>> The root of the problem must be that water is too cheap, especially for
>> agricultural uses. Price it properly and there will be no shortage.
> Indeed you are correct Nathan. But only from an economist's viewpoint.
> Politics trump economics every time. A very large part of our food comes
> from a few desert valleys. That will be the source of the hue (hew) and
> cry.
There are a lot of things that can be done to reduce water use. I
shudder whenever I see the absolute mind-numbing waste of water in
Nebraska used for irrigation of CORN!!!! Worse of all, it's being done
during the day while maximum evaporation occurs. Stupid.
In California, agriculture is a huge industry that has a lot of
political might. However, it also has a huge economic impact on the
entire state. If you let agriculture dry up so the cities can get more
water, is that logical? Population growth in city centers only makes
sense if the employment base is also growing. I believe that the
biggest problem is that we have cities growing without actual job and
industry growth. Instead of limiting water for agricultural use, why
not have forced relocation of non-working population to places with
the natural resources to support them?
It makes no sense to have millions of unemployed people in California
and Arizona flushing their toilets and wasting all that water.
Right?
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
--
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