arizona, california and nevada? water?

Question

Im curious to find out if those states are running out of water or are out of it? thats what people are talking about here in phoenix that by 2020 we will have to pack oour bags evacuate beacause of no water? is that going to happend?

Answer 1

Probably not, though it's certainly a crisis. If you want to read a great book about this, pick up Marc Reisner's "Cadillac Desert." It discusses the problem with the west's rapid expansion and the very limited supply of water.

What he points out in the book - and what's still true - is that a tremendous amount of water is used for things like farmland outside Phoenix, and supplying the hotels and resorts. As houses take over farmland, they actually use *less* water than the farms used to, so the water supply goes up slightly. If the hotels and resorts used less water, and particularly if the farms were moved to more sensible places like Atlanta, there would be enough to go around.

It's still a crisis, of course, and it may require, eventually, some very odd solutions such as desalinating the ocean water to supply LA and San Diego, or pumping additional water down from the Columbia River Valley. But I don't think the world will let cities like Phoenix and such run out of water, it'll just cost more and require more conservation.

Answer 2

This is one reason why global warming presents a problem--the western states survive on water from winter snow pack, and with global warming there is less and less winter snow pack. And at the same time, population continues to grow. It will be an interesting show, for sure.

Answer 3

maybe. keeping grass green no longer should be a priority.