Gunnison Reservoir near Sterling in Sanpete County has been listed at 0% capacity. The reservoir is mostly used for agriculture, but it's another example of the extreme drought Utah is facing.
Hahahaha, and all the water available is used for information about the population collecting computers, great they will know everything about everyone and have money but no water.
this is like if michigan was under a blizzard for a year straight you just saying "well it's cold up there lol so that's completely normal" absolutely ridiculous.
@@lazy5373 “it’s a dessert, people are using more water than the desert provides, it’s gone now, wow” that’s what the problem is dummy. People are using more water than what’s there so it’s gone , you can’t be serious .
I'm a farmer, I wish these men well but they are farming in land that's not fit to farm without massive support. It's semi desert at best. Add in the insane situation where sun baked arid States like Arizona and Utah are the fastest growing in America.
Except Arizona 80% of Az is not Arid theres farming in Arizona for the past 50 years ,And in my area there,s much less farm growth in Phoenix/mesa metro Due to people moving here and farms being sold for expansion of community And lakes and reservoirs and underground water sheds are always at around 70% + capacity. SRP one of the best water management in the world... Other states they definitely miss manage the water and there forests
@@Pinkielover 50 years is longer than the average life span…lol And for sure people need less water than crops ! The ground water level will drop soon and lower the ground level like in the Central Valley /CA… 😂🤑😃
@@Pinkielover Supporting Desert Agriculture in a Changing Climate. heard that story before, like the Salton Sea. I also remember the last 50 years having unusual amounts of rain in the west
I feel bad as well. I do not wish that on any farmer. With that said...... My family sold the farm over 20 years ago, here in New England. Why? because we could not compete with the mega farms out west. We have plenty of water and good ground..... but we have winter, hills, and rocks. Its much easier and cheaper to bring water into a flat desert climate and farm. New England is strewn with old abandon family farms. We just could not compete. Maybe that will change in a generation and farming will come back to places that can support it. There is always a silver lining.
@@DustinHawke it’s been like 90% drier than usual throughout known history, there are mega droughts out there 1000, 2000, 3000, 5000 years ago. This is just the natural cycle of that area, what occurred from the 1950s through the 1990s was a wetter than normal cycle punctuated with a little droughts here and there. What you’re experiencing is something on the grand scheme of things which has occurred many times in long history, check your history books. Indians lived there in the 900s to the 1100s and left because of mega drought and they weren’t even trying to grow big crops.
@@nathaniellarson8 we need irrigation to farm here in indiana and it rains on a weekly basis. maybe you should stick to things you actually understand.
@@supergamergrill7734 Irrigation helps you get better yeilds year to year by getting your plants water during dry spells. If you NEED it to grow a certain crop in an area , you probably shouldn't be trying to grow that crop in that area(on a large scale). You do not need irrigation to farm in places that should be depended on for farming.
They are getting it from a Native tribal areas in Cabazon, CA and just above San Bernardino around the strawberry creek area, which is also on Native tribal land. I heard that they had an expired water rights permit for at least a decade that was discovered a few years back.
@@blankeomwenteling8135 right. The water that leaves one aquifer and recharges another aquifer doesn't help the aquifer that it was discharged from. Exportation helps capitilism.
Lets farm in a drought prone area and then be shocked when its all dried up. You can't make this stuff up we really do have some special people in this country!
They’ve manipulated the ecosystem for so long that they believe they are the masters. When normal cyclical patterns return they scream “CLIMATE CHANGE “ and want bail outs or change in behavior from the rest of us to accommodate their false environment.
You grow more than enough corn in places that don't need any irrigation, and they are pumping aquafers dry. Fruit and vegetables for human consumption makes some sense in warmer areas because there is a 1-1 ratio of growth to consumption. Livestock and the crops to feed them and the fraction to 1 crops to calories on the table and livestock do well in hostile climates like Canada, upper Midwest here vegetable farms are not practical because of the growing season.
@@gavincurtis The scientist have said that places that were dry would get dryer, places that received good amounts of rainfall would receive more. Then again what could dumping trillions of tons of carbon do to our environment? Time will tell. I do know I am finally getting back up power for my home. I have never seen such high and damaging winds in all of my life.
@@mtadams2009 Same here. I just don't buy the carbon BS. This is a massive shutdown and culling of the population... So all nations must shut down except China? How come only China gets to make everything until 2050? China also raised the 1 child to 3 now. Because a significant portion of people will be dying all around the world?
@@gavincurtis World population was about one billion in 1812 or so, it took 100 years for the population to increase another billion. Its close to eight billion now. It does not really matter what any of us believes, we are in for massive changes. Some worst than others. Places like Miami are screwed along with small island nations. Give it time and they will build a pipeline from the Great Lakes to the West coast. Take care
1:12 "That shouldn't be brown, that should be green". No. It should be brown. It's a desert, that's what colour deserts are. The only reason it's green is because we divert every drop of water that we can to make it green. I'd be more shocked if you shut the water off and everything continued to stay green...
I agree. My lawn will always look good and everyone else can just be embarrassed at theirs. There's enough reclaimed water to keep me happy and the rest can go #$&+
Add 40 million people to water use, and then ran out of water. When is the last time the government added reservoirs in CA the main culprit? Plenty of water runs right out into the bay.
It's all coming to a head. You can build even more reservoirs but without the water to consistently fill it and cheap oil to pump it around in California, it's a moot point. Get ready for some fun times
It takes 1,800 gallons of water to grow ONE POUND of beef, and only 100 gallons to grow one pound of potatoes and 110 for a pound of corn. Bonus: potatoes and corn have zero cholesterol.
Corn may need less water but it is very nitrogen hungry. Look at the amount of. Fossil fuel based fertilizer going into it. Just as unsustainable as a cow.
I grew up in Sanpete. I've never ever seen that reservoir empty. I have family that has lived in Sanpete for 60 years. They have never seen that reservoir empty. It's not like we are farming more, people.
Notice it's all the reservoirs and man made lakes that are disappearing, where they have the ability to release water. Meanwhile at Lake Tahoe we have a full lake.
Yea I have been hearing about this lately, especially in California. The reservoirs are at risk of going dry and they are releasing water to allow salmon to spawn. Like I get it, sucks to be a fish, but I keep waiting to hear how this is proof of why all ICE vehicles must be banned, and the great reset/green new deal must be ratcheted up.
Seems to me a comedian by the name of Sam Keniston had a routine on this subject years back, something about another country, desert, not living there. Best told by a screaming delivery 👏
That was the first routine of Sam's that a late friend of mine played in his cassette player as we rode to work together many years ago. Glad he was driving 'cause I was shedding tears laughing. I miss them both.
Some time ago our city in Texas put us on a "Stage 3 Drought" and threatened everyone with patrols to ensure we were abiding by the rules. So we complied and after everything was corrected and the lakes filled back up, the next budget year our water rates went up. They told us they had to raise them because during that drought they did not sell enough water for the revenues.
What kind of a douchebag makes such a statement to farmers that have worked the same land for generations? BTW, how exactly would a farmer grow crops where natural water is on the surface?
Washington County in Utah..has more than enough water...and they want more for their golf course.....yes a golf course...just wasting water everywhere...
In Western Pennsylvania, we get rain, usually too much rain. At least we have abundant fresh water. Countless gallons of fresh water from the Mississippi River drain into the Gulf of Mexico. A lot of that water could be diverted to the West.
Dig north-south deep-narrow water ponds to last longer; the deeper the better so the last of the water doesn't even get exposed to sun besides high noon: keep digging more of them and the area's air will get cooled by the ponds' shade; dig in the dry season and let them fill in the wet season, slopes at both ends let animals clamber out. Huge scale water troughs made by earth movers can cool a lot of space.
All these young people moving out west, especially Utah and surrounding states to start farming in an air at desert sun baked landscape, really? Are you people out of your mind everything from the Rockies West aside from the Pacific Northwest is the desert. I never was, is or will be a great growing area. It has a long history of being desolate, dry and inhospitable to plant life. Just look it was gross there with what little waterfalls, scraggly ugly desert plants. No lush Best forests anywhere to be seen. Yet everybody thinks they’re going to like them up rivers and hope that there’s enough snow to melt to fill the reservoir so they can grow crops in the middle of some big desert. It’s a form of insanity. I know people don’t like the Midwest because of the yucky winters, But that our bread belt that’s where you grow corn and wheat and soy beans and a whole lot of other crops because it rains and there’s rivers and there’s lakes a lot of it water that is you could use to keep your plants growing. But no everybody wants to go out west and they’ll start farms and watch them with her and die.
Tahoe is not desert, and the Redwood forest isn't either but you are right about the rest of your comment. Even large parts of Oregon are in severe drought currently.
@@charlesritter6640 Apologies, yes the redwood forest both the coast ones and the sierra Nevada range, and let’s not forget Tahoe, are stunning. They are beautiful and I have seen them both, but most the rest of that state along with much of the other regions are just Arid juniper and pine brush land.
@@space4099 yeah I never thought about how much of the west is either desert or near desert until you mentioned it All of Arizona, New Mexico ,Nevada, most of Utah , Idaho , California even most of Oregon actually.
Verticle indoor farming will have to be the standard in the near future. It's extremely water efficient and uses less space. There's also less waste as they can control conditions way better than traditional farming. There are only a few now but one is opening up in PA later this year. We will see more of them soon.
@@blakelondon1 But it's also extremely energy intensive. Out doors, the sun does all the work, for free. Indoors you gotta create conveyor belts to rotate stuff to the top floor which has clear roofing to let in sunlight or you just gotta power grow lights all for 12 hours a day.
In the 1980's there was so much water coming into the salt lake valley that they had to raise the train tracks along the great salt lake by 8 feet and pumped excess water out into the desert. The area was a lush inland sea at one point in time. Changes in the long term climate are the driving factors in the cycles of drought and flood that lead to the extremes we see today. And the Sevier river is fed by the high mountain snow pack not by rain
With all due respect to those who have posted, my great-great-grandfather started farming in the Gunnison area in the 1840s. At that time there was no reservoir. Yes, farmers may have started farming too much land, but this area has been capable of sustaining crops for going on two centuries. To call it a "desert" and think that's all the explanation necessary is uninformed.
First time visiting California/Nevada this summer. We were blown away by the grass fields in the middle of the desert. Being from Illinois and being familiar with crop irrigation, we couldn’t figure out how it made sense financially to do it.
Good time to increase the capacity if the reservoir, by removing topsoil that has accumulated, with bulldozers and trucks. I am quite sure that there is a use for a lot of dirt. Adding two feet to the depth would do wonders.
Have you heard of regenerative agriculture, or permaculture? You make swales to slow down the rain, and plant perennials that don't deplete the soil like monoculture annuals.
@RTD “…The Native Americans left…” This is a bit of an uninformed statement. Just a reminder of the history of the United States, Native Americans were unceremoniously removed from their land and forced onto reservations. What was their land was converted into farms and cattle ranches or exploited for mining. The Navajo and Hopi nations are very much still in the “Desert Southwest.”
@42Zero_Pizzaman_Tampa Yes, and a lot of water in Colorado is used in CA to grow almonds which require a LOT of water. Colorado screwed up by selling water rights to CALIFORNIA.
That’s why they store it, for future use. When it’s gone it’s gone. They could have rationed it out over several years but that may not have supplied enough to do any good at all? Hope this years winter snow pack is decent. Nice report, thank you.
They can build an 800 plus mile oil pipeline in Alaska at a time when it was a project never done before. There's a battle to continue building ol pipelines across the continent but they can lay a water netork to support reservoirs? The network doesn't have to continuually flow but shift the flow as needed to the regions running low and in accordance to weather.
The water is probably not to far below the surface? The Mojave River runs most of its course underground. It gets pushed up in some places due to granite areas under the sand.
I think there’s an opportunity here. What if everybody got together and made the reservoir deeper, i’m just noticing a lot of surface layer sand here from the time that the reservoir was operational.
We should seriously start getting water from wetter areas to dryer ones. The cost is probably around $200 billion. It is a huge project, but can be done and it is worth it.
@mdo686 In my 60 years of life I've been told about a coming ice age...global warming which was changed to climate change....in 2005 the Great Al Gore said Florida and Manhattan as well as the whole eastern seaboard would be under water...
I'm pretty sure it's time for people to quit hoping and start moving to other parts of the country. And the entire country has to be willing to take those people in.
Im going to Zion I dont know about yall. Man how do people still doubt God? If 2020 and 2021 didnt do it lord i hate to see 2022. Oh wait this is the place. Okay then, well we all better start praying for rain God or no God! The bible says every knee shall bow. He will get u there one way or another.
@@six1nyne I don't doubt God, I doubt you jokers being able to understand what he said and what he meant, two different things. You guys seem to be caught up in the Old Testament, no mercy or forgiveness in sight. Follow Jesus, not Trump or supposed spiritual "prophets", they are snakes.
@@jaco7675 We're not taking any in Wisconsin either, and since you don't mind those on the right in Michigan, we'll send them to you. Wisconsin is closed to all you witless wonders. Liberals and conservatives have gotten Wisconsin into too big of a mess as it stands. Just stay out. Apparently in Michigan they like that dysfunction. Go there.
Instead of trying to turn desert into farmland. Why don’t we use the rich lush farmlands in TN that have just been abandoned. So many farms just out of business or abandoned for whatever reason.
@@JonR_1138 well I live in east Tn and own a 100 acre farm. There is so much farmland out here not being utilized is pitiful. They’re all just rotting away. My point is. If you want to farm do it somewhere that the climate will suffice. Not the desert.
@@chainscdmc I know near me (Lebanon TN) there's a lot of bedrock. And developers are building so many houses, it ain't funny. (Ninja edit) It's hard to maintain a farm when the land value is through the roof. I looked online and it shows my place worth 30-40k more than what I paid. That's almost a 40% increase.
Wow some of the comments here are really rude toward farmers. We need to applaud farmers for the food they provide. We are in a drought out west and it may get worse before it gets better. If you believe in the Bible, God sends droughts to wicked nations. Watch out America, God is in the process of humbling a very proud and arrogant nation. Instead of making fun of farmers I think a little appreciation is due.
Let me see if I have this right: you farm and live in a desert, yet you're surprised when the water runs out? The farmer says "it's not supposed to look like that!". No, actually, that's exactly what it's supposed to look like; the field of green alfalfa would be the completely artificial, man-made, visage. I get that the west is experiencing unusually dry conditions, but they've been warned for decades that water consumption has long been out of sync with sustainable reality. This isn't a short-term problem and it isn't related to climate-change. You've got too much agriculture, with a regionally increasing population, both dependent, especially in California, on siphoning distant sources of water and storage of highly variable precipitation. After all the years of dire warnings to those in Southern California, Utah and Nevada, they really shouldn't be surprised that something like this could happen.
