The Age of Thirst in the American West

[marmar]

from TomDispatch:



The Age of Thirst in the American West
Coming to a Theater Near You: The Greatest Water Crisis in the History of Civilization

By William deBuys


Consider it a taste of the future: the fire, smoke, drought, dust, and heat that have made life unpleasant, if not dangerous, from Louisiana to Los Angeles. New records tell the tale: biggest wildfire ever recorded in Arizona (538,049 acres), biggest fire ever in New Mexico (156,600 acres), all-time worst fire year in Texas history (3,697,000 acres).

The fires were a function of drought. As of summer’s end, 2011 was the driest year in 117 years of record keeping for New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana, and the second driest for Oklahoma. Those fires also resulted from record heat. It was the hottest summer ever recorded for New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, as well as the hottest August ever for those states, plus Arizona and Colorado.

Virtually every city in the region experienced unprecedented temperatures, with Phoenix, as usual, leading the march toward unlivability. This past summer, the so-called Valley of the Sun set a new record of 33 days when the mercury reached a shoe-melting 110º F or higher. (The previous record of 32 days was set in 2007.)

And here’s the bad news in a nutshell: if you live in the Southwest or just about anywhere in the American West, you or your children and grandchildren could soon enough be facing the Age of Thirst, which may also prove to be the greatest water crisis in the history of civilization. No kidding. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175475/tomgram%3A_william_debuys%2C_the_parching_of_the_west/#more (follows a brief intro)

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[rfranklin]

2. Arizona has 300 golf courses...wonder what the water consumption is for those?

I don't know but it must be phenomenal. I noticed the same waste of water in CA. Sprinklers going all over the place every morning to grow stuff in the desert. Then there is the huge waste of water in agriculture.

[dmallind]

3. Can't stand golf, but to be honest very little

Golf courses even in less extreme climates tend to use run off and waste water and recycle a lot. They for the most part use little to no water useful for households.

[thelordofhell]

5. Golf courses in AZ have to use mostly waste water

But even that will not be enough in the future.

[raouldukelives]

4. Here in Nor Cal the wineries are killing our ecosystem

They pump water from the streams and rivers to irrigate and combat frost on the prized grapes. Problem is they aren't allowed to. No matter, the fine for doing so if they get caught is less than it would cost them if they actually paid for the water.