@mikemccarthy1638]

It’s almost like writing a concise, well-crafted comment on a good KZbin channel will cause trolling issues…

[@Doug923]

@@mikemccarthy1638 I would like to see policies to provide incentives to encourage farmers shifting to regenerative agriculture. In the meantime, I would use my wallet to cast the vote on what the farmers would grow.

[@Doug923]

@paul lennon In case you are interested in this topic, there are other solutions in different scope including seawater desalination, cloud seeding, indoor vertical hydroponic farms, aquaponic farms, plant based and lab grown meat. Those cover the areas from the water supply and consumption of water along our food supply chain. Currently we have the term carbon neutral. In the future we might have the term water neutral. It is because when there is not enough fresh water, cities will need to turn off their power plants as most of them need water to drive the steam turbines.

[@FinancialShinanigan]

Meanwhile Nestle is laughing all the way to the bank.

[@Q_QQ_Q]

global mafia

[@dertythegrower]

in Michigan, yes they are. There is many water lawsuit here. They bribe politicians of small counties to get water rates above that of normal farmers in the area. It's unjust corportism, controlling our water, and they are not even a US company.

[@trance9158]

You mean Dasani and the pecan farmers.

[@trance9158]

@@dertythegrower when did Nestle become a foreign company? They're HQ is in Pennsylvania!

[@guardianoffire8814]

@@trance9158 Nestlé is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland.

[@ChrisBires]

Southern Nevada resident here. No lawns in my neighborhood. No water features at businesses. Las Vegas pulls from and then returns water to Lake Mead. Then I drive to CA. Lawns everywhere, aeration sprinklers, fountains, drainage puddles. CA needs to take water use seriously. But they don't. And free markets can't help. Average income and property values in CA dwarf NV.

[@alexjones7845]

Don't forget that CA has been pushing to increase the amount of housing by allowing every single family home to build both an adu and junior adu (two rental units). Basically making it possible for 10s of millions more people in the state when they can't support the current population. BTW, over two thirds of CA water is used in agriculture so stopping some laws in CA is really just a drop in the bucket.

[@Q_QQ_Q]

@@alexjones7845 yeah

[@williambrennan5701]

Don't forget that agriculture uses over 80% of the water NOT HOMES , so cutting back on lawn watering and all may make people feel good but that is not the answer, not growing food in a desert though is .

[@doctormcboy5009]

@Chyllmode3000 yeah u do that hero lol

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

does Nevada recycle toilet water?

[@markdoherty9205]

Population increase from 3.4M to 40M in just 100 years wouldn't have anything to do with it, would it?

[@penniesnnickels]

nope. Aliens are draining them.

[@miken3963]

Begging your pardon, I do not understand what you're getting at. Now please excuse me, time to water my huge-ass lawn in what used to be a desert and go for a round of golf on a lush green course.

[@Espen.Johannesen]

Swimming pools ?

[@billbrasky6827]

Did you watch the video? 70% of the usage comes from farming.

[@markdoherty9205]

@@billbrasky6827 there's the answer then, stop growing food

[@aaroniouse]

Cutting of trees is also cutting out part of the hydrological cycle, which in turn dries up rivers and lakes and keeps more water in the atmosphere and in the ocean.

[@cdhilton7124]

Wow. I finally found someone else who gets it. 😊

[@outinthesticks1035]

Partly correct , trees slow the water runoff , cool the air , shade the ground , slow the wind , which will result in more rain fall . But they do not keep more water in the atmosphere , they help to keep water out of the atmosphere where it will flow to somewhere else and fall as rain . Don't get me wrong , I agree with having trees , where I live there are a lot of trees , I can feel cooler air as soon as I get into my valley , less wind , wildlife every day . My creek has never gone dry , even during our big drought 20 yrs ago I still had grass for the cattle

[@Doug923]

There is a movement called regenerative agriculture which treats the farm as an eco system. However, it seems that most farmers focused in maximizing the crop yield in short term instead of protecting the soil and underground water.

[@outinthesticks1035]

@@Doug923 yes , and anyone who is farming for their grandchildren , great-grandchildren will try to do their best . But we have people trying to pay for land , competing with those who are maximizing profits , corporate farms . If a man is worried about making his land payment next fall or loosing it all , then planting trees for 20 yrs in the future gets low on his list of priorities . When his children see him struggle for his whole life and just manage to make a living then they are decreasingly willing to take on . They will sell to the highest bidder , and that buyer is not likely to care for the land. It's a sad fact that big corps control most of farming today , either directly or by proxy . Farmers have to buy seed from them , buy the fertilizer and herbicide from them at the prices they set , and sell the crop back to them , once again at the price they set . We can say that farmers can leave the system , grow organicly and sell directly to the consumer , but 99% of people will shop at the supermarket . The small operations that care for land and the future are getting squeezed out

[@innosam123]

@@Doug923 Note that the government has woefully underinvested in water infrastructure for decades (eg. No new peripheral Canal or Los Banks Grandes Reservoir, and few new desalination facilities outside of the one in San Diego) and has kept water outflows artificially low to protect fish (which *might* be fine if they had actually built new water infrastructure in the first place!) From the perspective of the farmers, it’s the government’s job to ensure there’s a consistent water supply, and point to Israel as an example. Now, there ARE farmers who use dryland/regenerative agricultural techniques- but it’s also VASTLY less efficient. Eg. Normal grape cultivation gets you 8-20 tons/acre. Dryland Grape farming gets 1-4 tons/acre, a 5x efficiency drop. Most vineyards would just shut down under these sorts of yield losses. The Central Valley would no longer be a breadbasket. Water transfers is the primary reason agriculture is viable in most of the Central Valley to begin with.

[@editorrbr2107]

Maybe, I don’t know, not shove 5 million people in the middle of the desert as a major metropolitan area, or grow cantaloupes and almonds in one of the driest places on earth?.

[@lorebrown5307]

Unfortunately New Jersey, the "garden state," with a great growing climate, rain in the summer, all they grow are houses and developments now.

[@DelbertStinkfester]

also growing rice in that area is a great idea

[@RazgrizWing]

@@lorebrown5307 That is the case everywhere. Development is largely a ponzi scheme with governments using the short term cash they generate from suburbs they just built, to support building even more suburbs that dont make any money.

[@0dyss3us51]

Yeah it is not really super intelligent

[@timsteinkamp2245]

Besides the small farms for the farmer markets what food supplies are grown on the east side of the Mississippi? I know they used to grow cotton and tobacco. What other large crops are grown? Peanuts, oranges and other citrus fruits. Does the East Coast grow enough food to sustain themselves? 50% of 11 Western States are owned by the federal government. The deserts you speak of are irrigated by the dams on the Colorado River that no longer flows to the ocean. Water for drinking and bathing is not the problem.

[@JoeBlow-8080]

let's not forget the golf courses that no one uses

[@Jhawk2tall]

This has been known for years. Yet homes keep being built in desserts with green lawns

[@Pavel_561]

Homes do not consume that much water, there's no water shortage for households.

[@supernovastern1658]

It wouldnt be a problem if households would pay the true price of water. But government is subsidizing the pipelines and giving water very cheap to their homies from the farmer lobby. Dubai is building homes in the desert with green lawns for prices like in california. But they pay the real price for their desalinated water making it much more sustainable.

[@Veeger]

@@Pavel_561 Take a look in the reservoir buddy! Not long until it's empty, you'll notice it then along with millions of others

[@vodkaboy]

@@supernovastern1658 "the true price of water" exactly

[@ZER0ZER0SE7EN]

@@supernovastern1658 oil to desalinate water in Dubai is cheap.

[@MrTom-kl7hy]

Treat your wastewater and use it like every other community that is not at the end of the river...

[@N2UPROD]

They do it’s just a small percentage that gets reuse Look at your local water company it’s public info

[@IReapZz95]

And people keep wanting to move to california… higher taxes, more homeless and no water…. Why move there?

[@bobshen7425]

Silicon Valley for startups and Hollywood for people with dreams of becoming movie stars.

[@johna.4334]

California has nice weather.

[@stephensonjoe]

6th largest economy in the world.

[@savageskier]

@zappafan11 grew by 6.5% or 2.4 million over last 10 years. Still growing for sure.

[@jackprier7727]

Wonderful weather, of all kinds, Mountains, of all kinds, Giant trees, great Natl Parks, Wonderful ocean right there. Makes ya wonder why it isn't more people.

[@fredesta2790]

The current situation is that we were warned back in **1893** that there wasn't enough water in this area to support exponential expansion of cities. Climate change is to blame, but the real reason for this crisis is the continual failure from experts and leaders to remain within the confines of reality.

[@roseroses7576]

California is overpopulated. The state water system is built for half the population, and our electric grid is also too weak to supply the power needed. If Cali wants to survive, the population must be cut in half because there is no reliable way to create more water.

[@robinsss]

@@roseroses7576 desalination is a reliable way to create enough water

[@robinsss]

but they didn't have desalination in 1893 that technology has changed the entire situation and can provide enough water for the entire state

[@iandennis7836]

Oh and robisss, have you researched desalination...what do you think happens to the water which noww contains 4-8 times the amount of salt that seawater does? Yup, it gets pumped back into the ocean. Well, if you can't see a problem building up right there then..... ah forget it, I can see I'm wasting my time. This planet would be better off without the wasteful, resource gobbling Americans.....and for your information, I am one.

[@noellynchard4158]

Well said

[@kenmelrac]

Shut down all the swimming pools and golf courses in California and eliminate the almond industry that produces more than is necessary from a water intensive plant.

[@martincorral4531]

fr almonds use so much damn water it’s crazy

[@aaroniouse]

"The Virus" will do that anyway.

[@user-ls2jg7vl2h]

@@martincorral4531 almond milk is taking off in California and the us for the matter

[@scottwilliams3665]

Pools really don't use that much water if they are mananged

[@Chonchey]

What are the numbers for golf courses?

[@champspec]

Golf courses have been shut down and not reopened at staggering numbers for the past 10 years in CA. It’s not golf courses.

[@jackprier7727]

@@champspec and very many have been using reclaimed sewage water (slightly salty, slightly stinky) for decades-

[@aaroniouse]

10

[@bobralph5072]

Firefighters are special breed, wild fire fighters are the top of that breed, they need to to be paid as such. Period

[@mochiebellina8190]

Look into the arson statistics

[@bobralph5072]

@@mochiebellina8190I'm familiar the statistics , so you trying to say, wild fire fighters setting fires so they go put them out and and get some kinda of a rush ?

[@onlyone2948]

I understand that $13.00 an hour does not include hazard pay and overtime. I once knew a few federal firefighters. They were GS-5 pay grade. I imagine some are GS-4 or GS-3. Others are higher. If I recall correctly, hazard pay was 25% of their pay. They typically worked long hours for days at a time. It might be for two or three weeks straight. Also, they had a 20-year retirement plan. Some do stay longer.

[@sanbruno6010]

CLEAN, SOBER, SAFE, HONEST, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS CALIFORNIA 🌧 RAIN IN CALIFORNIA 🌧 LOVE ONE ANOTHER WISDOM FREE THINKING HUMANITY UNITED 🌧 RAIN IN WESTERN US 🌧

[@bradleysmith9431]

Maybe all those golf courses could cut back on their water use... Just a thought

[@cavemancaveman9746]

Yes and maybe ban wine vineyards and car washes as well.

[@byronbuck1762]

Golf courses aren’t even 1% of water consumption, many use reclaimed water and it produces $20000 per acre while pasture and alfalfa produce $1,000 per acre yet consume close to 20% of supply. Our problem is antiquated water law not allowing the market to allocate water based on highest and best use.

[@byronbuck1762]

@@cavemancaveman9746 alfalfa and pasture consume vastly more and produce vastly less

[@BayuAH]

Serious thought, why the heck they grow foods in the desert?

[@jackprier7727]

Lots of sun, lots of wonderful temperatures (In this desert, Antarctica is a desert)-and the ability to control the water--amount and timing--makes for esy great growth.

[@ceoatcrystalsoft4942]

Free market principles

[@cani5761]

Meditteranian climate

[@sanbruno6010]

CLEAN, SOBER, SAFE, HONEST, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS CALIFORNIA 🌧 RAIN IN CALIFORNIA 🌧 LOVE ONE ANOTHER WISDOM FREE THINKING HUMANITY UNITED 🌧 RAIN IN WESTERN US 🌧

[@estathecz]

You need to build more water retention infrastructure. Wetlands, small ponds and roof gutters that collect water.

[@aaroniouse]

And more thousand-year-old trees. Oh wait, that takes a couple of hundred years at least...

[@deadmeatdec2164]

Small ponds would evaporate if not covered

[@scottwilliams3665]

Permaculture would be a good plan

[@scottwilliams3665]

@@deadmeatdec2164 it's called saving that part when you do get some

[@sanbruno6010]

CLEAN, SOBER, SAFE, HONEST, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS CALIFORNIA 🌧 RAIN IN CALIFORNIA 🌧 LOVE ONE ANOTHER WISDOM FREE THINKING HUMANITY UNITED 🌧 RAIN IN WESTERN US 🌧

[@alancadorette3447]

they need to cover the canals to stop sun form baking water away, in India they putting solar panels over their canals

[@HH-le1vi]

So how does anything move through the canal?

[@williambrennan5701]

Yeah but in India they put body's and bathe in the same river they get drinking water

[@soumilyarlagadda9764]

@@williambrennan5701 bruh we dont all drink from the same river

[@Romancefantasy]

$13 per hour for such a dangerous and essential job? They paying $15-$20 to do customer service from the comfort of your home sitting on your ass.

[@jimmykass341]

The Almonds of Wrath.

[@lerourou438]

The second Dust Bowl incoming

[@jodrhh]

2020= Toilet paper wars 2021= Lumber and used car wars 2022= Water wars 2023= Food wars 2024= WW3 Blame it on toilet paper

[@oneeyeddog6127]

blame it on the assholes not the toilet paper.

[@johna.4334]

Blame it on democrat run States

[@hlnbee]

🧻🧻🧻🧻🧻🧻🧻🧻🧻🧻

[@johna.4334]

@@hlnbee ???

[@jodrhh]

@@johna.4334 ok boomer 👌

[@BRENTxBEAR]

As a Californian, I still home and businesses watering thier lawns and I'm like wtf are you doing?! Alot of people here just live in thier bubble. They don't care about others only themselves. Then if water is gone they will complain. You aren't part of the solution so don't complain you can't water your lawn that no one cares about

[@roseroses7576]

LOL I saw someone on KZbin that bought cans of green paint and painted their lawn a fresh enamel green. It looked really good. Here in the Mojave Desert, we have green lawns of fake grass. It's becoming popular to install the fake stuff that stays green and doesn't need watering.

[@cavemancaveman9746]

Reminds of the the folks in the SF Bay area. Leaky sewage pipes / plants for over 30 years destroying the ecosystem of the Bay and requiring trillions of gallons of our limited fresh water to flush the Bay. It's like why haven't you fixed these 100+ year old clay pipes yet? We waste most of our freshwater from the Norcal reservoirs to flush your crap out of your Bay. Of course no water from Hetch Hetchy gets used for this purpose. So entitled and they only think about themselves and their wallet. Pay the money and fix your sewage leaks already!!!

[@jaysonwilliams8045]

Yeah but the golf courses are still water and green as hell

[@jacrispycreem6031]

A lot of them use recycled water

[@cavemancaveman9746]

And the wine vineyards are still thriving and cars are still getting washed and we are still dumping freshwater into the Delta to flush the SF Bay's sewage out to sea, and SoCal is still building. Etc......

[@PS-re4tr]

We Californians should build desalination plants along the coast. That way more water can come from the sea for us, and the Sierra snowpack can be used for other states.

[@direwolf6234]

and where will the power come from ...??? very energy intensive...

[@cavemancaveman9746]

@@direwolf6234 The same place all the power will come from for all the plug in vehicles.

[@stonymontana9773]

You’ll have Fukushima particles in it

[@thirumalareddy4878]

Get rid of your meaningless lawns and plant trees in place of them. That will make a lot of difference.

[@austintrousdale2397]

Preferably native trees or shrubs equipped to deal with dry weather!

[@thirumalareddy4878]

@G Bogart yes. I have trees in front of my home.

[@direwolf6234]

last time i checked trees (perennials) need water too....

[@funtimes20243]

@@direwolf6234 but native trees being long lived perennials and having deep roots do just fine without getting watered

[@direwolf6234]

@@funtimes20243 quite true but in early stages will need water assistance to get those roots deep...

[@rasheedrashad6831]

$13.00 an hour to fight forest fires? WTF!

[@elchapojr6219]

Wow Lake Oroville I have never seen it that dry before

[@cavemancaveman9746]

And it was 100% full just 2 years ago. Amazing! The water just disappeared.

[@chanman4rings]

Desalination has already proved to be practical on smaller scales... ships, submarines and Israel is at about 50% right now. We won't do it here because ingenuity and investing in the future are aspects of America that left a long time ago

[@josephpetrick3499]

Na, America is about reacting to emergencies. We make the emergencies then react to them instead of anticipating outcomes. We've become reactionary people running from one problem to the next. We're always trying to patch a sinking ship. Drydock and repair it the right way.

[@aduckett5168]

It’s also expensive and very Energy inefficient

[@chanman4rings]

@@josephpetrick3499 Agreed, nothing happens with infrastructure until people die from it

[@roseroses7576]

California has 11 desalination plants and they provide less than 5% of the water necessary. The biggest problem is that the Cali electric grid cannot handle the massive power needs of desalination plants.

[@Me97202]

Desalination uses a HUGE amount of electricity. That’s part of it.

[@thisisjmx]

I see short documentaries like this [also on vice] & I see how much water Americans waste. It's shocking. The worst offenders are the ones with sprinklers in their gardens. We all line grass but if people were to have artificial grass that would cut usage.

[@user-ls2jg7vl2h]

Most of usage and misusage happens at much bigger scales rather than public. These greedy companies hold the majority of share of blame. They always try to pin down the fault and limitations on the public yet they try to do the bare minimum all for profit while the world suffers.

[@sanbruno6010]

CLEAN, SOBER, SAFE, HONEST, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS CALIFORNIA 🌧 RAIN IN CALIFORNIA 🌧 LOVE ONE ANOTHER WISDOM FREE THINKING HUMANITY UNITED 🌧 RAIN IN WESTERN US 🌧

[@MichaelLee-nn9fo]

It should be illegal to use tap water to water lawn when recycle toilet water is available.

[@working2bselfsufficient724]

I live in Florida in a flood zone. We have plenty of water and it should be illegal for me to water my lawn? Authoritarian much?

[@charidiamandis]

You think that using more effective means of watering a lawn is authoritarian?

[@working2bselfsufficient724]

@@charidiamandis I think people willing to just make things illegal (which others get in trouble for) because of their own local problems are authoritarians. People wanting to impose laws that make things in my daily life illegal for no reason to the locals, are authoritarians to me yes.

[@xtcsx9343]

@@working2bselfsufficient724 Michael never said it should be illegal to water your lawn stop getting so worked up - they said using less efficient means of watering should be illegal. Tons of things are illegal to make society work better and for us to be more efficient so stop overreacting.

[@direwolf6234]

to convert current water distribution systems is infeasible at this time...

[@Mike__B]

This video starts out with a clip that shows the problem, agriculture in California consumes more than 70% of the water (it's actually closer to 80%), and every residential person is hammered in the head "conserve water, save water, oh BTW water will cost a lot more because you use too much" yet in drought years (or decades as the case has been) agriculture uses even MORE water, as they drain aquifers all for their business (and lets be honest agriculture is a business, they're not doing it to feed the people, that's simply a side effect of it). They have us at each other's throats for green lawns, golf courses, etc... which yes in some communities where there isn't agriculture that is a massive problem, but for the vast majority of Californians it's not... and all that getting at each other deflects the problem... farmers, and them thinking they are immune from change when it comes to water usage, just drive down highway 5 and you'll see all the guilt tripping signs "Congress created drough" and "Farmers feed people" and I have farmers in the family and they talk about water rights like it's a Constitutional right, because a hundred years ago someone signed a piece of paper that said they did get rights to the water.

[@richardwainwright507]

The whole world can’t pool together to figure out cheap desalination huh. Seems like we won’t get past the great filter.

[@chiefdan07]

Clean water companies lobby against this and will mean lower profits and loss of customers, 😤

[@Chonchey]

“ pool together”

[@saulgoodman2018]

We have the technology to do it. We know how. But people always want to say it cost too much to build. Than those same people complains when there's a drought.

[@FactsAboutTheWorld.]

@@saulgoodman2018 it would be more useful than spending 700 billion a year on the military

[@richardwainwright507]

@@FactsAboutTheWorld. We can do both at once. The money is there, but our politicians would rather put it in their pockets

[@vincentrobinette1507]

What we need, is a giant "herring bone" pipeline system that stretches from coast to coast, with cross sections stretching out to the North and South borders.(perhaps, beyond). The problem isn't the amount of water raining onto the United States, but, rather totally inadequate distribution. It always seems that 1/2 the country is flooding, while the other half is parched, or on fire. If the excess water could be moved from where its flooding, to where it's dry, we would have plenty of water for irrigation, agriculture, and domestic uses, as well as industrial uses. Bottom line, it's raining somewhere. The only caveat, is that in some states, like Utah or Colorado, the pipe would be ~4,000 feet below ground, where as, sea level states like Florida, California, or New York have this pipeline just below the surface. It takes a lot of energy, to pump a large volume of water from that depth in mountain states. Such a pipeline would be an expensive endeavor to say the least, but, as a long term investment, it could help the economy more than just about any other infrastructure project.

[@robinsss]

first of all since we have cloud seeding that can be used to bring normal rainfall secondly why would you transport water from another region to California when California is right next to the ocean and we have the technology to convert ocean water to drinking water?

[@DivineAegis02]

@@robinsss Because Ocean water damages the environment and doesn't produce a lot of water just enough for drinking/showers. The Brime left over when it is thrown back into the ocean kills wild life, because of high salinity levels. We have enough water in the Great lakes and northern states we should extend the Aqueducts to all desert states.

[@robinsss]

@@DivineAegis02 '''''''''doesn't produce a lot of water just enough for drinking/showers. ''''''' with 5 large desal plants Israel produces enough water for 7 million people the brine can damage the eco system but they don't have to dump it back into the water the can store it in reservoirs until it dries out

[@bobralph5072]

15$/hr that's a friggin joke

[@LK-pc4sq]

More then a decade ago I mentioned to my wife of water wars. I started to see the damaging effects of climate change more then 15 years ago when the Arctic was warming up three times faster then the rest of the planet. We lost 75 million hectares of the BC forest system due to a warming climate that allowed the bark beetle to explode in growth.

[@CarlosZ34NSM]

We need to follow the farming techniques of The Netherlands. Grow upwards instead of taking up so much land and grow plants in trays in vertical farms which use vastly less water.

[@augustreil]

You make it sound like it's all peaches and cream when actually it's not.

[@sanbruno6010]

CLEAN, SOBER, SAFE, HONEST, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS CALIFORNIA 🌧 RAIN IN CALIFORNIA 🌧 LOVE ONE ANOTHER WISDOM FREE THINKING HUMANITY UNITED 🌧 RAIN IN WESTERN US 🌧

[@CrownRider]

Solar powered, reverse osmosis, desalination plants could replenish at least some lost sweet water to evaporation and maybe more. You guys have the resources to do get this done. Do it....

[@MatuschkaRossija]

And what do you want to do with the by products of desalination? They are killing the environment around the dumping area!

[@mrdeebo313]

@@MatuschkaRossija we have to figure out a solution, we need the water

[@MatuschkaRossija]

@@mrdeebo313 maybe we should change our lifestyle and don't build swimming pools at home and don't build Microchip factories and Tesla factories in areas with water problems?! California has big water problems because they are the biggest producer of Almonds in the world. California is producing 80% of all Almonds worldwide. For 1kg of Almonds you need up 17000 litre of water. Maybe thit have to change?!

[@Veeger]

@@MatuschkaRossija It has to be dumped back into the Pacific Ocean using a long pipe. Way better than what the israeli's do. They extract from the Mediteranean and discharge back into the Med. That is not sustainable and stupendously insane for all other countries using that sea.

[@Veeger]

I just don't get it. They have the technology, They have the capability. They have the money. ADAPT STUPID HUMANS

[@charliedevine6869]

California lets most of it's freshwater flow out to sea while they take so much of the Colorado that it dries up before reaching the sea.

[@johna.4334]

Excellent point.

[@cavemancaveman9746]

That's correct. They were dumping over 30,000 CFS into the Delta just back in February when the Delta only needs 3,300 CFS for salt intrusion. How did our reservoirs go from 100% full all time highs to record all-time lows in just 2 years?

[@johna.4334]

@@cavemancaveman9746 Better still, how did the California voters allow in politicians who are controlled by the eco-whacko mob. This "mob" is hell bent on covering up California's water waste problem they created.

[@vincelamb4063]

This video is missing a description beyond the boilerplate self-promotion. It really needs a paragraph explanation in addition.

[@kennyw871]

I think the US should immediately stop foreign investors from buying up farms in Arizona. They can afford to drill deep wells to sustain beef production, while local farms become "dust in the wind." What happens when the aquifers dry-up and there is no water to sustain humans living in America. These investors will move on and drill into acquifers somewhere else until the last drop goes to their cattle and profits.

[@carlojones8610]

Capitalism will always sell out to the highest bidder. Propaganda against social responsibility hides as anticommunist rhetoric.

[@direwolf6234]

clear cut burn & pave ....

[@garcjr]

"Whiskey Is for drinkin' water of for fightin'."

[@beatlejuice7755]

If it's not farmed, it's mined.

[@LetMeTellYouSomeTing]

Agree

[@prmfirestorm0863]

I'm wondering what role cloud seeding has in whether or not a specific country experiences chronic droughts? If they are doing too much cloud seeding in every country, "water wars" could actually mean war.

[@alastairhewitt380]

Man, even firefighters are only paid $13 an hour in California. They should be paid at least triple that. I feel like there is no wage scale in US. Either you are rich or make near minimum wage.

[@raypitts4880]

go work in super mac they pay more for less traning injury time danger

[@threepac]

Well we gotta grow that corn… we don’t need.

[@aaroniouse]

To feed the pigs that are not good for people to eat..

[@fazejoerod]

@@aaroniouse um bacon

[@vodkaboy]

stop eating beef

[@michaelbrin6469]

Up here in Canada, there's so much fresh water we don't know what to do with it.....

[@jonasbluntson5864]

U also dont have the hot temperature we have here either

[@direwolf6234]

well how about a keystone water pipeline..??

[@michaelbrin6469]

@@direwolf6234 someday, water will be more valuable than oil

[@direwolf6234]

@@michaelbrin6469 dune...

[@jeffstewart3978]

We'd like to buy some too. Environmentalists won't allow even making a modest amount from a river source near the ocean outlet for sale.

[@BlakeTedKord]

Curious, what does Arizona ban people from doing water storage or water retrieval wise?

[@austintrousdale2397]

Perhaps the politically advantaged live downslope/downstream of the communities who would otherwise store (“hoard”) the water?

[@BlakeTedKord]

@@austintrousdale2397 You live in AZ?

[@KhaldunQaysi]

Same here in Jordan

[@patrickdurham8393]

Get Elon"s Boring company to drill a tunnel through the Rockies.

[@FondelMikeRotch]

You would be just stealing other regions water. Not a answer.

[@patrickdurham8393]

@@FondelMikeRotch I didn't say we would just give them the water! Actually we have a water problem here in the South in which Georgia (Atlanta) is trying to claim some land in Tennessee so the overbuilt city can claim access to the Tennessee river.

[@ZER0ZER0SE7EN]

or use electricity to evaporate seawater and add it to the water systems.

[@patrickdurham8393]

@@ZER0ZER0SE7EN The west coast is also short on electricity so that's a no go.

[@ZER0ZER0SE7EN]

@@patrickdurham8393 right, another vital infrastructure need the states have ignored.

[@williambrennan5701]

running out of water in a dessert is like having mosquitoes in the swamp ,just how it is .This is the "new" normal. REAL discussions need to happen NOW about where to move these agricultural areas.

[@mindoftheoldone1743]

😑 yeah that's the way... use abuse and move on...then call the insanity normal. Truly brilliant and original 👏 I bet in 10-20 years you will be saying you know killing people over water is like wrestling mutants in the badlands it's just the new normal. 🤣

[@cthulhu8977]

@@mindoftheoldone1743 You are truly special. The US produces a serious excess of AG. Most of our production goes to either China or bio-fuels like Ethanol. Yes, water is in serious shortage in the far West. But as far as US farmland is concerned... we are perfectly fine til US population: 550M+.

[@mindoftheoldone1743]

@@cthulhu8977 Oh I see well that changes everything😱...I will take your unsubstantiated speculation at face value without any forethought thanks random internet guy 🤓... One quick question before I plunge into the madness of your foundationalism are you a climatologist, meteorologist any kind of scientist? Perhaps an agricultural biologist etc?🤔

[@sanbruno6010]

CLEAN, SOBER, SAFE, HONEST, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS CALIFORNIA 🌧 RAIN IN CALIFORNIA 🌧 LOVE ONE ANOTHER WISDOM FREE THINKING HUMANITY UNITED 🌧 RAIN IN WESTERN US 🌧

[@nedg3740]

Every single almond uses about 8 gallons of water go grow to maturity. Wth

[@MetaView7]

We all live on the same planet. People/countries needs to share and manage water resources together. Canada has water. Lots of water. There should be an arrangement to distribute those water to wherever is needed.

[@Veeger]

To most americans south of Canada , that would sound a little socialist , which makes them think communist , then it's better dead than red.

[@garneybaker]

Don’t forget for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Yes, there is vast amounts of water here in Canada, most of it flowing North to the Arctic Ocean. However before there is a decision to reroute River systems, study needs to be had what the consequences would be to the sea life and ice packs in the Arctic sea. We might end up making a more dire mistake that severely impacts world survival.

[@vodkaboy]

For them to keep building more houses in the desert ?

[@PickUps]

Im halfway through this video, and I can tell already they arent going to talk about nestle sucking up billions of gallons out of CA yearly

[@PickUps]

Finished it. Not a word said

[@dertythegrower]

and michigan, as well (many michigan nestle water lawsuits, and bribes are being used to control small counties and drain entire water tables for bottled nestle water)

[@trance9158]

Dasani and pecan farmer's.

[@trance9158]

@@joshn2342323 here...maybe you should do some homework hotshot!! www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/27/california-nestle-water-san-bernardino-forest-drought

[@PickUps]

@@joshn2342323 Google it. It's 1 billion gallons a year. Go shill elsewhere rube

[@michaelgain5041]

It does not rain enough. Even in Seattle it has been way too dry.

[@Veeger]

In some places it rains months worth of rain in one go then it all rushes downhill to the sea. Nature is pushing back against the human.

[@aaroniouse]

The east coast steals all the water with weather modification and gets too much precipitation.

[@soumilyarlagadda9764]

@@aaroniouse no, the atlantic is just much warmer, and there isnt a an annoying ass high pressure ridge blocking our pacific storms.

[@soumilyarlagadda9764]

@@aaroniouse warmer waters mean more evaporation, which means more clouds and rain

[@ensignmjs7058]

We've had an unusually wet Summer in south Texas.

[@conan6869]

" not enough water to go around " ..... the best way to start that because its not so much the drought but the over use of water available with an expanding population and agriculture crops that are dependent heavily on water

[@rodU65]

So all this is wath I learned that will happen in school 30 years ago. The classic frase that all "next wars will be for water"

[@deanerasmus2868]

climate has been changing since the inception of time, adapt or die is how we are still around.

[@SolarpunkMonk]

There is enough water, we just use85% for agri or industrial use.

[@harambeegardens8705]

True.

[@jeffrichards5008]

That's why Gates and other Elitists want depopulation. Get rid of us the peasants.

[@nelivv]

Maybe they should stop building golf courses, then.

[@drmodestoesq]

And growing almond trees in parts of the world where it rains.

[@jeffrichards5008]

Add to this the millions of people coming across our border from Haiti, Africa, Asia, Middle East, South America with Covid .

[@jazko]

I talked to Paris Hilton about this issue. She said: - If you need water, just turn the tap on.

[@thedude2311]

2006 jokes... awesome...

[@raypitts4880]

silly bloody blonde bomb shell.

[@brbjk.m.846]

Nawww, still plenty of water in Colorado. We water our lawns everyday to have really nice green grass.

[@danf1627]

as a plumber ,i got to ask, how many leaking facets in LA?

[@direwolf6234]

yes one drop per second = 438 gallons / year

[@chance96able]

13 an hour to risk your life is a joke

[@sirgrundel]

Glad i live by the great lakes

[@aaroniouse]

great

[@triciab7750]

They have designs on importing Great Lake Water to desert.

[@sirgrundel]

@@triciab7750 Canada and Great Lake states will never allow such a stupid idea

[@desultorilypanacea]

Canadian here and we get allot of food from California. So we are feeling your pain.

[@marcusd4936]

We can grow plants inside buildings, it uses a fraction of water a typical farm would use, it can be safe from outside conditions and it can grow faster and safer. Also everyone can eat food for less cost.

[@roseroses7576]

There are not enough housing for the population of the US. let alone enough buildings to grow food for 300 million people.

[@mugishagabriel6074]

It really beats my understanding that there's advanced technology in warfare and weaponry but there isn't for cheap desalination of seawater.

[@savageskier]

Agriculture in CA accounts for 2.5% of the states GDP but uses 70-80% of available water. Time to rethink priorities and tax payers subsidizing the bulk of water to farmers at expense of the environment and population centers.

[@loverofcalifornia3619]

...sigh

[@savageskier]

@@direwolf6234 I must be looking at old data, 2018: economic-impact-of-ag.uada.edu/california/#:~:text=In%202018%2C%20California%20generated%20around,percent%20of%20total%20state%20GDP.

[@PanteraRossa]

Ban golf courses. Also, can't we divert some of the billions spent in defense every year to fighting these?? I mean, national guard and army infrastructure could be deployed for this type of thing, but I guess they got more important things to do like Space Force.

[@nadaesfacil]

They literally do that's why we have the National Guard

[@JT-sw6yx]

$13 an hour to be on the front line that is so ridiculous I think it is so disrespectful to pay first responders such a low price and then a football and basketball players millions and millions of dollars for something they shouldn’t be paid 10% of what they get paid for and then on top of that they get all kinds endorsement deals from Nike and etc. this is so crazy we need to look at our paying people for the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poor play make a whole lot worse and I will give a little bit more money to the lower class and middle-class

[@alikaostermiller]

so we should cap and trade?

[@SlothfulSins]

Negative feedback loop after negative feedback loop. Even if we stopped pumping GHG into the atmosphere TODAY we are still on track to a 2 degree C rise. All of this was predicted, all of this was expected, yet ignored ignored ignored.

[@climatechangedoesntbargain9140]

Yep, it's just sad

[@Veeger]

It seems to me that whatever action is taken, there will be huge unforseen impacts on our environment. Such as our air is generally cleaner these days but rain clouds need particles in the air for the water to condense onto, otherwise no clouds and mild pollution can help rain clouds to form but heavy pollution interrupts the cloud formation process. So , clean air = less rain clouds. We haven't a chance of sorting out the crap we're in.

[@deadmeatdec2164]

You would think desalination would be heavily invested in

[@FakeAccount-px7md]

It's costly, inefficient, and the dumping of brine is an ecological hazard.

[@rickadis4609]

When it rains somewhere, its dry somewhere else, we are going through a climate shift. Places that have been historically dry like Australia are now getting wetter, while North America which has historically been wet is becoming dryer. We haven't recorded weather and climate history long enough to understand these changes

[@arthursosajr.2031]

that is East Fork at 5:18

[@kadiliman3022]

So short-term solution, crops that use less water. Long-term solution, desalination?

[@stevehockey4]

How about we grow less of our national produce in places where it does not rain.

[@johna.4334]

Desalination is too expensive to operate and it takes 10+ years to build a plant. The best solution is to redirect rivers, washes etc. and build more dams.

[@user-ls2jg7vl2h]

@@johna.4334 preparing for the next drought

[@johna.4334]

@@user-ls2jg7vl2h That too

[@djp1234]

It's time for thorium reactors and desalination.

[@benmcreynolds8581]

This is why we need to invest in modern advanced nuclear energy options. Small form reactors, LFTRs, Thorium Reactors, liquid reactors, with modern technology, engineering, material science, safety measures understandings and designs, computer technology, robotics, It will really allow any nation to be pretty much be energy independent. Less reliant on fossil fuels. They'll have efficient, stable electrical grids and the rest of the grid could experiment with alternative power sources, etc. (BTW I live in NW Oregon and it's really crazy how it's been lately) I was born here in 1989 and I've never seen it this dry, this hot, this bland of weather. Before we used to joke about how we had such bipolar, complex weather. I want to keep our temperate rainforests filled with lush moss, ferns, old growth tree's, Fungi, lichen, waterways. Foggy days, rainy days, sunny days but not like consistent days that mimick southern California area... We used to rarely get days that reached certain temps, they would happen a handful of times per summer but now it's just been like the weather shifted to a different ecosystem setting and in northern Oregon our homes are not built to handle this type of heat and dryness. I really believe we can create a better future we just have to commit and not complain about the cost we need to just admit that it is worth it. Trust me. If things become utter catastrophic, no amount of money might fix it, or if it can, it would take way more money then we are currently complaining about. Think of all the cascading societal side effects that will happen if things get that bad. So it's worth any amount of investment to address this problem ahead of time. We can't wait until the issue has a terminally ill diagnosis until we go, okay we need to do something. No , we need to do something tomorrow. Now. Seriously.

[@johna.4334]

And yet...and yet not a word mentioned about the water waste problem in California. For example, the Carquinez Straight in NorCal allows millions upon millions of gallons of fresh water to flow into the SF Bay every year. Another waste example is allowing river water to flow into the sea. If we were to redirect rivers to flow toward areas where water is most needed and build more dams to capture water during the wet season, then we would not have so many issues with drought.

[@20teamplayer]

Develop new crops that require less water as well. Despite what GMO fear mongering will say, we have been modifying organisms for thousands of years. Genetic engineering is just a better, faster way to do it. And speed is exactly what we need right now.

[@Nick-mv5yj]

The earth is 4 billion years old it has not always been 70 degrees year round in California the climate always changes it once rainded for 100 million years in the now Sahara desert

[@Johnny.africa]

Michael burry might have been early, but he was not wrong.

[@jim2376]

I don't always grow crops, but when I do, I grow water intensive crops. Stay thirsty my friends.

[@MCPorter83]

Best post ive seen all day! I'm going to use that one!

[@Neon2110]

Big short guys invested in water

[@martincorral4531]

can we just figure out desalination? 97% of the earths water is salt

[@Izzy-qf1do]

It's energy intensive.

[@billtr8516]

there was a 1974 movie "Chinatown" about calif water!

[@jeffstewart3978]

Pretty simple solution, since 2/3 of our planet is covered by water. Build new technology nuclear plants, or molten salt reactor plants in CA near the ocean. These plants are incredibly safe with all natural (no human intervention even needed) fail safe systems built into them. Build desalination plants for endless supply of sea water powered by nuclear and renewable energy like solar. Sell water from the Colorado river to upstream users in NV, UT, AZ, they pay for the water at the same cost of building and developing desalinated water in CA. Problem solved, the deserts continue to bloom and grow, and hopefully we use some seawater that everyone seems to worry are rising. For any nay Sayers, Southern Ca already has one such small plant and it produces enough water for 400,000 people at a cost of half a cent per gallon...and it won't ever run out because the ocean is the source. This may be too high a cost of water for agriculture and golf courses, which we all subsidize and make it nearly free, but it works well for homes, businesses, and industry to use.

[@roseroses7576]

California tap water costs .00015 cents a gallon, desalination water is extremely expensive. California has 11 plants already and they supply less than 5% of the water and at extremely high costs to consumers. As for the Colorado River, California doesn't own the Colorado and doesn't have the right to sell the water from the Colorado. California has water rights that if not used, they lose because all the states are fighting over Colorado River water, and we have to allow a portion into Mexico or we lose water from the Rio Grande. California agriculture pays for their water, and they supply 20-25% of the nation's food.

[@porkypine602]

Build more desalination plants in Cali. They cost a lot but a offer a sustainable and consistent amount of water. Itll be a good of jobs too

[@flgalvez1908]

No wars the one who has the most money wins.

[@alaaa1794]

Instead of oil pipelines built water pipelines

[@raypitts4880]

no profit made on water pipe lines

[@dboogeman2002]

Now how do y'all feel? Lake Mead is dry. Good job greedy fools

[@you900001]

Nuclear desalinization is the solution. Especially with LFTR reactors.

[@dertythegrower]

Nope. Miami plant is leaking.. look up the turkey point leak

[@ZER0ZER0SE7EN]

@@dertythegrower leaking water? Just make more!

[@sanbruno6010]

CLEAN, SOBER, SAFE, HONEST, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS CALIFORNIA 🌧 RAIN IN CALIFORNIA 🌧 LOVE ONE ANOTHER WISDOM FREE THINKING OPTIMISM

[@SD-tj5dh]

The country than could easily afford desalination projects decides to have a water crisis instead.

[@jackprier7727]

What to do with the massive plumes of ultra-salty toxic brine?

[@vodkaboy]

@@jackprier7727 same country that refuse to build new nuclear reactors. I kinda feel sad for them at this point.

[@ZER0ZER0SE7EN]

@@jackprier7727 the same as the other desalination projects, back in the sea,

[@SD-tj5dh]

@@jackprier7727 it wouldn't be hard to pipe and dose it back into the sea water. Seawater salinity is dropping on average anyway as the ice caps are melting and releasing fresh water directly into the sea. We might aswell utilise all this extra water. Technically we're indirectly mining the ice caps for water without physically breaking and transporting ice caps ourselves. The other option is to have huge storm water pipe networks that deliver storm water to water scarce countries so they can use it for irrigation. We have huge continent spanning pipines for gas and oil so one for storm water wouldn't be that bad. These countries could even charge them for solids screening and pretreatment prior to delivery straight into their reservoirs. There doesn't need to be water wars. There could easily be water trade. There's many things I wouldn't necessarily take out of Israel's book, but their water conservation projects are among the best in the world. If your country is near the ocean, has no fresh water but more solar/heat energy than you need to power your nation, producing and selling desalinated water and piping them to landlocked desert nations have a lot to gain.

[@SD-tj5dh]

Let's not forget the fact we can now process these salts to get core materials for stuff like lithium batteries. You could have multiple levels of reverse osmosis with different membranes to filter out different elements for processing. We already have solutions like that being rolled out at lithium salt farms. There will always be a demand for fresh water. So there is going to be a way to make money from that at the very least. If you want to see another novel desalination process I suggest you look up "seawater greenhouse", using piped seawater to humidify huge greenhouses, which are then dehumidified and stored in massive tanks to irrigate crops. There are so many solutions to those willing to put the effort in.

[@allen8595]

How is this possible when the ocean is next door there?

[@SaintMartins]

The ocean is full of sea salt, despite technologic advances it's still difficult to extract 100% of the salt from ocean water. Also using salty water for growing fruit & vegetables will hurt crops more than help.

[@MoreLifePlease]

As regards desalination as a solution or partial solution to water shortages.....um, what do we do with all the leftover salts?

[@sanbruno6010]

CLEAN, SOBER, SAFE, HONEST, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS CALIFORNIA 🌧 RAIN IN CALIFORNIA 🌧 LOVE ONE ANOTHER WISDOM FREE THINKING HUMANITY UNITED 🌧 RAIN IN WESTERN US 🌧