The Bureau of Reclamation declared the first-ever Level 1 water shortage condition for Lake Mead. It sets off a series of water cuts that take effect in 2022.
I'm from Arizona (don't live there anymore) and they said back as far as 1985 that this would happen at the rate of growth that was going on. The politicians shrugged it off and kept issuing permits for another million or so homes to be built and more golf courses for the rich to mingle on. Now the bill is due but they're still building more homes non stop.
Official - "You can't build more homes here, theres no water supply" Developer - "Here, my development company PACs will donate $100,000 to your campaign" Official - "Here's your permit".
Cisco, spot on! Only way the US will solve ANY problems going forward is if we stop letting developers, oil company other rich special interests bribe politicians!
You'd think that SOMEONE would have figured out during over 20 years of drought that you cannot farm water intensive crops in a desert. When it does rain are farmers and cities and residential areas harvesting and storing the runoff for future use and for recharging ground water levels? No, they are not. Are new building permits being issued for more and more new homes and businesses that will use more and more water. Yes, they are. Are people putting in new swimming pools and building lush green golf courses in the desert? Yep. Meanwhile, people are bemoaning the lack of water.
It really sucks dude, I don’t know if you know anything about the Central Valley in California but they’ve practically turned to the whole thing into farmland and destroyed all the natural land there. Many of the rivers aren’t refilling fast enough so they’ve been pumping ground water to keep growing crops and in turn there deserting the area which causes higher pressure in the atmosphere which results in less rain. They’ve pumped so much ground water that the entire Central Valley has dropped in elevation. It’s crazy how unsustainable everything is these days and the worst part is all this new technology we have is just making the human race worse off. We’re completely depriving ourselves of what we evolved to do and making ourselves more depressed and unhappy. I think the worst thing we’ve done for ourselves is gotten rid of tight knit communities. If you don’t have an electronic device good luck keeping in touch with or making friends. Back in the way olden days you had the opportunity to see your friends and loved ones everyday and be a part of a beautiful community and that’s barely even the case anymore unless you’re in school, rehab, a mental hospital and other things like that. It’s no wonder people are so depressed and committing suicide when they’re not getting the things humans need the most all in the name of “progress”, it breaks my heart and I don’t know how much longer I can go on myself.
@Cameltoe Junkie my whole comment was more on the destruction of nature and humanity moving further away from our roots, I guess it really was all over the place cause I was more just spewing out emotion than trying to get out a clear point. But I guess all I want is to see is go back towards our roots for the sake of mental health and embrace nature but it’s too late for that and I need to stop fantasizing about it cause it’s making my own mental health worse. I just hope that I find peace living in the modern era so I don’t punch my own ticket.
They need to change policy so homeowners can use grey water is: bath tub, laundry, certain kinds of wash water from the household to use in the garden. Some western cities allow this.
@@richardcogbill6791 Absolutely, any regulations prohibiting reclamation of grey water in arid areas is stupid. They should actively encourage or incentivize people to reduce use and reclaim every gallon possible, including rainwater harvesting for ground water recharge.
YES YOU CAN FARM WATER. Dubai doesn’t and their desert land dryer than ours. And we invited the tech that they use to do so. Cloud seeding was used in the Vietnam war. Yet we can’t do so for our own well being. Water is money. The waltons aka Walmart buying the Colorado River. Gates as well as China buying all the farmlands. Food plants are shut down due to mysterious fires and plan crashes. LoL The system is fixed and we the people are 4UCKED!
"The shortage won't hit the average person, not yet" 3:58 Well there's part of your problem right there. The shortage needs to hit everyone BEFORE it becomes catastrophic.
I remember years ago, thinking I was so smart, warning my dad about inevitable fossil fuels depletion, and the global resource wars that were sure to follow. He nonchalantly responded, "Don't worry about the gas. Wait until everyone's fighting over the last of the water. That's when things will get really ugly."
My wife and I recently re-watched the first Mad Max. In the film, they were fighting over gasoline. My wife said that was silly, as when the spit hits the fan, we will be fighting over water.
@@michaelrobinson8984 I love it. My grass is green, early flowers were beautiful and later season flowers and shrubbery are doing great, and my garden is coming in nicely.
I grew up in Meadview AZ. 40 years ago, I testified before Congress for a group called Friends of the Earth. The topic was a bill designating additional Wilderness area in Northern AZ. I think one congressman heard my testimony. My testimony was about predictions for AZ ground water. I said there needed to be land set aside to recharge the aquifers. The Bill didn't pass. Last year I went back for a funeral. I drove through an area that I said should be set aside as Wilderness. It was 120 degrees. I drove by a huge lush green farm growing alfalfa with sprinklers pumping massive amounts of water into the sky above the plants. I was dumbfounded. I looked it up and found that a Saudi Company had leased the land from the federal government for pennies. They were digging deep wells and sucking out all the water they could. The depth represented water that had fallen to the ground over 10,000 years ago. Alfalfa is a big crop in AZ. It grows well in the desert and then you dry it out before shipping it. In this case, it was heading to Saudi Arabia for prized Arabian horses. It isn't just Lake Mead that is going dry. The ground water is running out as well.
Facts. Lake Powell and the Colorado River is drying up. Apocalyptic. This effects the whole US. Crops not getting water. Food supply is devastated. Apocalyptic events!
It's apocalyptic for the entire US. Scary stuff. Lake Mead and Lake Powell are part of a system that provides water to more than 40 million people, and water levels in both lakes have dropped to historic lows as the West experiences the most severe megadrought in 1,200 years.May 5, 2022
@@RealDJStew724 haven't you heard of agrivoltaics? You can grow crops under solar arrays in the desert, and they require less water...on another note, since this story ignores the 40K pound elephant in the room: climate change. solution? carbon free renewable energy? hello? mcfly?
to grow a pound of almonds takes 1900 gallons of water. So of course, the most sensible approach is to go as far out into a desert as you can get and plant your almond tree there. Then hope someone will send you water. Teach your children to do the same. Then 2 generations later, no doubt, you will have a desert full of happy farmers.
It’s the same here in California, farmers use most the water growing nuts and consumers pay like 100 or 1000x the price per gallon of water the farmers do. They should just make the prices the same for farmers and they’d move their some of their water intensive operations to a wetter state. We want farming in our economy, we just don’t need to pay $100’s a month for water for other peoples businesses so they need to pick smarter crops.
@@tuckerbugeater lmao the crazy part is on the internet there’s a small chance you aren’t joking. I was watching an old fbi files episode about a serial killer when I saw the alert for your comment and was like oh boy I better lock my deadbolt tonight lol.
@@alexburke1899 Where else do you propose growing those almonds? Don't just say..."grow them somewhere else" when you don't know if there is a climate somewhere else to grow them. Also, growers receive bulk rates. That's not fair? Are they supposed to pay the same as residential users? Good grief.
I'm 73. I keep hearing why do people think that moving out to the desert to farm was a good idea in the first place.. Well I can tell you why farmers moved out there. As a kid I remember passing by farms and dairies in rich fertile areas with water. Every time I used to go by them there were less and less and more and more housing tracks replacing them until the were all gone. I always wondered why the houses weren't built in the un-farmable areas instead of the fertile farm land. The farms were forced to move out farther and farther, I guess because we still wanted food for our families, who would have thought. The level fertile land does grow green plusher lawns & shrubs, and make for great golf courses! And gee, now we have a problem.
@D . . .Wow, you are truly a product of cnn if ever there was one! How brainwashed. . . . I pay attention to the snow pack and cfs in the CO river "basin", and have for many, decades. I don't need fear-mongering, and lying political hacks to tell me anything. I SEE THE FACTS. Record snow falls and snow pack occurs MUCH more often than the inverse. Droughts? You mean in the desert?? Lmao, such nonsense. . . besides, does not affect the flow of the Green, Yampa, White, Little Snake, Dolores, San Miguel, Gunnison, Mancos, San Juan, CO rivers (etc). Is the snow pack melting sooner than the past? Sometmes it does, yes. . .but sometimes NO. Look, D, the earth has been warming for many thousands of years, since thelast massive ice-age. . .with a few set-backs. . . . Don't live and build unsustainable cities and ag fields in the DESERT! smh
In 1980, I watched as 5 feet of water went over the closed spillway. The lake was overflowing. The population has not increased all that much. As the guy pointed out, population growth was 5%. Conservation reduced water usage 23%.
Water crisis or not, my Arizona HOA mandates a lawn or a large tree and an overall 'lush green look', xeriscapes are banned as are desert plants like cactus, agave and yucca. I complained to the city but they said there is nothing they can do. It's pretty common to see sprinklers running and depositing more spray on the sidewalk than the landscaping.
You're complicit either way you chose to live in a HOA. I would never subject myself to such living conditions but that's just me. I'll be damned if I have some governing board telling me how to maintain my house. Thats sheep mentality.
As a life long resident of the South West I’m scared. Here in Las Vegas nobody is talking about it. Real estate is hitting records, the population is exploding, yet this is never a topic among locals or the news. In the future wars will be fought over water.
Higher demand (population) and lower supply (drought/global warming) = a very big hurt coming. People having kids in this day and age outside of a single child is just an entirely bad idea, unless you like more poor and more war.
Why not move ? I used to live in San Diego. I got out YEARS ago… saved me a ton of money too since that area of the country is so expensive ! And crowded, and running out of water … ugh. Not worth it
We need to stop watering the deserts for crops and simultaneously stop building factories and subdivisions on top of what once was productive farm land in the Midwest. Did we learn Nothing from the days of the Dust Bowl?
I don't deny that California has an unfair sway on water allocations. That being said, unreasonable farming practices like flood irrigation don't help any. It's not even necessarily the types of crops being grown. Techniques like drip irrigation or center pivot irrigation can help save massive amounts of water. You can't apply European style farming techniques in a desert.
California produces ~85% of the produce sold in America. Are you willing to part with an ("unfair") healthy diet so cattle ranches, diary farms and golf courses can prosper?
Israel's climate is the same as ours- Mediterranean. They restructured and modernized their agricultural irrigation so that evaporation is minimized because they recognized the value of water to civilization.
@@billmcginley The country exports hardly any agricultural products - dates, olives and samphire, and some very sugary kosher wines - and imports most of the food they need. Agriculture there is a political weapon against the Palestinians but is only of a very slight economic significance.
According to this video an average family uses about 325,853 gallons per year which would be 892 gallons per day 2:29. If that is true then that is the problem right there. I doubt very much that the average family uses that much water.
I don't think so either. According to my water bills I use about 1500-1700 gallons a month (but then I'm single with no kids and three pets) Add three others and that should only add up to about 6000-7000 gallons a month.
We've known this was coming since the 80s. They wanted to build desalination plants but the excuse was it was too expensive. Now they keep coming up with different excuses why not. But their solution is don't water your lawn and take quicker showers. Maybe they should redesign the aqueducts to hold rain water instead of flowing it back into the ocean. Desalination plants have been in use in many middle east countries for decades. Japan has a massive underground tunnel system that captures water from major storms. The technology is out there and California has the money but their solution is to levy fines and punish you if you use too much water.
Now they just don't talk about desalination plants. Those don't exist. That's magical cooky technology, don't you know! Besides, who would build and run them nowadays? Everyone qualified is leaving the state and FAST! Northrop Grumman (aerospace contractor) has like a 33-50% turnover rate for new hires... I don't think Affirmative Action will maintain STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) sector activity... The CA old money ruling dynasty elite don't want real solutions, they want to crash the system and turn it into a feudal peasantry, so the Pelosi mafia crime family dynasty can maintain power for 100's of years through fake rigged voting and purging of all conservatives who would otherwise oppose. It seems their plan is actually working, I know I can't wait to leave this damn state.
Imagine building a house in the desert and being surprised water isn’t in abundance. Humans never cease to amaze me. No wonder the aliens won’t stop In and introduce themselves
@@Edwardjonez Well, they can just blame "climate change" and everything will be ok. Loiny leftists laughed a Harvy flooding victims in Houston, all hurricane victims in the South, all tornado victims including a black family killed in Alabama who they said "derserved it,' and then blamed Trump for bad weather. They also blame Billy Bob in Georgia because black students are failing high school in Los Angeles. Imagine that! Southern people won`t be the ones starving soon thanks to their hero Biden. Here in Louisiana I actually DO USE solar, have an electric mower and tiller, grow my own food, and hunt, fish, and forage for the rest. It would be absolutely HILARIOUS to see what leftists spend their stimulus checks on. Probably video games and weed...
You just might become a prophet before long. Underground water is in short supply everywhere in the world and lakes are for the most part polluted with blue algae due to people using the lakes as dishwasher, washing machine and shower water dump + running motorized boats that spew tons of gaz droplets. Soon drinking water will be more precious than Gold. Humanity is a Beast without Discipline. I'm now beyond being discouraged.
Yes, making the lack of water a non-issue to the average citizen does the exact opposite of encouraging conservation. If the cost is prohibitive, people will pay attention. The key is that the high costs have to apply to everyone. Here in Colorado, we have tiered water rates, but I personally think that the maximum rates are far too low. Getting a $10000 water bill for one month would change behaviors.
I'm from Arizona but part of the reason we moved last year was because we didn't expect the long-term drought to improve. We lived in a home close to a huge nature preserve and I miss it all the time. I hope people start managing the land and water sensibly enough that I can maybe go back someday.
Doesn't matter how you manage the land and the water... when the water is gone. How about managing our focus on global warming, then maybe your grandchildren MIGHT have a chance to move back to where you once called home (sorry it's too late for you - you'll never move back).
I am a biologist, left AZ 12 years ago seeing the drought increase year by year, man was not meant to live in the extreme desert no matter how beautiful a place to live is it worth the trade off for paying increseingly expesinve utility and water bills while it lasts?? I used to put ice packs on my 8 yr old daughter 's head to keep her cool while on walks, that is insane.
It’s beautiful in the winter. My in laws moved there to Phoenix when they retired. Summers though …. Ugh. I couldn’t live there. It’s the desert. Why is anybody surprised that a desert is just trying to be itself ?! 🤪
And the desert was never meant to sustain over 4 million people which the Phoenix metro area has now. Climate change has little to do with it (it's used as a blame game) When I was born there in the mid 1950s, Phoenix had about 180,000 total. Had it stayed that way I would have never left. Where I live now we get 40 to 50 inches of rain every year and I'm forever grateful.
@@muffs55mercury61 Well, I’m in Kentucky and we maybe shovel snow 1-2 times a year. Usually we just brush it off the porch 🤷🏼♀️ I mean it’s not 75 degrees and sunny every day in the winter. But we have a lot of 60+ degree sunny days in the winter months. And some people are catching on. Most people on my 5 mile long road are transplants from Ca, Nj, Co, and Wi.
Without exception, EVERY Las Vegas Casino with room accommodations an EVERY hotel I have stayed at has had showers which flow water at SEVERAL TIMES the rate of my home shower. And, that is despite mine being installed as standard when I bought my new home 24 years ago, in 1998. Casinos and hotels want to maximize their guest's comfort. BUT, I don't see that ANY of them make a serious effort to reduce water consumption by guests
I'm so lucky to live in the east coast have my own well for water. I do feel bad for people out west but people should make better decisions on where to live
I was born in LA and so were my parents and grandparents. This is my home, just like the east coast happens to be yours. Are you really implying that people are stupid for living in the actual places they were born? Do you tell Nebraskans it’s unwise to be there when the state floods? What a cruel and idiotic mindset
@@RevertedRashidah If you had to move because of un-livable conditions you wouldn't be the first one on the planet. Humans have done that throughout history. They tend to seek out better living conditions. Hint hint.
Native Americans lived in Arizona for hundreds of years before Europeans arrived. They actually built canals and irrigation systems. But there were a LOT less of them consuming resources. Thanks to Biden, we have an additional 2 million illegals crossing our southern border every year.
With regards to the grass issue in Nevada - they have the right idea in getting rid of the grass. That is, in fact, completely useless in terms of ecology and the climate change that's drviving this megadrought, and is a holdover from Victorian ideas of the perfectly-manicured lawn as a status symbol. But they've been replacing it with what is basically astroturf, which prevents the restoration of the desert soil beneath. Instead, these grasses need to be replaced with xeriscaping - plants which are native to that specific desert and can stand up to the harsh climate. We also need to take a serious look at what's happening all across the Western states: Arizona, California, Nevada, even Utah to some extent, all allow the pilfering of limited and ancient groundwater supplies to grow water-intensive crops, such as almonds and pomegranates, which have never had any business growing in desert environments. This practice needs to end, and the water profiteers (documented extensively by PBS, ProPublica and others) who are stealing public water supplies for their own profit via agricultural operations need to be put out of business.
Well said my friend. It's mind blowing that they think having these crops I'm that area was a good idea. This is coming from a Midwestern farmer. It's just plain stupid to waste that water for all those years. Greed at its finest
You do realize that under the planning commissions metrics, the removal of grass is not about saving water, but freeing up water for more building permits. Also, almonds are NOT grown with Colorado River water, but Calif central valley which is the only place in N. America they can be grown on a consistent basis. Also, Pomegranates yields are just a fraction a fraction of the GDP grown with Colorado River water. Lastly, there is no "mega drought". First, you don't even understand what the drought definitions have been this century. Mega drought would imply a long term "meteorological drought". Sorry, NOAA just designated the region as being in meteorological drought 2 years ago. The actual drought designation by NOAA the last 22 years has been agricultural & hydrological drought, and with respect, I know you didn't know that, or even know there are different drought designations. Just because you hear the term drought, it doesn't mean it's meteorological. In fairness, virtually all people don't know this, including people who report on it. Don't believe, that's ok. Just go to NOAA's drought maps. Type in exactly that..."NOAA drought map". Then go to "archives". They go back to January 2000, they are updated weekly. It's easiest to simply look at the first week in January year by year. They will show that extreme drought(meteorological), only started 2 years ago, which really means...business as usual. Oh, an yes, I believe humans are effecting the climate, but the water issues are not about climate change. The IPCC's own report doesn't even state as such. So be careful when you just through out statements that aren't accurate, it gives people who don't think humans are effecting the planet ammo. Also, PBS is somewhat ok, but Propublica...please. If you're listening to that, it's the same as listening to say, people on the right listening to Tucker Carlson.
@@jakoblarson4714 what about the SELFISHNESS and PERSONAL GREED of home owners who don't want to pay for public water and drop a private well and feel they can water their lawns 8 hours a day while they are at work... and I'm not talking desert dwellers... I'm talk about people in semi-normal states.... how do you think all the sinkholes in Florida developed?... Where does YOUR water come from? Are you pumping from an aquafer?
LOL... you funny lady... hopefully I not misgender you... Climate Change isn't driving anything... Population and Industrialization is driving changes in our Global Environment and although "Climate" has a natural cyclic pattern, Humans have an an effect on it... actually how much over it's normal pattern is debatable... and it's not just landscaping... it's Creature Comforts: dish and clothes washers to keep everything spotless, car washes, long warm daily showers in the winter and long cool 1-2 daily showers on a hot day... Shower before work, shower after work or before you go out... maybe even shower before sex and after sex... leaving the water running while you brush your teeth... or having a 3gal toilet every time you flush... how about letting the tap water run for nearly a quart or even 2ltrs until it gets to the really cold water for a glass of water that you may drink only half of before you dump the remainder down the drain... or wasting the same or more water to get to the hot water to wash out your coffee cup... where does PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY enter into this picture? how about turning on some kind of water sprinkler, not to water anything, but to let your kids play in it on a hot day... how about ALL the water wasted on Commercial Soft Drinks or sugary caffeinated energy drinks? or allowing Foreign Water Companies to buy up lands around rivers and suck as much FREE water as they want and then sell it to us for huge profits... 😮
Arizona is a desert. When you live in the desert, any desert, water is an issue. For the last 50 years you've built up and moved people to the desert. What did you think would happen?
Listen, nomatter where you go in the USA, the situation will sooner or later catch up to you. If you don't feel the effects directly, believe me your kids and grand kids will feel it. Things are getting out of place when you have kissup to somebody with your most humble request. Like Bob Dylan said, you got to serve some body.
This is a historic and existential drought, but rest assured: Arizona "MAY ask citizens to conserve water." Are you serious? This has been predicted and predictable for so long that people have become addicted to sweeping it under the rug.
Water is more precious than gold . Even though I have plenty of water in my well I don't water my lawn when it's too dry I try to plant plant drought tolerant plants try to conserve it and not waste it it is too precious
Ummm, "gold mines can use between 60,000 and 100,000 cubic meters (16 million and 26 million gallons) of water each day". When all the Potable does water runs out, no need to worry about Gold. Best worry about what to do with your last week alive on Earth. That is roughly how long a human being can live without water...
100 years ago everyone would have just moved on to greener pastures, what the hell is wrong with people these days ? A bit of change and most people freak out and can't function properly. WE REALLY ARE SCREWED IN THE NEXT CATASTROPHIC EVENT.
And 100 Years ago, the population of this country was less than half of what it is today. I think it comes down to space. People are running out of places to go.
The Desert SW has been in a Water Mining situation since I was in University in 1980. Water Mining means the ground water is being used faster than replenishment. Depletion has accelerated due to growth. Looks like time is up. Massive desalination plants or move to where there is water. I just sold my house in Southern Oregon, my well was running dry as well. Our water was being stolen by the farmers converting from fruit trees to Green Houses full of pot plants.
I've been reading 100's of comments for the last hour on 3 or 4 different videso about this topic, and you are the FIRST PERSON OTHE THAN MYSELF to FINALLY mention desalination plants!!!! Thank you, for one. But also, WOW, can you believe that so few people seem to recognize this (not exactly new) solution!??! Now, the real question that needs to be asked, is why has the desalination plant option been so hideously kept hidden from public discourse for so long? Why haven't our politicians mentioned it more often? The news? It's never mentioned anywhere in any public sphere of import... Why has it been so, dare I say, suppressed? I know the answer, I wish others would consider these factoids and consider that maybe our politicians simply don't have our best interests in mind..?
@@k1m198 While desalination would be one answer to help, the Dems policy to kill off American oil and gas in favor of "Renewable" energy will make it impossible to achieve. We are being forced back into the Neolithic age on energy. There is not a chance with modern technology that Renewables can supply the American energy needs and the grid can't handle it. Biden merely says: "this painful Transition is just something that the American people are going to have to go through." Remember we have all the natural gas and petroleum that we need for decades.
let's just keep blaming the drought. it's not like immigration policy caused the population to increase by like 500% in 30 years. it's good for the economy!
I was born in Arizona. Water scarcity was an issue I remember even back in the 60s. This is no surprise. To anyone. It’s simply a failure of planning. A failure of investment.
Why are we growing water intensive crops like Alfalfa and Cotton during a 20 year drought? Why are we allowing corporate farms from California, Minnesota, UAE and Saudi Arabia to use our water to send the produce all over the world?
@@jeffreyevans9431 You two should get a room.. I'd settle for you both getting jobs and marrying the opposite sex so you can know how normal people think
@@silentmajority8365 sounds like you are projecting your own sexual insecurities onto others. How are you gonna say I don’t have a job, but also suggest farmers wouldn’t send us products, like there wouldn’t be demand for it. We don’t build phones here, yet somehow you can post stupid things on RU-vid. This would be economics 101. That would be very basic material since I’m guessing that big number scares you. Unless you think they don’t like money, which sounds like the opposite of the reason that they farm in the desert.
there are more efficient ways to water crops. Just spraying water into the air and hoping some of it falls on the crop is extremely wasteful. Using drip irrigation reduces the amount of water greatly as the water is applied directly to the ground right where the plants roots are. However drip irrigation is expensive to install and maintain. But it's still better than not being able to grow crops.
I live in Michigan where we have abundant fresh water. While I don't have a thousand acre crop, everything that gets watered on my 10 acres that comes from my well is distributed by drip irrigation.
This is sad. I’m from Kentucky and I swear it rains constantly. During the spring we have to cut grass twice a week sometimes. No shortage of water here.
Here in the NW corner of Oregon we have the same problem as you have in Ky. Constant rain that last Friday night had the west & south sides of our equipment barn under 4" to 6"of standing water. Needless to say our fields are impassable except for our thoroughbreds who are becoming most fit from galloping in all this mud & standing water.
Here in pa it rains and snows quite abit. We actually had negative population growth over the past 10 years cause people wanna live in places it doesn’t snow. Pretty sure Pennsylvania is known for its crappy weather.
@@blackscorpionbattalion7292 lol for those who live in the normal places no it isn’t. Arizona and California’s think they are so much better then anyone else.
I study climate change. yes, that is true. The dry line is above texas. every place east of texas to see more record rain and all states west to see record drought and eventually famine.
IS-80 goes along Lake Meade; miles of sunbaked, naked rock. Solar collectors alongside that road would lower the local temperature, and encourage new life as it provides shade, as well as huge amounts of electricity that could be distributed by the Hoover Dam electrical distribution system, already in place.
is it possible to recycle water after the dam back into the reservoir with the same power the dam makes or or a long aqueduct back to the dam. California pump water down south over the Grapevine maybe in the winter time water is not used that much for crops.
It's easy, cut 150 feet off the top of the dam and the lake will be full again. I passed on buying a house in Boulder about 5 years ago because I feared this very thing; owning a very expensive house by a mud puddle.
In my social studies class circa1975 The exam trick question was What natural resource is the most likely to run out first? Or something like that. Most of the class answered oil. The correct answer was fresh water. In 1975. Who is surprised almost 50 yrs later? Not me.
The truly sad thing is how many dumb people there are that believe they are smart. Guess that kind of answers the question, Why are we in the shape we are in.
@@croberts2358 We have entire universities full of them, unfortunately. And worse yet, they are allowed to vote and hold office. Look at AoC for crying out loud... and the idiots that voted for her. Used to be, once upon a time, only land owners could vote. You know what it takes to buy, own, and maintain a chunk of land? a steady source of income. You know what it takes to have that? a modicum of intelligence. You know what both of those together yield? skin in the game, a stake in the future, and a caring populace that votes carefully, sacredly.
@@k1m198 Well the only thing bad about that is there fixing to steal everybody's property. According to the WeF everybody is too stupid to own land but the elite you will all nothing and you will be happy. I guess if you're not happy they can just get rid of you.
I live a few miles from the Savanah River in South Carolina and I used to live near the Great Lakes in Michigan. Always good to live near water that will not go away anytime soon. I would never live in the desert especially with everybody moving there now.
@@penguinking4830 Flint, Mi doesn't have a drought problem, it has lots of good fresh water. The city a lead pipe problem. Solving Flint's problem is easy, all they have to do is replace the lead pipes, solving drought problems is a worldwide nightmare.
Lake Mead is an artificial lake. Lake Mead is only there because of Hoover dam. You consuming water faster that it can be replenished. It means it can nolonger be sustained.
Right ! Now, say for instance Lake Michigan starts drying up… then we have an issue. But Lake Meade is in the middle of a desert. I’m not shocked 🤦🏼♀️
I was going to move AZ from Atlanta this year but after seeing this I genuinely got me scared. It’s amazing that there’s water in the desert in the desert when you think about it.
Over the decades, I've seen "90 day droughts" in Georgia. But, as long as the good people of Atlanta pay to have bottled water shipped in they'll be fine.
There is a solution to partially remedy this and regain a little more water height... Desalinate seawater massively to make drinking water and let the lake “rest” for 1 or 2 years, without drawing a single liter of water from its surface. But it will only be time gained; because if it continues to get hotter and hotter as is the case elsewhere; because it's not just at home in the USA, it's everywhere, imagine. In the South of France for example, the climate is becoming arid tropical, to give you an idea when I was a child, almost 40 years ago now, in winter certain plants of tropical origin were a return systematically, because they systematically freeze and everything else vegetates. Today even in the middle of winter the Bougainvilleas, the Yukka can live and grow outside all year round, the agaves, cacti adapt perfectly, there are Palm trees everywhere, you can grow and flower banana trees and daisies from the Cape, leave the New Zealand red cabbage tree outside under shelter and even under certain conditions enjoy the year including 4 months outdoors, a Coconut Nucifera... Here we are on March 27, 2022, the Hérault River which crosses the place where I live, is already on drought alert even if officially nothing has been declared so, the extremely low level in certain places, making the visibility of the bottom possible as above a window there is no doubt about it and from year to year, from summer to summer, this date of observation is dwindling from 24 to 48 hours every year, it has not really rain since at the end of April here and in August I could, like last year, cross where a boat used to cross. Unthinkable when I was 7 or 8 years old. The whole earth is becoming a completely uncontrollable pressure cooker, it is the normal functioning of the planet that has been disturbed in part by us. P.S : Our societies are based on an infinite economy that we will have to curb in one way or another to change the consumption model, return to sustainable production models and change the way we all live together, from China to passing by the USA, France or Brazil, Japan etc, our economic model must change to try not one day to miss this so precious water everywhere on the planet...But of course it's up to me .
I moved out of Southern Nevada at the end of last year. It's so nice to now live in a city that has a river nearby. I don't miss having to conserve water even though I still do.
@News 12 I have always been amazed how Southern California was built on desert land, and the fact that they managed to grow grass every where and stop it from drying out is part of the charm of California. In the U.K. we don’t have such a hot climate as yours and we still can’t manage our lawns as well as you guys do. I understand that in California if you have a drought then the sprinklers won’t be used as much for the street lawns. But could you imagine what it would be like in Southern California if they took away the lawns, for a start it would loose a huge amount of it’s beauty and the wild life would struggle and reduce. And the place would become even more dusty as there would be nothing to retain any dirt, and I’m guessing the temperature would go up so much that it would be unbearable, probably forcing a lot of people to leave. And any moisture in the soil would probably evaporate before it reaches the water table. I definitely don’t think it would be a very wise idea. But what do I know I’m not a Scientist and I don’t live there but even I could think of all those reasons just of the top of my head………!!!
I live in Las Vegas and rent. Right now homes are 450k. Give it 5 years and folks will be giving them away. I work in the science sector and one of my close friends that works for the city water district said, "this place is running dry faster than the models".
things my wife and i do we live on the east coast we save water by catching a gallon each time we wait for hot water at the shower and then use it around the house , don't seem like much but if everyone did this that would be millions saved .
If your avg family is using over 325,OOO gallons a year. I think you found the real problem. As a Canadian with water being no issue where I am, my avg is 50 gallons a day. That's just over 18.000 a year. The more one uses the more one pays is a great deterrent I've found. I actually get charged more for flushing water down a sewer then the cost of the water.
As a Dutch person with water being no issue where I am, my average use is *8* gallons a day, and *everything* that goes down the sewer gets recycled and reused. My country's water recycling plants recycle 75 gallons per person per day. And I live in one of the countries with the most rainfall in Europe, not in a frigging desert. Las Vegas is the only place in the US that seems to be doing sensible things about their water usage.
I learned to water ski on Lake Mead in 1978. Gosh, this news report is shocking. I live in Canada, on the east coast of Vancouver Island where water is not a problem. Until today, 25Jun2022, I had no idea such a drought was going on in the Arizona and Nevada area. This is not well publicised in Canada.
It's not well publicized here either. The "news" is worthless; it just tells us what the rich want us to hear. The people in charge want us all to keep working and buying, not panicking over lack of water. Edited to add I'm in Michigan, USA.
It was an 1887 earthquake that broke and dropped the acquifers in Tucson. Drying 2 major rivers and causing the change in the vegetation in that whole region.
Another solution is to stop throwing away water from your sewage systems if it is clean enough to dump into a river it is clean enough or nearly so to put back into use in the city so take that extra step.
Twenty years ago I did away with a lawn. I have a couple of trees and a small garden. That is the limit of my agricultural water use, which is normally the biggest water use in most homes and businesses.
@1:50 "decades of drought" should be changed to decades of over use. @2:37 The average family uses 325,853 gallons per year. That may be true in AZ, CA or NV, but in my community here the upper basin (Colorado) the average household uses less than 70,000 gallons per year. Why don't all you folks cut your household usage by 75% and see if the reservoirs don't fill up pretty quickly.
They won't! The over use is in Ag production, not residential usage. City's like Las Vegas only gets 2 gallons per 100 of Colorado River water annually. Also, the average resident in Colorado uses 123 gallons per day vs Nevada's 126. Maybe you and your neighbors are the great "conservers", but I doubt it. Thanx for virtue signaling.
Geuss people shoulda started not washing cars daily, watering there yard, opening swim parks and making fake snow for the resorts. Now there gunna complain about water bill being so much.
Build nuclear power stations in the desert, have them run all day to power desalination plants on the Texas and California coasts, use the desalinated water to recharge underground aquifers across the southwest, problem solved.
How do you plan to get rid of the brine? Dump it back to the ocean will kill off the marine life, store it underground will jeopardize the aquifer; and that's not mentioning on where do you plan to get the water source to cool the nuclear station.
@@PhoenixRider1 Build water treatmant plant next to nuclear power plant, treats and dilutes water down to be released into storage basins. Water to cool the station can come from the same desalination plants or from the aquifer it doesn't really matter because water going into the aquifer will exceed water being removed by each station. Same water can be used to dilute the brine, use mangroves and plants in the treatment plants holding ponds to naturally filter the water in addition to oysters. Once it reaches a safe level it can then be placed into a purposely constructed reservoir which will, over time, also contribute to the aquifer. Simple
That is actually mostly correct. The first European explorers to western North America described it as a vast desert from about 100 degrees longitude on west whereas today the true desert doesn't begin until the basin range of the Rockies. This has been confirmed by several lines of proxy evidence, showing that prior to circa 1500, 1930 dust bowl conditions actually persisted 70% of the time with average 20th precipitation occurring the other 30%.
Someone needs to understand that irrigating desert in a large scale isn't sustainable. Sorry folks in AZ, NV and CA but you cannot have your cake and eat it too. The only solution to 29 million folks living in the CA deserts plus irrigating 10s of thousands of acres of lawns plus or 10's of millions of acres of cropland is desalination of ocean waters. Not very environmentally friendly I know but that's it. It's the only solution besides shutting down irrigation of the crops so the population can survive. Most other state have said you can't have their water. Got told no to the waters of the Mississippi too. You elected the people who allow these things to happen or continue, you deal with it.
No mention of geo-engineering? This has to be looked at and taken on board because it is unquestionably an influence on this problem. The question is limited only to "how much influence?"
What people don't know is the effect of blocking two of the most important rivers on the southwest. When cities like Tucson and phoenix were built, they used to have a river nearby and a lot of water. Now they are suffering from extreme heat and water shortages, because the ecosystem around the area just lost a river and all the water it brings.
In 1887 Tucson felt a great earthquake that broke the bottom of the aquifer dropping the water table so low that the Santa Cruz River that had previously flowed year-round, with boating year-round, was reduced to a seasonal flow in the bottom only. That same earthquake greatly affected the Rillito River that had previously flowed year-round, but no more. previous to the earthquake the region was covered with 1-2 foot wild grassland. After the quake, the grasses died and creosote bushes pushed north.
Southern states also do away with ground cover which inreturn causes the area's to get hotter. What they should do doing is planting more grass and plants and trees 🌳 to cover the earth I have thousands of seeds to trees that will grow in this area like 10 to 15 feet a year and could grow faster if done right!!. And if done right could get 20 to 30 a year...we need to cover mother earth!!. it's a fact it will help replenish the earth
John Wesley Powell surveyed the southwest and created watershed development maps which were commissioned by the USGS. Of course politicians of the time completely ignored the maps and the normal cyclical droughts of the southwest, and here we are.
even a thick copper wire strung from a high point down the ground (at a 45' angle) gives a pretty decent voltage; makes you wonder why we don't research more into this phenomenon. Some people theorize that that may be all "the grid" is nowadays, but who knows...
I live in Australia, when it comes to getting rid of lawns just stop watering them, they'll get rid of themselves! It's that easy! But one thing that shouldn't be done is to restrict the farms water rights without restricting the cities water rights.
I lived in Vegas from 2000 to 2013 and can see that water is wasted especially by casinos. However under Vegas is a huge deep lake but no one is allowed to even sink a well. If to much was taken the ground might shrink. The damage to huge buildings like the casinos might sink and cause damage, so apparently if it is needed water for the public it is to bad casino owners will never allow any legal bills to be passed to help the public. Protect the casinos is all that matters. MKL&ML
May be humans were not really meant to live in great numbers in an area that could not support those numbers without building and controlling water to make it possible. There is a great deal to be said about the fact that men looked at a desert and saw land they could develop even if it did not have the resources to support more than a few of those people that move into that newly developed desert. To have the hubris to think that a desert with just a trickle of water supplying it could be dammed up to create a lake that would be the supply of water that would always be there, and not recognize that the area they want to turn into a lake had been a desert long before a dam was built and so at some point if that water was used, nature would not always cooperate and replace it. All Lake Mead did was collect and stop the flow of the water and held it for use by those in that area, often resulting in problems of resources south of Lake Mead. They were very lucky that the Dam was built during a wetter time when they could hold and store the water but none the less Lake Mead was a desert when they started turning it into a lake, and would try very hard to revert to a desert once less water was moving through. This was often talked about at the time the dam was put in place but many felt it was a good answer until other technologies came along that made a dam and the lake behind it a simple water holding facility. The hope was that before the cycles reversed, and that area of the country went back to being a desert with little water naturally coming into that area, that technology would have gotten to where desalination plants and drilling into deep under water reservoirs to provide water and Lake Mead could go back to what it once was. Sadly once Lake Mead looked filled to the brim, and it was not made clear that it was temporary solution for water until other techs came along, people could look at all that water and not imagine that what they were taking out was not being fully replaced anymore and become pretty apathetic about really advancing the tech to where there was a better way to get water and from a supply that could out run out. The fact that Lake Mead had been a desert for eons, it had several times in its history been much wetter, but has always liked becoming a desert again and again, and Lake Mead was always an artificial lake grown in the desert, and Lake Mead would turn around and be willing to be a place for water storage again. Without a way to change the weather to produce water in the desert and actually terraforming that desert and make it want to be a lake not a dust bowl, has over and over been deemed too expensive or not needed, with all the water coming down the canyons from the northern states and territories and those states that the river runs through could demand the Government finally take action and solve the issue
We live on a planet that is mostly covered with water. Weather can be manipulated. We can solve our problems; it's just a matter of who is in charge and how honest they want to be, and whether they are good or evil.
Pipeline water from the Colombia river, thats about to go out to sea, back to Lake Powell (over mostly desert area) and down to San Jauquin Valley in CA for crops. Put alot of people back to work. They're also taking 500k acre ft of water from WY and sending it to Lake Powell.
Expect, at best, water being available but at HUGE cost, as it will be piped in, or come from desalination plants. The latter of which uses a ton of electricity and produces lots of C02 - making the world warmer, and have less fresh water.
That's the solution alright, but it won't happen. Look at the CA high speed rail disaster. They don't actually really build or fix anything here anymore, in liberal la la land, they just start projects and steal money for decades.
I loved going fishing 🎣 with the family. Looking down on Hoover Dam thru the telescopes taking underground tours. Wow this is sad somebody knows where the water is going. It's being STOLEN
Agriculture uses approximately 80% of the Colorado River’s water, using it to irrigate 15% of the nation’s farmland, and produce 90% of the winter vegetables. Wheat, corn, berries, and fresh produce are likely to be particularly strained by supply rationing to manage water-stress, as well as the crops, including alfalfa and hay, used by farmers to feed cattle. A recent study found that the largest consumer of river water in the Western U.S. is irrigation for cattle-feed crops.
Stuff grows fast here due to the heat. Ask me about my weeds which grow even though I use no irrigation. We do have a monsoon season when we get a lot of rain.
I lived in the town of Overton. It was what was called then the Overton Arm of Lake Mead. I recall the year I moved into Overton. The Lake water was visible from the hills above Overton. That was in 2002. Every year since then the water has dropped faster and faster. The Overton Marina was closed due to the water level dropped so face the docks and ramp where unable to reach the water. The Overton arm is completely drained now. The old town of Saint Thomas has been high and dry for years now. It was nothing to brag about anyway. Just some old foundations and a chimmeny. The real story is the B-29 that was unreachable by scuba divers without speacial equipment. Now is nearly exposed. It crashed into the lake many years ago after the plane ran out of fuel after monitoring Atomic Bomb explosion over the Nevada Test Range. All the crew and pilots survived.
Can they not come up with a way to pump the water back above the dam after it has produced electricity. This would possibly provide relief until drought easies up
Desalination is a wonderful idea BUT what would be done with the BRINE that is the aftereffect of desalination? Can't put it back in the ocean, it kills and depletes o2.
@@royparker7856 Meh, those are nothing compared to the over 80% of water use agriculture uses. Almonds use over 250 gallons of water to make 1 liter of almond milk. Wastage is the problem.
@@justsomeguy6474 Agree about water intensive ag. in deserts. That's one reason that a lot of almond orchards in CA have been taken out. At lease Ag. generates some jobs and revenue. But, millions of acre feet are used in the Colorado water shed for green lawns, golf courses, and grass in public rights of way. Vegas is in the process of eliminating all grass areas such as medians and shoulders of roads since the grass uses more water than the strip does with all the fountains and hotels. Native trees in the cities for shade, sure, but a golf course that can use 200,000 gal. per day to hit a ball on, and lush turf lawns, no.
@@royparker7856 Umm Arizona doesn't regulate water use and is expanding their orchard farms. But Lawns and golf courses are nothing but a literal drop in the bucket.
@@justsomeguy6474 Well, we need agriculture … you know, to EAT. We don’t need golf courses to sustain life. Especially those built in the desert. That’s nuts !
I wonder how much effect the 2 massive water releases that occurred in the last 10 years or so to rehabilitate the lower Colorado had on the levels of lake Mead? I also wonder why this is never mentioned?
