Why The American West Is Running Out Of Water - Cheddar Explains

[@sistersuperioraddie5547]

Imagine how badass he’d look rowing away off into the sunset with his house burning in the background.

[@SimplyStuart94]

I'd love to see that a a repaint

[@kymmzej9173]

I was thinking the same thing. They way they put it made it seem like they were watching a movie.

[@Jdalio5]

I hope he owed the bank more than it was worth.

[@Quibus777]

This image was first in my mind too, yet then the reality of how sad it is , how troubled that the village now is on dry land probably not getting sunk again actually is. We as a species know and do so much yet sometimes it's tragedies like this proving we kind of miss so much of what we do and longer term results are. Would like to see a movie with this scene as a start and ending though

[@jokerace8227]

Low Valley Drifter.

[@juliezaremskiy3635]

People don't need bright green lawns and golf courses in the middle of a desert. Gotta adapt to local environment

[@akoiya6300]

Hm, an all sand trap golf course. An interesting idea

[@arrgghh1555]

@@akoiya6300 kzbin.info/www/bejne/g37To2OJncaEl80

[@VelvetCondoms]

Society doesn't need golf courses or players. We could get rid of them and save water.

[@mraaronhd]

Nate Watson agreed. Golf courses are a waste of space.

[@RegionalRadioShackManager]

Dubai is laughing

[@TheGregWallace]

This is what happens when you build and live in areas that were never designed to have large populations living there.

[@russelwashburn]

I have been saying that for years, the West is beautiful but it was never intended to support millions of people.

[@timetraveler9218]

@@russelwashburn Was anywhere really?

[@svalent420]

And irrigate large agricultural tracts in the desert.

[@theredacted3805]

Desinged by what? or who?

[@TheGregWallace]

@@theredacted3805 Boy oh boy are you dumb?

[@ethanomcbride]

We’re having similar problems in the far west portion of Texas in rural communities near El Paso

[@Exiled.New.Yorker]

Have you banned lawns yet?

[@possiblegames2953]

🥵

[@DeathBone4656]

I live in Texas,We have pipes EVERYWHERE because of gas and oil,I have no clue why Texas doesnt take the lead and burn the oil to boil water and have the worlds best desalination plants and pump the water using a few new pipes.

[@EmeraldEyesEsoteric]

We are not running out of water. Go to primary water and StopTheCrime. These is a proven UN Agenda.

[@DeathBone4656]

I know we aren't running out of water as fast as some make it out to be. Im just saying desalination plants though expensive seem like the best option to me,Just build a ton of them in one area and just have pipes running all over the US, Maybe even use some fresh water to make artificial rivers for transport idk

[@awesomedog23]

And yet nestle will still pump water from there

[@Floedekage]

Yes. There's the real controversy! That could have been a nice inclusion in the video.

[@graham1034]

Honestly, at least where I live, Nestle's bottling plant has very little impact on our local water sources. It's the plastic waste that we should really worry about. Regarding water usage, I worry more about politicians approving water pipelines to areas hundreds of miles away. A single pipeline would have an impact far larger than Nestle while providing very little to the local area. At least the bottling plant provides some jobs.

[@minikawildflower]

@@graham1034 "at least where I live" is how we end up destroying the places we DON'T live by not paying attention to them

[@piranha031091]

I did the math, you're free to double check, but US bottled water consumption seems to roughly be 0.01% of its total freshwater consumption. The main culprit here is by far irrigation. Followed by domestic & industrial water use, then aquaculture, and mining, etc... Water bottling doesn't even register. Not to say Nestle didn't do sh*tty stuff. But that's really not the main concern on the issue of droughts.

[@graham1034]

@@minikawildflower my comment certainly wasn't meant to dismiss concerns about other areas, I just didn't want anyone to infer that my knowledge of this went beyond my local area. It is likely that the same reasoning goes for other areas as well though.

[@stdev.]

Gotta talk about water-intensive farming in California.

[@bonnieswenson9925]

Or the golf courses....

[@JohnEboyee]

@@bonnieswenson9925 golf courses are generally reclaimed sewage water. Agree that water could be distributed elsewhere or scheduled better. 2 time daily watering is unacceptable with an established Bermudagrass root system.

[@greenbongos]

Vegas too

[@meangene98]

Yep, I have a friend that owns an Almond orchard in the Central Valley and every few weeks they open up their five 18” irrigation pipes and just flood the entire 100 acres with a foot of water. It flows for 6-7 hours, and then the ditch tender cuts off the water and opens the pipes for the next orchard, & on & on…Then the wind picks up and the ground is so saturated that 6-8 trees blow over. Newer orchards have drip irrigation that target each tree’s root system as needed.

[@AdamWestish]

I've heard almonds use at least a gallon per nut to grow

[@QuestionEverythingButWHY]

"We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children." --Native American proverb

[@viscache1]

And yet the children inherit the earth that their parents leave behind...(guess I should plant some trees!)

[@name_not_avail6708]

quoteinvestigator.com/2013/01/22/borrow-earth/amp/ I enjoy the sentiment but this is not a Native American proverb.

[@maddygrif]

@@FocusPics Like seven minutes in they state that the water patterns have changed because of climate change, whereas without climate change, this wouldn't be nearly as much of a problem, if a problem at all.

[@likira111]

how the fuck did they invent that saying before climate change?

[@HopeRock425]

You're a bot, I saw you post this exact quote on Vox and all of your comments on there are quotes.

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

The american SOUTHWEST is running out of water. Pacific northwest has no connection and is thousands of miles away. It also has plenty of water.

[@letkwu]

Inland northwest is hella dry and does have a watered problem

[@TheDasbull]

Hmmm.. I live in eastern WA and we get at most 9 inches of rain annually. Seattle area, which is west of the Cascades regularly implements water restrictions to residential areas - just too many people using a finite resource. The western US has always been arid, and populations continue to grow past what resources can support...

[@uhohhotdog]

Jeff Upton desalination will solve it all.

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

@Matt Kelly When people say Pacific Northwest, they're usually referring to Portland, Seattle, Vancouver. Let's be real, eastern OR/WA it completely irrelevant and very few people live out there.

[@TheDasbull]

Eventually, desalination or water recycling will become necessary if population growth continues. We tend to use a resource until it runs out or becomes scarce...

[@nobackhands]

In 1969 my parents toured the west. They were told easterners came there for the dry air to improve their health. However, they wanted the west to look like the east. They planted the plants that were making them sick. 48 years later, in 2017 I made a similar trip and the locals told me the same. These non native plants needed more water

[@beactivebehappy9894]

*"The world has enough for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed."*

[@lancewalker6067]

Isn’t that the truth. Politics, unfortunately, is synonymous with mismanagement.

[@TheNotverysocial]

@T. O. T. U. N. T. Most cannot tell the difference between desire and necessity.

[@themonkeyspaw7359]

Typical misanthropic hippies, always flocking to any negative video spouting doom and gloom, decrying the evils of capitalism or whatever bullshit fad of the week, while sitting with their expensive latest apple laptop made using cheap foreign labour.

[@TheNotverysocial]

@@themonkeyspaw7359 One good computer can last you for decades. The very one I am using has been in service to me for the last ten years. Buying new ones every year is a waste. It makes no sense to buy things just to throw them away. That wastes more money than anything.

[@beactivebehappy9894]

@@themonkeyspaw7359 for your kind information, the above said line was quoted by Mahatma Gandhi - ‘the missing laureate’ as declared by Nobel Peace prize committee btw a trumpingtan guy wouldn’t obviously know him...

[@A22DNAL]

I'll never forget when I lived in Phoenix for 2 years. It didn't rain for the first 105 days I was there and I was literally panicked like "WHERE DOES WATER COME FROM IN THIS PLACE?"!

[@kriskoenig4606]

The mountains. But you know that now

[@dmannevada5981]

From mountains like all other cities. I mean, people in NY city aren't using the water that fell within the city limits...nope. That water comes from upstate NY.

[@A22DNAL]

@Bryan Coray yeah, what I think they mean is it’s the snow in the mountains...at least that’s how I understood it...

[@dmannevada5981]

@Bryan Coray Thanx for the moron comment of the day.

[@dmannevada5981]

@@A22DNAL He knew.

[@Collinsgaming-1]

Is it really climate change when there’s indisputable mismanagement of resources and overconsumption?

[@angelaphinn9929]

Yes. Climate change does not have one source, it's caused by a number of things - water waste and mismanagement being one of them.

[@rota6905]

Hi Karen

[@williamgraybill7212]

Bingo. The problems of today were caused by Progressives during the 30's along with hype that caused overpopulation in the region. We are about to continue this madness, this crime against humanity, by implementing the Green New Deal. Progressives never make mistakes. They invent myths to blame them on such as man-made climate change.

[@chadodell4887]

@@williamgraybill7212 wow ur smart

[@richbattaglia5350]

@@williamgraybill7212 this! Everything else after is an inaccuracy.

[@normanm11]

I think it’s cute how we try to save water by diminish our water consumption yet we are not taking any action against the industries that ACTUALLY treat water like an infinite resource.

[@joesterling4299]

It does recirculate indefinitely. The Earth is a closed system. Water isn't going away unless we shoot it into outer space. The problem is distribution, and that can always be improved.

[@COVID--kf3tx]

@@joesterling4299 The water can be contaminated and wasted and mixed with the ocean water. We have no reliable way of turning ocean water into freshwater so far.

[@daleinaz1]

@@COVID--kf3tx We have RELIABLE ways, we don't have INEXPENSIVE ways. It is fairly easy and very reliable to use a reverse-osmosis system to produce pure, drinkable water from seawater. But it is not cheap. What is water worth to you? Israel produces a significant portion of their water this way. California could too, but they don't want to spend the money.

[@johnathankain8033]

@@COVID--kf3tx Not true. Malta's tap water is made through desalination almost exclusively.

[@crazytigerspy9420]

If California builds those ocean plants you guys are talking about you would make up for how much money it costs by having clean water and new job opportunities for the homeless in San Francisco and L.A

[@erikkrauss8481]

Maybe dont build cities in the desert.

[@ADerpyReality]

Australia.

[@poshmalosh14]

Freaking Vegas and Phoenix

[@GTAVictor9128]

*Laughs in United Arab Emirates

[@wellplayed6061]

@@ADerpyReality Are you saying copy australia, because even with all that desert the biggest town in it has only 25,000 people.

[@greenapple6404]

Saudi arabia? Dubai? Iran? I think we can innovate.

[@nelmar5560]

I have lived in California since 1964 and have been hearing this for the past 20-30yrs. When is someone going to do something?

[@leevancleef553]

@Bob Watters Individual actions don't change things like this. Sensible government does.

[@vedritmathias9193]

When it's too late.

[@leevancleef553]

@Bob Watters Is your precious free market going to fix it? All those corporations that are acting in the public's best interests?

[@unboxinglg6064]

Stop supporting the system there and it will fall.

[@papatacomoto]

Never. The government uses as much as they want while they put us on restrictions

[@steveanderson2462]

Sounds like magic thinking to me - you can cut smaller pieces of the shrinking pie to make it last a little longer perhaps, but the pie is still shrinking.

[@DVolvoguy777-x7o]

When it rains in So Cali, they dump the rain water in to the Pacific via the Santa Ana and Los Angeles storm control system. Vs store and pump it back into the large storage systems.

[@jmfa57]

THANK YOU. Instead, we build the high speed train from nowhere in particular, to nowhere at all. Or at least, we spend MONEY on it. as opposed to actually making any PROGRESS on the high speed train to nowhere.

[@twonulator]

@@jmfa57 that project, along with so many others, is only done to embezzle public funds for those affiliated with the oligarchy. CA is run by criminals and has been for a very long time. All problems talked about in the video is a result of government planning. Maybe we should try something else.

[@steviesevieria1868]

@@twonulator something else besides government planning? Like complete dictatorship?

[@jasonborne5724]

@@steviesevieria1868 Something other than the same party that’s been in power for decades, making bad decisions and lack foresight for what’s really needed in CA.

[@steviesevieria1868]

@@jasonborne5724 i’d have to agree with that, but the Trumpys who want to eliminate free elections and turn America into another Third World dictatorship are not the answer…

[@raycebannon6374]

The cold hard unvarnished truth is that there's waaaaaaaaaaay too many people living in the desert (Los Angeles, Phoenix, Vegas, Southern Utah, New Mexico) .

[@vedritmathias9193]

You mean the hot truth. Because they're hot places.

[@thomassenbart]

Not really true. The truth is, that California refuses to manage its water effectively. It is literally sitting on a thousand miles of coast line and could get desalinated water, in inexhaustible quantities from that source, if it chose to do so.

[@DarkPesco]

Only part of New Mexico is desert and most people don't live there. This is a far cry from Arizona where more people live in the desert than not...as it's almost all desert. But your point is correct... settling in the desert is not smart. Further planting grass lawns after you've made the move is just plain dumb.

[@lukilsn]

Nah, just keep building golf courses in areas like Las Vegas...

[@nunnya-biz32]

No kidding. By all decrees of nature Las Vegas should not exist at all & the rest of the west where we do have naturally occurring water tables should only have small towns heavily characterised by open spaces & agriculture of native/regional food plants.

[@dmannevada5981]

Nevada is sandwiched between the Sierra's, Rockies and the Wasatch. It is known as the Great Basin State because of all the run off that makes its way into Nevada and into the water table. In addition to being surrounded by iconic, internationally known mountains, one of the most internationally known Rivers flows through Nevada... obviously the Colorado River. Nevada or Las Vegas doesn't have water issues. God you didn't even realize how stupid your comment was.

[@lukilsn]

@@dmannevada5981 When i look up "Las Vegas water supply" the first things that come up are "dwindling supply" and "critical mass with supply", also it's internationally known, that water from the colorado river barely reaches the ocean. But hey, just start insulting i guess

[@dmannevada5981]

@@lukilsn Let me educate you. First of all, 98% of what's written is nonsense, regardless of what so called reputable source writes it. "dwinding supply" What does that even mean? What's the context???? The C.R. is not even in Meteorological drought(per NOAA). It's drought designation is Agricultural & Hydrological-terms almost nobody has heard of. The C.R. is actually above it's historical run-off average the last 20 years. Water flowing down the C.R. is not dwindling. So is the context "dwindling supply" a reference to the fact that there isn't enough supply to meet agricultural demand???? Yes, that's what it means. IT'S ABOUT UNDERSTANDING CONTEXT... and with all due respect, you or the average person doesn't understand the dynamic enough to understand context. The watershed is stressed, not because of population growth, not because of climate change or Meteorological drought. It's stressed because of the massive demand for Ag, not only here in N.America, but also internationally with the emerging global economy the last 3 decades. THAT IS THE ISSUE. Per BOR's own data, 83% of the water is used for Ag production today. Who would of predicted that 50 years ago? The 3 primary growing districts of Imperial, Yuma & Coachella are now approaching 6 million acres of farmland. Are you aware that those regions now produce over 90% of N. America's winter fresh fruits & veggies from Oct-Apr? That is new technology. People 50 years ago(even 30 years ago) in places like New York, Montreal & Boston didn't have access to the type of Ag they have today because tech changed the game. There are no longer fruit/canning cellars-people don't need to can/store fruits/veggies to get through the winter like our parents/grandparents did. Tech figured out growing, harvesting & transportation techniques that allow Ag to be shipped everywhere all over N. America & the world, some of it overnight. I find it amazing that some restaurants here on the strip offer fresh Lobster flown in overnight, Lobster that was walking on the ocean floor in the Atlantic just the day before. People don't realize tech is more than our T.V. & phone. Yes, it is at critical mass. The massive demand has overtaxed the system. That's why it's designated Agricultural drought-not enough resource to meet demand. That is why it's designated Hydrological drought-reserves are being used to meet that demand, hence why the reservoir is low. The Ag industry are the primary 1st rights holders. THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO USE THE WATER per 1922's Colorado Compact. That compact is being renegotiated to reduce usage as we speak. It took decades to ratify the compact with all the re-negotiations. drawing up new allocation rights to return the system to a healthy usage is going to take time. If you're going to comment, understand that dynamic taking place so you'll know what you're talking about.

[@dmannevada5981]

Btw, Nevada only receives a 2% water allocation of C.R. water. It uses 70% of that water, storing the rest in local aquifer's. 40% of it's 70% usage, is potable water usage. Golf courses & lawns barely measures in the scheme of things when it comes to C.R. usage, particularly for the fact that golf courses are water with "grey" water. You really had no glue what you were talking about-did ya. Your comment was the classic ignorant emotional comment.

[@wwm84]

A great way to reduce water usage is to do away with the standard lawn. Billions of gallons of wasted water per year when a lawn of native plants and grasses would be more efficient and better for pollinating insects, which have also steeply declined in the past couple decades.

[@RT-gq3bh]

Do away with Tempe Town Lake, Lake Las Vegas, Fountain Hills and the Bellagio Fountains FIRST!

[@freeheeler09]

Agreed Justin! The area of lawn in the US is bigger than the state of Georgia

[@ssoma151]

That will never happen it makes sense

[@landmark4928]

I agree with you this would stop pesticides entering the water stop fracking it should be banned

[@MrJohnRight]

@@RT-gq3bh I live in Oregon and there is plenty of water for everyone. Try asking your local or State Government why they haven't made a deal with Oregon or Washington to take some of our water. Think about this. If we are so worried about climate change like the oceans rising. Then maybe we should stop dumping trillions of gallons of water out our river and maybe channel some of the water where it is needed. Don't forget you are being lied to about lake Mead.. it's a fact Easley proved you just have to look at the records..💦

[@Glen.Danielsen]

Why in blazes is Southern California (where I live) allowed to water _EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE_ as if water had no value?? Right next door, Arizona has modeled for us how to do it: They have almost _no_ green lawns or decorative greenery! Instead, they use rock gardens, crushed granite ground cover, succulents, desert plants, etc. So. CA, on the other hand, is as stupidly wasteful as a region can get.

[@bhuggins76]

when i go to sit on a public toilet that automatically flushes it might flush 2 or 3 times before i even sit..... not very efficient....

[@100mphFastball]

My upstairs neighbors have 5 kids with a faucet, shower or washing machine constantly running.

[@ChrisTian-yw7jc]

"We are running out of water" - plants largest almond farms worldwide

[@floisheremuch]

Or produce lots and lots of beef and dairy? www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2015-04-13/cows-suck-up-more-of-california-s-water-than-almonds

[@ultragamer4960]

floisheremuch yes but the demand for almonds here in Central California is rocketing. A gallon of water per almond. It’s people who want their almond milk.

[@lightzpy8049]

@@floisheremuch Water consumption per calorie is alot higher for vegetables and nuts you actual degenerate

[@jackshen5093]

Lightzpy I don’t think using consumption per calorie is appropriate. 100 kcal of nuts is handful and you can eat it in 5 minutes. Try eating 100kcal of spinach or broccoli

[@bmcneece7437]

@@jackshen5093 That would be two cups of broccoli. Twenty cups of spinach.

[@NoNonsenseKnowHow]

I was just in Moab Utah a few weeks ago and the recreation center downtown has the highest flowing shower heads I've ever seen in my life. It was amazing! Ultra high pressure and abundant flow. But I couldn't help but think that it seemed like a waste of water in the desert.

[@gregmcl4740]

I live in the dryest state on the dryest continent we stopped wasting water and survive on 10 to 12 inches of rain annually Respect your environment and it will provide

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

Australia?

[@gregmcl4740]

@@Blaqjaqshellaq South Australia

[@steviesevieria1868]

@@gregmcl4740 excellent point, Arizona and Nevada don’t need to have canals and fountains. There’s plenty of water to drink and wash with if you stop wasting it.

[@steviesevieria1868]

@Bob Watters there are strict treaties in place, no one is stealing anything. Spare me the Trumpisms

[@steviesevieria1868]

@Bob Watters spoken like a true Trumpy….,make something up ……say it …..and it must be true. And if the facts end up proving you wrong, just say the facts are fake.

[@shadowraith1]

Great history of mismanagement and greed. Moving forward environmentally correct? Let's hope so. :)

[@powerpappa5871]

Well it is America, so i don't know.

[@akoiya6300]

I don't know if I would say greed. It is a great mismanagement of resources, but greed... At the turn of the 20th century U.S conservation and environmental policy was was heavy on "taming the land" and turn inhospitable land into an Oasis. A nice idea but short sided at best.

[@beef-jerky]

Mismanagement? The only mismanagement was thinking that climatic events will happen within 50 years of each other. We know from paleo-climatologists that the climate repeats, it's on an ever looping circle, it can sped up or slowed down but not stopped. The increase in base temperature today, only means that the third ice age is coming

[@garrethgibney5343]

@@powerpappa5871 0000000000000000000000000000

[@Cachi287]

It's the climate crisis

[@swiggyhunter4682]

Maybe if we stopped growing almonds in the desert we'd have water.

[@chingatumadre2923]

Shut up hippie.

[@mikeferrini8884]

Lynda and Stewart Resnic are the poster children for what is wrong with California Pistachios and Almonds.

[@mikeferrini8884]

@@chingatumadre2923 go back to Oklahoma okie

[@thomassenbart]

Maybe if California simply used ocean water via desalinization or made effective use of the water it has, rather than pumping it into the ocean when it is in excess, we would have water.

[@miraclesendless2803]

@@thomassenbart Do you know how much that would cost? More than bankrupt CA could afford unfortunately.

[@vinloy23]

Simple. Greed by developers. Common sense says building hellholes like Phoenix and Las Vegas as if they get plenty rainfall is well, insane.

[@seadog2396]

Thanks. You got it Right. Now we have to listen to centuries of whining because the greedy developers built these Hellholes, and the Sheeple filled them up....

[@ironmaven1760]

Hellhole? seems alot of people wanna live here in my :hellhole: how do you explain that?...more every month....must be a reason. or more than one, 🤔😉😄

[@seadog2396]

@@ironmaven1760 Sheeple are Sheeple. It's what they do.

[@samuelcontreras9248]

Las Vegas would built to get away from the law

[@DontreadPimpBoy]

@@ironmaven1760 you did not help build that hellhole. Shut yer trap talking about "my hellhole"😒

[@QuestionEverythingButWHY]

“We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do.” -Barbara Ward

[@lonewanderer420]

That's okay when the ocean levels rise it will fill it back up

[@skaetur1]

🧐🤨😂🤣😂

[@Younglotus-u1e]

@@skaetur1 lol what the fawk!

[@montemify]

With salt water. So sad!

[@graham1034]

I visited the museum of eastern California a couple of years ago and learned about the "California water wars" of the early 20th century. It's truly crazy what has gone on regarding water usage in the southwest US. Hopefully people have learned that the only way to avoid total disaster is to work together and the states can find a way to change their water rights system to something reasonable.

[@jehiahmaduro6827]

Cool..

[@bobspizza7444]

Hahahahahha work together. Hahahahahahaha I'm sorry have you seen how governments actually work. Hahahahaha omg cutest comment I've seen all week

[@craigb8228]

They tried. The Central Arizona Project. Nobody respects law.

[@sanbruno6010]

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

[@precisiont5188]

The reduction of vegetation destroyed the evaporative water cycle. That's the root of the problem. All deserts can be turned into lush vegetation, which has been demonstrated many times, and this will cause more rain, retention of water, etc.

[@jimScienceNerd]

When I was a kid, say 1965, my uncle took me golfing in Scottsdale Arizona. So they had already started using water like it could never run out. And we are still doing the same thing. 😂

[@aolvaar8792]

The big 10 golf courses in north Scottsdale use Class A+ Reclaimed Wastewater

[@danc2014]

Do not drink water out of the purple pipes. That was someones pee 30 days ago.

[@aolvaar8792]

@@danc2014 Micro pharmaceuticals and estrogen

[@guydaley]

@@aolvaar8792 What do the thousands of pools use in the metro area? It's not reclaimed wastewater. You say that as if golf courses are the ONLY user of water in the Phoenix metro area. In the Phoenix metro area, one of the biggest "wastes" of water is evaporation. In some areas of Phoenix, areas are grandfathered under irrigation laws. The Colorado River is NOT the Mississippi. The ONLY reason, Las Vegas and Phoenix have survived this long is because of Lake Powell and Lake Mead but now they are drying up from CONSUMPTION.

[@aolvaar8792]

@@guydaley The thread started with Scottsdale golf courses. Look at who owns the water in the Colorado River. Nevada takes their share and sends it to nano-filtration, where it is ground banked in AZ aquifers, later NV will use AZ share of Lake Mead and AZ will pump NV water out of the ground.

[@maxglendale7614]

An artificial lake in a very arid area is basically a huge evaporating pool.

[@quasarone3083]

Fun fact: Brigham Young and the Mormons are a huge part of the first ever Sherlock Holmes novel, though their part in the story is almost never used in adaptations

[@fduranthesee]

b/c we don't need Theocrats.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

@Quasarone. That first book was the Study in Scarlet which was one of favs.

[@callizoom3894]

Something Cheddar didn't mention: Water is mostly used up, especially in California, by agriculture. The simplest solution to reduce water consumption would be to increase the price of water. It's just about the most normal, typical response a market can have. Limited supply? Increase prices. However, state governments are reluctant to do this because they need votes. Water should be an economic issue. Instead, its a political one.

[@Racnive]

While I agree that we should be using a market exchange to balance supply and demand and encourage efficient use of water, that already exists (at least theoretically) in Water Transfers: www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/water_transfers/docs/watertransferguide.pdf Markets don't require the government to set accurate prices, just to allow well defined exchangeable property rights (e.g. Cap and Trade). Which is great, because governments are really bad at setting prices. However, each water transfer is expensive and slow because of the multi-stage regulatory oversight. Among the 13 steps to formalize an agreement you need to: Conduct pre-filing consultation with 9 different agencies, prepare compliance documentation, draft a petition, review the petition with regulatory (SWRCB) staff, prepare supplementary information, file the petition, wait for objections, respond to public comments, finally actually be evaluated by SWRCB, and possibly conduct a hearing. Granted, "transferring water" is more complicated than handing over some bottles of water, but if you want a well functioning market you need low barriers for trade. And **you need people conducting arbitrage.** That's currently impossible. Unfortunately, the public discussion seems to ignore a market approach to the problem entirely.

[@karliebellatrixyoung6359]

@@Racnive Water prices are lower for agriculture than they are for residential use. As a result, agribusiness has no incentive to adopt responsible water use policies, almond orchards are frequently flooded as an alternative to sprinklers or drip irrigation. You are acting like you have a miracle solution but you literally spend the second half of your post outlining the problems. Raising prices would induce demand side use modification which could actually do something to abate the issue rather than just hoping that moving around water rights will magically make more water to satisfy inefficient use. Residential metering could also use exponential pricing (or a stepped approximation thereof).

[@AtomicReverend]

You do realize the farmers were not only here first but they also feed a good portion of the United States especially the ones in the Central Valley and imperial county. You also realize that California is one of the most heavily taxed states in the Union and that includes water prices and the states middle class population is literally pouring out by the tens of thousands every year because of high taxes and they are the main contributor to tax revenue but i digress. A much better and logical solution would be to limit population growth and actually improve our existing infrastructure instead of building trains to nowhere that will only benefit a selected few that literally cost hundreds of billions of dollars to build instead how about our terrible politicians actually do their damn jobs and put the money to good use fixing our existing infrastructure in the way of water storage. Perhaps a really good idea would be improving existing infrastructure for the 21st century since it was designed almost a hundred years ago by our great-great-grandparents generation for a population that was much smaller. Drought is and has always been an issue in the western USA, you can clearly see it on a satellite view of the United States, the Western U.S. is very Brown compared to the eastern U.S. which is very green, But when the western United States gets rain it usually comes sporadically and in major amounts of rain in a short amount of time which needs to be collected and saved for a dryer times. When we see dams like Folsom, Isabella, Oroville, Kelly Hot Springs dam, among many others that are in dire need of repair or improvement or both you gave to wonder what the hold up is.. why aren't we actually doing engineering and public works projects that benefit all those who live here so said dams can be held back up to capacity for our times of need... that would be a start, California's water resources are limited but to take water from those who feed us seems really stupid and it also seems stupid to drive out more middle class Californians who are extremely productive. California is about a thousand miles long with one of the world's best aqueduct systems innerconnecting the states water resources. Our great great grandparents weren't stupid as they built all the infastructure for their children and grandchildren but the state gas also had external growth coming in for decades. What I mean is it may be wet in northern California one year and dry and Southern California the next year. Or it may be dry in Southern California and northern California one year but wet in Colorado and Arizona so there is water available if it us stored. There is literally millions of square miles of land to collect rain and we are relying on technology from 100 years ago that is breaking down with age that was designed fir a much smaller population then we have today and since a good portion of that already taxed system is down for repairs that may never happen we get what we saw last spring where damn near record amounts of rain went right into the Pacific ocean. So yet again do cal gas to rely more on Colorado river water instead of the water from the Sierras. Let's suppose global warming theories pan out to be correct and the Sierra nevadas no longer get the snowpack that they used to get.. that water now has to be stored in a dam as clearly liquid water goes diwn hill to the ocean. Why aren't we capturing the snow pack? Why aren't we seismically retrofitting our current dams so they can be held at capacity once more? Why are we not adding on to some existing dams that really need to be larger for water retention? More importantly how come in the 40 something years of my life I keep hearing about not enough water but yet little us actually done to improve it.. What Diamond Valley lake is probably the last major water storage dam put in place and it was done what 20 years ago now?

[@doujinflip]

CA sounds like it’s overtaxed, but it’s because it underregulates in two major resources: property taxes and water usage.

[@Racnive]

​@@karliebellatrixyoung6359 With the ability to efficiently trade water rights, agribusinesses overusing water would have the opportunity to sell rights for a profit, encouraging responsible water use policies and granting those rights to the people who need them the most. That's a very clear incentive for using what we already have more responsibly. But transfers (and arbitrage) have to be easy for that to work. I'm certain that we're underpricing water. Universally higher prices would be better, and would be a good solution on the municipality level, but they aren't a long-term solution to efficient use across the west. The government would need to constantly fluctuate prices to keep matching supply and demand, even through unpredictable weather and disagreeable political environments.

[@jklynb]

I’ve been on Lake Mead twice in the last 20 years. The second time was in 2007 and I was alarmed back then as low as it was !

[@jesseter24]

You should see it now. It's bad, seen a video of it about a week ago upload. Scary low. It's going to be a pound before to long.

[@secondact7151]

@@jesseter24 and now they are talking about Deadpool and not being able to generate electricity.

[@user-if4df7lk1z]

This is what happens when you try farming in the desert.

[@oliverrojas7117]

Agree, most likely that large portions of California are not naturally green or luscious.

[@seanthe100]

More like when you drain wetlands to make way for farms.

[@dmannevada5981]

Where else then? The desert S.W. is the most productive farmland on the planet, producing many types of Ag other area's can't. There's a reason you don't see tomato fields in Minnesota during January.

[@imperpekto12ify]

It was the people in history who made the dessert a farmland. I would say that would be a hard change as its now well established

[@bryanibarra1142]

@@dmannevada5981 I agree, also along the Colorado river in Yuma Az/Imperial Valley CA they produce over 90 percent of winter vegetables in USA.

[@Frenchylikeshikes]

I've seen many sprinklers in CA start of during the hottest hours of day, letting out gallons of water that will evaporate right away. I wonder why water is getting scarce 🤔

[@HelgaCavoli]

Water doesn't disappear, if it evaporates it just goes up, rains again, back on the pipe. But sure, I see what you mean, dumb people should irrigate at better hours.

[@alek488]

If you live in the desert you should have a desert styled lawn, honestly it would be nice to have because you probably wouldn’t need to mow it

[@bdsingletary]

You're supposed to water two hours before sunrise.....anywhere.

[@joermnyc]

Helgali it goes up, but it usually rains back down somewhere else... otherwise we’d never have a water shortage problem.

[@전브렌트]

Helgali Except it doen't go back directly down to the pipes though. Clouds barely form in the southwest let alone rain. So yes, it kinda disappears. Why do you think there's a water shortage problem?

[@erniedoor1795]

I love the way they keep blaming global warming when they said there was a drought that was worse 1200 years ago

[@robertstack2144]

Yes you never hear anything anymore about the Amazon Rain Forest being cut down.....all the developers already got their way

[@t00ls742]

since the 70s we have been putting more and more water in sealed containers....it can be anything from simple bottled water to dish soaps sports drinks, soups, closed chillers units, antifreeze...the list is very large and goes on water is made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom....which makes it a molecule ...one molecule is what we call vapor....it is only when a bunch of those molecules start clinging together that it is liquid the reason this is important is because H2O doesnt act like you think it does...because as it evaporates and becomes a vapor those molecules separate again now then...to the climate part every cooling system has a certain amount of coolant that is need to keep it at optimum temperature...earth is no different for instance take 2 pots of water...one 1/4 full and one all full.....heat them up at the same temperature.....the one that is 1/4 full heats up faster makes steam (humidity) faster same for the earth ...since all this water is being put in stored containers ...it is not circulated .....less H2O molecules in the air....they cant combine to make liquid that can circulate right now there are the same amount of H2O molecules on earth as there were in the beginning, so no, those molecules are not gone...they havent went into space....the reason they are gone is because we put them in sealed containers so if we deal with the water shortages ....water in sealed containers......then we can deal with the climate heating up or we can just wait till some of the ice is melted....yup because H2O as a solid doesnt circulate or evaporate till it is melted....once it is melted a little...the ground water and the heat index temps will be back to normal as I said...this is unrefined, I wrote it in a hurry to reply to a USA TODAY video on water disappearing I have this idea in my head and cant get it out in a coherent way for most people to understand...yes it goes way out there, but it is something that no one else is addressing , the water levels around the globe have decreased.....look at california, all the reservoirs.....michigan residents have stated that nestle has made their ground water drop in their rivers and streams.....there are documentaries on this I wish someone would actually look at this because I'm certain this is a big deal but as I said...we can just wait for the polar caps to melt and replenish the H2O molecules that are able to circulate remember...H2O is just a molecule until it combines (condenses) with another H2O molecule...then it becomes a gas, then a mist, then moisture, then water.....ask yourself...how many H2O molecules in a visible water drop...the answer is there are 1.67 sextillion H2O molecules in a water drop...fact www.thoughtco.com/atoms-in-a-drop-of-water-609425 you have to understand that H2O is not water...it is a molecule , and only becomes water when it is combined with a lot of other H2O molecules H2O goes through a cycle that is necessary for the earths temperature to remain optimum...when there isnt enough it alters that cycle I'm sorry if you people dont understand this, but this is correct the good news is, there are plenty of H2O molecules in stasis in the form of ice ....once enough has melted, the earth will go back to its optimum temperature because those molecules have been put back into the cycle the hydrologic cycle is the exchange of of energy that influences climate when water condenses, it releases energy and warms the environment when water evaporates, it takes energy from the surrounding environment, thereby dropping the temperature www.h2odistributors.com/pages/info/info-water-cycle.asp? fbclid=IwAR04GhTkh8vdN1N3wgiYCuLa2tCGVQZ6oPDx0FmveO-UOQY1xC3rdEPvTgc

[@barrymartin6572]

Build major cities in the desert, eventually you start having issues.

[@dmannevada5981]

Nope, cities like Las Vegas don't have water issues.

[@steviesevieria1868]

@@dmannevada5981 you don’t think you do but you do. When the water stops flowing you will understand.

[@sohomesick1]

Yep when the water stops flowing so does your electricity!

[@dmannevada5981]

@@steviesevieria1868 Stupid...lol. Why would the water stop flowing, you mean the C.R. will cease to exist? Let me tell ya, you'll be dust to Earth for a million years and the Colorado will still be there.

[@dmannevada5981]

@@sohomesick1 Why would the water stop, the reservoirs are water tanks controlled by humans, not natural lakes... The river isn't going anywhere. The water issue is the fact that Ag is being grown to feed you...83% of it per the BOR. What will stop is the Ag production...then you'll go on an unnatural diet.

[@nosoupforyou425]

Love how people moving to a desert are not to blame for having no water ....... Clearly mismanaged 🤗

[@ChernobylPone]

And placing golf courses.

[@nosoupforyou425]

@@ChernobylPone yes, for the people moving to the desert like pools, showers, landscaping, etc.. You cannot blame inanimate objects for the actions of people...

[@Queenskid19]

Exactly! They will just blame it on climate change lol.

[@oceanthresher6184]

Also, populations of major cities and regions around the world tend to be dictated by the geography of the area and how many people it can naturally support. American cities take none of that into account and people just go wherever political policies are favorable to them.

[@thomassohayda3375]

I live in Aberdeen, WA where it rains 8 months out of the year. I could put barrels in my yard and within weeks collect enough water to sustain me for a year but the city would bot allow that and instead charge you a premium for drainage. In fact the water is penny's per gallon. They charge more for the water going down the drain.

[@jtmasterson2476]

Burry your barrel's underground and secretly pipe it into your toilet's useing a solar powered pump and reclaim what is rightfully your's!!😉🤗

[@butchcassidy3373]

Vote the idiots out

[@organizedchaos4559]

What I never understood was why are we growing food in the Californian desert

[@fr3dfixit945]

Real simple--people like to eat. Farmers grow food because there's a need. Like lettuce? Most of it is grown in the Yuma area of Arizona. I've lived in the Phoenix valley. The sunshine and warmth allow year-round planting of everything from corn to roses. Similar situation I imagine in California. I absolutely do not want to disparage anyone, but it seems natural to assume that farming (or building developments, a frequent target of complaints) pays. It doesn't. What pays is meeting people's needs.

[@robsonrobson4999]

Short term thinking. Make money as long as you can. And who' s at fault if finally things go south? Climate change. Because then the actors (agro industry, farmers, and politicians) evade the blame.

[@justinnapolitano861]

@james there is plenty of land available for farming. The problem is that it is mismanaged. Those “suburbs” that are 25 plus miles of sprawl are also a problem. Far too inefficient and expensive to maintain all of that asphalt and vehicular infrastructure. Density would be better for everyone. Farmer and city folk included.

[@bradenchamberlain9217]

because of the geography that area is extremely rich with minerals and nutrients to grow really successful plants. Just not the water for that. I highly recommend the documentary "Kiss the Ground" on Netflix that speaks on sustainable farming

[@MichaelClark-uw7ex]

Greed and lack of foresight.

[@johnvance882]

Meanwhile here in Mississippi some parts of our state have been flooded for over 2 years now because it rains too much.

[@RatelHBadger]

@J S or its man trying to maintain predictable weather patterns to their settlements. Rather than natural changes based on pressure, temperature and landfall. #1 rule of Newtonian physics. Energy is neither lost or gained, just transferred. Just the same as water is neither lost or gained, just transferred to either gas or ice, then moved somewhere else based on atrophy and the law of least resistance. Where there is less, that's the direction of energy transfer. Man, wants to settle in cities, and have all of the water as liquid to drink, or irrigate.

[@mistertubby]

@@RatelHBadger That is the best worst deflection of environmental change i have ever seen. I congratulate you sir, Shame on you.

[@crimsonlightbinder]

@@mistertubby he's not deflecting anything, it's perfectly correct and basic physics which you obviously dont comprehend. The idea that humans have such a big impact on earth's weather and climate si borderline stupidity. Earth has, is and will transform regardless of "climate warming evangelists"

[@christophersargeant4545]

@@crimsonlightbinder I feel as though there are elements of truth to both arguments, as is usual in such a case. The climate is undoubtedly changing (its cause is irrelevant but is of great use to the ruling class to use as a tool to aid in dividing and conquering) and it's only going to further exacerbate the already underlying variances. Natural systems are always in a delicate balance and it's not arrogance to assume that humanity can affect a change in one, possibly resulting in a new balance that isn't so accommodating to us. In any event, whether you call it climate change, or just call it another magnitude (or longer term cycle) of already existing variances which has existed since time immemorial, the bottom line is we've all but proven we can't even adapt to those small magnitude changes.

[@amazingbollweevil]

People cry havoc when an oil pipeline is proposed. It's time to install a water pipeline.

[@grateful.]

45 min showers everyday,carwashes, watering all the lawns, golf courses.toilets that waste 2 to 5 gallons per flush. How do you think you can do that forever?

[@FelineSublime]

This is what I went to school for. I wish more policymakers at the local and county levels in other states took it as seriously. Grew up in Phoenix, seeing the effects of short term planning on water policy and losing my mind on how Texas' communities just ignore it from West Texas to the Gulf Coast. It's not a tomorrow program, it's a today problem.

[@mendonesiac]

80% of California's water use is for agriculture. The cities can be as efficient as possible and it'll hardly make a dent in demand. Put another way, if there wasn't agriculture in California, the state's current water consumption would be enough to provide for 200 million people.

[@juanvaldez6651]

Most of the state switched to almond production. Almonds take more water than almost any other crop.

[@johnhanson9245]

80%? That number is way high. You really think that the farmers are pumping their own ground water from their own orchards when they already get 80% of the state's water? That is ridiculous.

[@mendonesiac]

@@johnhanson9245 Ground water _is_ part of the equation. Don't take my word for it -- look it up for yourself.

[@johnhorner5711]

@@juanvaldez6651 And over 70% of those almonds are exported. This isn't about "feeding our people". It is about short term profit maximization.

[@TheTubeTube2]

@@mendonesiac it most certainly is and we’re poisoning so much too with over use of fertilisers and run off from old industrial sites and landfill dumps - it’s a world wide nightmare problem.

[@ibanez0711]

What made the ice and snow start melting from the last Ice Age? We had an Ice Age end about 10,000 years ago. It wasn't carbon emissions. This planet has been warming up for thousands of years. What started it?

[@JohnSmith-hn6kv]

Milankovitch cycles has had an effect - the distance from the sun is not constant, but varies over long timescales.

[@markissboi3583]

THE weird part when it rains auto sprinklers in parks still turn on 24/7 Councils like we dont care Fook how about sensers dude

[@JohnEboyee]

It's so frustrating. We have inexpensive controllers that monitor daily weather events like rain and wind but we fail to update our infrastructure because many corporations cut costs.

[@rickring1396]

Sensors “Made in China”.

[@JustDoinFlorida]

I got an idea. How about we stop building cities in deserts that require us to move water to where it shouldn’t be🤷🏼‍♂️

[@TheOtherBill]

👍 Valid point. There's so much clean fresh water, it's just not in those places.

[@DeathBone4656]

I just say we use our new found shale oil to boil water for desalination.Build tons of pipes to get the water everywhere

[@EmeraldEyesEsoteric]

We are not running out of water. Go to primary water and StopTheCrime. This is a proven UN Agenda.

[@medleyshift1325]

@@EmeraldEyesEsoteric Oh, I'm fine the lakes in upstate NY aren't going anywhere, when they do I'll take a shorter shower. But out West is fucked, have you been to Vegas? That place is unnatural. Have you hiked the desserts of Utah and Arizona, because then you'd know what it's like to have your life in a gallon jug in your backpack. Before you make shit up live a little.

[@kriskoenig4606]

But we build to close to rivers that flood, stop that?

[@vmax-cv1ml]

So glad I live 2 miles from the great lakes..

[@ZCTCN]

Didn't you loose a war To Canada right good luck with that

[@Me-eb3wv]

@@ZCTCN what does that have to do with the current drought crisis

[@ZCTCN]

@@Me-eb3wv Water is the most underrated resource, but if it ain't people will do anything for it.... Historically strong country's flex and take by force.

[@Me-eb3wv]

@@ZCTCN makes sense

[@Now_lets_get_this_straight]

@@ZCTCN , we didn’t lose nothing, we just didn’t gain nothing, lol.

[@pikapika7936]

*“Hmmm...yes, hot it is. Turn on sprinklers in middle of day, I must!”* This is seriously what I think goes through some people’s heads when in a drought.

[@danielcsontos5906]

Same in Utah its ridiculous

[@siradmin6791]

The The furry with a good opinion

[@michaelross2115]

I used to work for a company that installed and maintained water meters in places like apartment buildings, condos, etc in southern California. It used to be that the whole apartment building was on one water meter, and most places were converting to a system where each apartment has its own meter. Part of the impetus for this change at on complex was that their water bills were inexplicably high. They searched for pipe leaks everywhere, but found nothing. When they switched to individual metering, they found the problem - one apartment had huge water usage while the others did not. So they talked to the resident, and it turned out that he couldn't sleep well, so he would turn on his shower before going to be and let it run all night long because the white noise helped him sleep.

[@michellemarie1197]

Plus it isnt gonna help any cause that's would just dry out the grass you have, you're supposed to water it super early morning

[@xenagirl2037]

Ugh I see that all the time. Drives me crazy.

[@DavidJohnson-dp4vv]

Well.... Some cities in Southern California may need to resort to desalnation it's not like we can't afford it. Even if southern california decided to have 30% from desalnation it would help out a lot. Banning grass yards in Arizona and Nevada would also do a lot to wasting water.

[@scottneaves3487]

It’s funny to me that grass yards are still allowed at all in Arizona! I used to live there in the 90s and even back then grass lawns felt silly. Besides being a terrible waste of water they look so out of place in the desert.

[@philkearny5587]

Let’s not forget to ban golf courses too. Those things are huge consumers of water.

[@LordAnublz]

Its funny: Meanwhile, some german cities ban stone yards, because it heats up the area too much and we need more green :D And we have the water - for now ...

[@twotone3471]

Energy from windmills and solar tends to have peaks and lulls. But for running desalinization plants, it would make sense to run them solely on peak solar and wind electrical generation.

[@briangeiger9307]

Desalination is not used because environmentalist don't want more people to move to the So Cal area. They want water to be a limiting factor. In reality, there should be desalination plants all along the ocean, and pipe in to inland.

[@cate1657]

If anyone is interested, this story can be best understood by viewing the amazing documentary, "Cadillac Desert" (based on the excellent book by the late Marc Reisner of the same title). The entire series (in several parts--don't recall how many) is available right here on KZbin. It tells the entire story of how Los Angeles became the mega-water consuming region it is today--especially the role of agribusiness in the state which is the source for most our country's fruits, nuts & vegetables. Very interesting & I think you'll learn a lot from this work--especially revealing is the story of early secretive political wrangling that went on in the creation of big-monied water systems at the expense of the natural world.

[@strnglhld]

Thanks, added it to watchlist.

[@lafan9872]

In LA whenever it rains you can watch all of it flow into washes and out to sea... we need to start saving rain water instead of letting it wash away like that but nobody will do anything anytime soon. We also get water from the Owens river valley up north in the Sierra Nevadas and a lot of our water is for agricultural in the Central Valley. We gotta start on a solution now though I don’t want future generations having to worry about water at all

[@dustinjenney9736]

Its actually illegal to collect rainwater in some states such as mine NY

[@robertstack2144]

Yes, I saw it pour in LA and every drop ran off the tents and washed the feces, urine, and drug paraphernalia into the Pacific

[@sisterlavender1188]

OK then get a fcken rain barrel, op.

[@TheTubeTube2]

The bad news is that fresh water and glacier melt running into oceans is all part of the natural equation too - balancing salinity is also vital.

[@fatimahontiveros2442]

As someone who lives in NZ, it confused me why there was so much water used in American toilets; from filling to flushing

[@garcjr]

In most parts of Phoenix you're required to have a lawn. And/or a developer builds an artificial lake. At this point I don't believe there's a water shortage here because of all the water that is wasted.

[@soakupthesunman]

NZ is confusion on a stick

[@RegionalRadioShackManager]

Cause your country is broke. Don’t @ me

[@thecommunistpartyofvooperi9613]

@El Papu ha ha I just did

[@nunya___]

US toilets seem no worse that UK toilets. US has required 6L toilets for 30 years and we have 4L toilets too. Also, I'm on the east coast of the US but we had a drought and city asked people to flush less. Then the fire truck was dumping water in the sewer near our houses so I asked why...Because there wasn't enough water in the sewer system to pump the poo. Here the sewers go up and down because of the land. However the water is cleaned and put back in the river it came from.

[@ssgbrooks1]

By far, the best video I have seen on this topic. Fantastic job.

[@flexopuppy]

No where near the best video. I just love the adding in of the slaves and the aboriginals....had absolutely nothing to do with the topic.

[@sanbruno6010]

CLEAN, SOBER, SAFE, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS CALIFORNIA 🌧 RAIN IN CALIFORNIA 🌧 🌧 RAIN IN WESTERN US 🌧

[@CaptainFSU]

Who'd a thought that building cities and golf courses in the desert might drink the land dry? Answer: Nuclear powered desalination plants

[@dsm02c]

Desalination raises the salinity of the water it gets dumped back into.

[@CaptainFSU]

@@dsm02c The ocean? That's fine.

[@nunya___]

@@dsm02c Seriously? You should know that all water returns to the ocean eventually. Fresh water is just "loaned" to air and land. Also, Free Sea Salt!

[@Phamtom009]

To @dsm02c point, it takes time for the excess salt to diffuse similar to how food color doesn't instantly die the water. This will make the local area too salty if not managed correctly.

[@CaptainFSU]

@@johnperic6860 California draws water from the Colorado River, if desalination plants are placed in California that would leave more water for inland states. Specifically, almond production in California consumes alot of the water that could be used elsewhere.

[@ShawnLH88]

Sounds so low Also the key thing is western and southwest states wasting millions of gallons to keep grass green and golf courses green You don’t need a lawn in a tundra duh!!!

[@likira111]

How come that water doesn't sink into the ground, flow into rivers and become rain again like normal rainwater does?

[@Roonasaur]

@@likira111 It does. Just, downriver. ALL of the water we use totally does become rain again . . . but only so much water becomes nice, fresh, running-down-the-mountain, ready-to-power-your-windmill kind of stream each year, right? lol

[@cod5x]

And farming since that wastes large amounts of water by being inefficient and over producing

[@dsm02c]

Culturally we have gotten so used to “green lawns” it’s a problem. Maybe wasn’t an issue back then but now with population growth it’s a problem.

[@Cachi287]

Farms use up 80% of all water in most regions

[@Jobotubular]

3:35: "Enslaving black people, and the indentured servitude of indigenous people, was legal in Utah's early days ... and these practices were supported by Brigham Young ... and so the desert and its water would never be the same." There is no actual connection between this sentence's statements and its conclusion. Mormons did not create the water problems of the American west, and slavery is not relevant at all -- if it were, water shortage would be mainly in the former Confederacy

[@carchariasspartania3958]

"dark history of colonization..." Facepalm. Spare me. Human history is what it is. It's not dark or light, it's just survival in a more primitive time. Morality evolves over time. Only children look back to the past and say that was "wrong" because we think so today.

[@securityquip3170]

Best gotdamn comment on here. I'm so tired of past peoples being judged out of their era. It doesn't make any sense, other than to try n lift oneself up by comparison. "We are now so much better than they." Ugh, shut the hell up, no you aren't.

[@FredPilcher]

When I visited the area I was staggered by how much water was used - as if it was an infinite resource.

[@MrJohnRight]

I don't want to bend your minds but the lake was drained for fear of a terror attack during 911 . They put 2 cops both sides of the dam didn't allow any trucks to cross even to this day because they built a bridge and let the cops finally go home. Look up the snow pack in the rockys there was more snow pack in the last decade than the prior two decades when the lake was full. Plus I used to live on the river two different times and I saw them dumping the water. It was overflowing the banks in the winter in the morning. That doesn't happen . Look up the facts they speak for themselves. The water has a natural rise and fall so expect the level to stay the same. Oh they stopped draining the lake about 8 years ago when they got the water down enough to where the dam is thicker it's very narrow at the top

[@steven4315]

I looked up the facts on Lake Mead water database. They do not back up your claims.

[@cutthroat399]

Powell: "There's not enough water in the west. Please plan properly before building." US Government: "I'm about to ignore this man's entire career."

[@kody1654]

I feel like saying, "There isn't a lot of water in a desert", shouldn't need to be said.

[@FallingStary]

I was raised in southern Nevada with some exception. I knew the lake when I saw the thumbnail. The other day I was on the lake and there are these plugs they made that channelled the water around the construction that were sealed and submerged apon the dams completion. They are visible now.

[@raymondfrye5017]

Eventually, Las Vegas will return to the desert. When I went there in '04, they were building heavily in quite a few areas. The question arose," where will the water come from and go to"?

[@dmannevada5981]

@@raymondfrye5017 Las Vegas doesn't have water issues. Wow, people are stupid.

[@raymondfrye5017]

@@dmannevada5981 Guess what? genius! When the New York Times and LA Times start writing articles about the drop in water levels in Vegas' water supply, all of a sudden its national news? Get real. OK.Vegas doesn't have water woes.

[@dmannevada5981]

@@raymondfrye5017 What articles from the New York & LA Times about Vegas' water supply? Shut up, you made that up. Nice try moron. Weird, you tried using those names as if it gave you some credibility. Just admit, you no nothing about the dynamic out west. You think because you "read" something, now you understand exactly what's going on...how typical. Try spending years like I have studying the issue, talking to Engineers, Hydrologists and managers like I have. Get the hell out of here!

[@dmannevada5981]

@@raymondfrye5017 I thought so.

[@iwontliveinfear]

Gee, it's almost like desert and badlands weren't intended to support huge numbers of people.

[@vegetable_3798]

The SLC metro area isn’t much to blame for the reduction of Colorado River water as most of its water is pulled from the bordering Wasatch Mountain range which is not part of the Colorado River water flow basin.

[@chrisquick7160]

Exactly, the Colorado River is partly fed by the Uinta Basin and areas in Wyoming (Green River Arm). Half of this video is inaccurate, especially some of the parts trying to blame the Mormons for water issues. At least that's what I interpreted it to be. Something else is they didn't mention at all the agricultural use of water. Agriculture uses around 80% of water and they need every drop, so by regular people installing a more eco-friendly shower head or low flush toilet really isn't going to do much in the grand scheme of things. Just interesting that they didn't even cover that, when it's really where most of our water is being used, which I do approve of. My career is in the agriculture industry.

[@AK_Ray]

Not to mention the Northern wasatch ISN'T A DESERT

[@jimmyhylton9957]

@@AK_Ray how far north in the wasatch? Cause the areas like Brigham City looks just as brown as juab county. Although it seems every canyon in the wasatch is green.

[@tysleight]

@@AK_Ray technically you are correct. Brigham City gets 17 inches of moisture a year (10 is the limit by definition). Drive half hour northwest and Bam your into a true dry as a bone desert. ( Only reason the Wasatch front is so wet is the lake effect. Otherwise it would br more like Nephi.). PS moved out of Utah 15 years ago and returned for work trip and realized how dry it really is.

[@cutthroat399]

It's called a trans-basin pipeline. Actually, SLC get water from the Colorado River via the Central Utah Project pipeline. That's the purpose of Strawberry Reservoir. Here a link to the bureau of reclamation about it. www.usbr.gov/projects/index.php?id=498

[@jfungsf882]

We could also incorporate desalination as well.

[@richb2229]

@@c.w.k.n.5117 most of the states where the water is used aren’t close to an ocean or sea. What’s actually happening is that these states are also depleting their water aquifers which are also at a critically state. There are too many people and too many farms in areas that don’t have the natural water resources to support them. These cities will fail at some point in the future and be abandoned.

[@Trappy-C]

@@c.w.k.n.5117 the iceberg are melting and the salinity is going down we can just filter it until the salinity is 1900s ocean levels

[@michaelleonard4826]

The real reason is the hoover dam and the fact California has been draining water into the sea, plus poor management.

[@prede89]

Two words: desalination plants. How do you think all those people live comfortably in those middle eastern cities? Need more water? Take it from the ocean! It works great! Yes it’s expensive and takes a lot of entertainment but it fixes the problem. You have this nearly unlimited supply of fresh Ocean water called the Pacific Ocean. Use it

[@stillx1211]

It actually is kinda unlimited

[@BastiatC]

It's cheaper to stop people inland from using water so we can use the 10% if it that actually gets to us

[@RickJaeger]

a lot of "entertainment?"

[@chupacabra304]

Initial investment is high, but with the way our economy and culture is structured it will end up being one of our only solutions Stop growing lawns!

[@silverstake88]

Nah. Globalists want to use the "climate change" agenda to enslave the population to their narrative. Your solution gives citizens their freedom back. Can't have that.

[@brianstaudenmaier6843]

How about we start capturing rainfall in California instead of letting it flow out to the Pacific?

[@manuelsanchez6221]

The opposite is what we need,. We must allow the Colorado River to discharge into the Sea of Cortez. Disrupting the water cycle is the main problem.

[@billburgess9100]

A few thousand years ago, the Sahara was a lush green habitat, then it suddenly dried up. That was mother nature at work. She's at it again in our southeast. We should think of the southeast as "The new Sahara".

[@ninjanerdstudent6937]

We know people in California, and they don’t receive a “water bill”. It serves them right for having droughts. When people pay for a commodity, they realize the value of it. Unfortunately, farmers in the Midwest also get free unlimited supplies of water, which is wrong. Apparently, water bills only apply to civilians.

[@jammy7915]

I don't know any farmer that gets "free water" anywhere near where I live (Western Illinois). I know farmers that get water from a well, which they had to drill and maintain, and pay for the power the pump uses to draw the water up from the ground, and the tax levied against them for harvesting the aquifer, and the power to pressurize the sprayer system in order to deliver the water, and the filters needed to ensure the water isn't contaminated, and pay for the tests to ensure the water is safe to spray onto fields and into the water table or face fines. A smart farmer would make sure their investment in the well would last a long time, which means good custodianship of the aquifer they are tapping. Assuming they don't pay for their water is oversimplifying water usage and straight up not true. In places like Nebraska the farmers are overdrawing their water supplies, yes, but they are not getting the water free of charge

[@justinfowler2857]

@@jammy7915 They're refering to the fact that a farmer can draw unlimited quantities of water from the ground. If that means that your well runs dry or your foundation cracks due to the ground moving too bad.

[@jammy7915]

@@justinfowler2857 I'd say thats poor stewardship of the land, but they specifically said farmers can draw water for free, which was what I was addressing, not about the quantity they do draw, but that any quantity that they draw is still costing them. I assume they are referring to the Ogallala Aquifer's overuse, which is due in part to farming corn in Nebraska. Corn is notoriously thirsty for a cereal crop, and in places like Illinois, that's no issue, rainfall does the job, but in Nebraska, its not sufficient. If they switched to wheat or other less water hungry crops, the problem would be improved, or, as they have done, used more drought resistant breeds of corn and reduce their water consumption. In 2015 water usage for irrigation dropped by 30% in Nebraska, for example. The same issue occurs in California, and the massive vegetable farms that are located there. They require even more water per acre, and exasperate the water shortage in that region dramatically, and is a much better choice to refer to when discussing water overuse due to agriculture and human activity in general, as it's effects aren't easily mitigated by changing breed of crop or taxing them. If Californians want fresh vegetables grown in their own state, they need to address the water usage issue that it presents, or switch from water hungry vegetables in a dry region to a crop that is more sustainably realistic.

[@ninjanerdstudent6937]

@@naddarr1 Most of the land is used to feed animals, so that land should be restored to prairies. We don't need much land to grow corn and soybean to feed people.

[@nonebiz2132]

@@jammy7915 In CA it's mostly rice and almonds that take so much water... but they do take a LOT of it...

[@Odm1776]

Me being from the Great Lakes region. The people here take the abundance of fresh water for granted

[@rimc8783]

@Moon Shine I have lived in Arizona for 52 years! I have seen the growing population as a problem with water in Arizona for many years. But they keep building homes in the desert requires more water use. It's in my opinion they need to stop building homes in a desert.

[@arrrgonot7801]

Speak for yourself

[@steviesevieria1868]

Great lakes water and fresh is an oxymoron.

[@rimc8783]

@@steviesevieria1868 It's no different then the green water they use here in Arizona! And water bottle companies send are filtered chlorinated water to all you in other states.

[@Blakezilla594]

Me laughing in the Pacific North WET

[@14preston49]

We wouldn’t have as big of an issue if we just got rid of Las Vegas

[@smokeybear2494]

Yes by bye

[@sanbruno6010]

CLEAN, SOBER, SAFE, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS CALIFORNIA 🌧 RAIN IN CALIFORNIA 🌧 🌧 RAIN IN WESTERN US 🌧

[@philiphorner31]

There's enough water. It's in Canada. You know what you have to do.

[@gerald4027]

@rattlesnake pete build a pipeline to canida.

[@nemzi8969]

Looks like Canada needs some democracy

[@rockfishmiller]

Canada is in a drought too.@@gerald4027

[@JohnEboyee]

@rattlesnake pete you fail to realize how large a water pipeline would have to be to sustain even a single city. we use on avg 17 gallons of water per shower. I use 17 gallons of gasoline in my auto every 10 days. Shocking difference.

[@bronzeage_222]

We do need one more state. It's pesky having to cross borders to get to Alaska

[@undergroundbuzz]

I live where the river has dried up in Mexico it's sad this city, San Luis Rio Colorado, was literally named after it and its dry I've never seen it flow in my entire life under the bridge that was built because of it

[@whyswon]

As of yesterday, June 22, 2022, Lake Mead is at 1,044' which is six feet lower than is required for an active pool. Lake Mead is now officially an inactive pool which means the turbines will shut down any day. Las Vegas gets approximately 36% of its electricity from Hoover Dam. I'm afraid the situation is irreversible at this point. Scary.

[@chuckw1113]

I notice that when you mentioned people saving water none of them are in California.

[@CarFreeSegnitz]

Households could get by with less than 50 litres (~9.5 gal) per person per day. Replace water toilets with toilets equipped with activated charcoal. Lots of buildings get by with waterless urinals. Grey water can be used for irrigation. On a municipal level waste water should be recycled. Household water meters provide incentives for individual conservation. California communities could resort to desalination but only when the potential of recycling and meters are exhausted.

[@Floedekage]

Desalination is terribly expensive and has other enviromental costs to consider.

[@muslimproudtobe]

@@Floedekage It depends on the type of desalination you use some are very environmentally friendly by they are expensive.

[@runningfromabear8354]

I am so glad I live in Canada in an area with a lot of clean water. I like my water toilets.

[@crimsonlightbinder]

the problem is with California and washington state who have hindered basically all or many of desalinization and hydroelectric projects around the pacific coast

[@mat4097]

@@Floedekage Oh fr it's probably the worst you can do but as Lenard said, it'd only be as a last resort.

[@aqhasassy]

The water displays & fountains are very nice in Las Vegas.

[@Artinthedark83]

'wheres all the water gone?' Nestle bottled it to sell to you

[@marklovorn3758]

If ARROWHEAD WATER is "straight from the source" , how the hell are they bottling it in every major city for local distribution? No matter which company is on the label, it's just filtered tap water folks. Get over yourselves.

[@jamesm6278]

Hahaha

[@soggyrice02]

Water wars are coming.

[@elizabethdavis1696]

Where can I find that watershed map?

[@noahcyr5128]

Search it up

[@dannihardy7874]

Cheddar, this was well done, having lived & watched Lake Mead when it was over flowing at the dam, to the sorry state it's in today, I think there is another problem accelerating the mega drought. We in our infinite stupidity are draining the underground aquafers, drying the western States above and below ground.. Lake Bonneville had been steadily drying up, and existed for over 25,000 years which should have raised concerns.. I think that was why the Anasazi Indians vanished because there was another mega drought. When the planetary poles shifted after the tsunami that hit Fukushima I believe about a 3% shift in the axis occurred, and may also also be contibuting. They are already warning people to prepare for serious food shortages by year end.

[@suminshizzles6951]

Building cities in the cali desert. What more do you need to know? Growing crops there?

[@skaetur1]

Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada? Just Cali, though? Dipshit.

[@owlery4027]

I still cant get used to the uptalk - every clause sounds like a question.

[@freeagentangler5159]

Exactly!!! Very annoying.

[@utbelegs]

Public speaking is no longer highly regarded, I suppose.

[@jonspeidel]

I think it's just question and answer format to keep your attention and be informative quickly. Go easy on em brah

[@michaelross2115]

And her handwaving

[@Byronic19134]

@@jonspeidel She's not asking questions tho. She's dragging out the last syllable of every sentence for emphasis like a spoiled trust fund baby ordering starbucks.

[@williamemrich9349]

One solution to who uses water usage is for the California metropolitan cities to look at desalination from the sea.

[@ivenoideer3382]

👌spot-on ma'friend

[@bongothom]

If there was a mega-draught 1200 years ago as the narrator stated, are we to blame the indigenous people that lived there at that time? The simple fact of geology is that the earth is always changing.

[@korelly]

One part of the solution, is when we build a city in the desert like Las Vegas, we should also desalinize sea water and bring it to the city. Not using the river that passes through the desert. The used water could then be treated and reused to water agricultural lands and grow trees in and around the city.

[@AsiaMinor12]

Las Vegas should not even exist.

[@steviesevieria1868]

@@AsiaMinor12 agreed, and they certainly don’t need canals and fountains and lawns. Just so stupid

[@easybreexy]

@@steviesevieria1868 it’s actually banned to a lawn in Vegas … actually if you looked at the cities in the area vegas actually uses the least amount of water but okay lol

[@steviesevieria1868]

@@easybreexy What about fountains and golf courses? They will be banned someday, but I bet they’re not yet….

[@easybreexy]

@@steviesevieria1868 water fountains like Bellagio are recycled , and Las Vegas has paid golf courses in the city to remove over 1,000 acres of grass and are taxed extra on water and have limits every quarter on how much they can use , going over gets them fines , repeat offenders get closed , gold courses use just 7% of the water sources in Vegas and majority of their water is re-used water from waste … so the courses aren’t a problem

[@donbeck387]

There is a compelling argument to remove agriculture from the American West.

[@joelrausch4824]

True..Americans are obese.. Grow less food.

[@Plumber1111]

When I was in the navy for 5 years. The base I was on got 60% of it's water for the ocean using desalination technology that was created in israel. The main reason was in case of an attack that would cripple the water supply. We could build bigger version of the machines that were on base for domestic use. The ones on base used gravity to power them self's with mini water turbines. They were very cool to work on. And they were very quiet too, I have worked on old ones from the 80s and 90s and sound like a 24/7 construction site when they run. I had to wear hearing protection when I did work on them. The designs from Israel are quiet and energy efficient.

[@PochoNews]

This is the only viable solution, long term. But it must begin now

[@rjamsbury1]

@@PochoNews it's really not a viable solution for this scale of problem. It's very energy intensive and increases salinity of local sea with consequential environmental effects. People need to reduce usage and realise they need to fit the local environment.

[@PochoNews]

@@rjamsbury1 Viability is subjective. Planning is everything. Solar can provide the energy if we think past aesthetics. The roof of every home could provide enough power for every home. One van lifer has the ability to make 600 watts of power on a daily basis. Apts and homes have a larger roof than a van so you could pull in double or triple the amount. They make flexible solar panels now with a higher yield and longer lasting technology. They even make sails for sailboats that are solar. All power needed for desalination could be met with solar farms and if we don't start thinking large scale now there wont be any food farms. But yes people to need to reduce usage and stop building farms in the desert.

[@prayonkreutz2398]

@@PochoNewsA combination of Energy Methods is Required. Relying on 1 source of Energy is just as irresponsible as Damming Rivers was. Tapping off the Rising sea levels with desalination plants using a multitude of energy sources would be a terrific idea to invest in. We know more now in the 21st Century about how we need to go about engineering responsibly. If we could only get our Corrupt Governments out of the way & make these responsible changes happen. Unfortunately, Those in Power will do anything (ahem, mismanagement) to stay in Power & pad their Accounts as well as their Cronies.

[@sanbruno6010]

CLEAN, SOBER, SAFE, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS CALIFORNIA 🌧 RAIN IN CALIFORNIA 🌧 🌧 RAIN IN WESTERN US 🌧

[@hillbilly4895]

A: Because it's pretty much a desert...and always has been. (next question please)

[@seadog2396]

Thanks. You got it Right. Another case of man building where he has no business being. Was a desert Thousands of years before they started "Frenzy Building."

[@bonnieswenson9925]

@Bob Watters And they dump all that super heavy salt water back into the ocean. Because we still haven't learned ....

[@chiefjoseph8154]

Build more houses and golf courses, that’ll fix it.

[@darksepheroth4627]

Does anyone else remember that obscure 90s show called Greg the bunny? I recall an episode where they were making a fortune selling black market used toilets to people because the new mandatory low flow toilets just couldn't get the job done.

[@taser1984]

That may have been true in the early 90s, but I'm amazed at how much better my modern, 1.6 gallon per flush toilet works than anything from 40 or 50 years ago. You couldn't pay me to have one of those old toilets now.

[@ALXMARTIN]

King of the hill did an episode like that, but in the end everybody went back to normal toilets.

[@JohnDaker_singer]

My childhood friend Spencer Chinoy created that show with Seth Green and others.

[@Lzrdman91]

I have a new toilet and it works just fine. They were bad 25 years ago but overtime they perfected them.

[@oliverrojas7117]

if the toilets utilize air pressure they are much better at dispersing waste. Honestly, an alternative to utilizing the water sanitation system is creating a an infrastructure for taming, storing and regulating waste from individual homes.

[@zoltandober]

Something I never understood: If we can build massive oil pipelines than cross thousands of miles, why can't we do the same for the water sources in Oregon and Washington and move them down into the drier states?

[@thatonedudebutwho9919]

Good idea but the oil pipe lines are built by private companies

[@zoltandober]

@@thatonedudebutwho9919 .... wanna make an app? We'll raise money to build it from big money wall street and tell them it makes poor people, like more poor or something so they'll bite.

[@Alexandra_Wolf]

Let’s be honest. Having Arizona be one of the top places for golf courses is a HUGE issue. Golf courses existing in California and Arizona is a huge mistake. Maybe instead of wasting all this water on grass that should be figured out first.

[@nikolatovar9884]

Golf courses have really gotta go. Just huge wastes of resources.

[@cavenerd]

A M E N !!!

[@fredrau5279]

What does slavery and indentured servitude have to do with water conservation?

[@jdilksjr]

Not a damn thing. It was thrown in to be PC.

[@DMWayne-ke7fl]

They are trying to morally cudgle white people. Typical corporation behavior.

[@anton1949]

De-salination plants, There's an Ocean out there with LOTS of water in it.

[@Myshowbro]

I live in Murrieta California we're currently in a drought but I'm over here getting a warning from the city to water my grass?