A bit of a change brought on by this article. One of several published in the Desert Sun, a Utah newspaper, over the past month or so. A quick Google hasn't uncovered much along these lines from other sources. Probably because Southern California has already understood that there are limits to what can be extracted from the rest of the country. I posted this on FB and this is what I wrote to go with it with a few additions.
You chose to live in a desert. You are encouraging more population to move to your desert. And basically mocking anyone who points out that it is a desert and pointing out that other civilizations came a cropper when the water stopped flowing.
Once that pipeline is built it won't stop with just a portion. The rest of us will hear a giant sucking sound as every drop of fresh water is diverted. Earlier in the last century a plan on paper would have diverted fresh water from just about everywhere including the Great Lakes.
Check out Cadillac Desert. There once and is on file somewhere a plan that would have diverted water from ALASKA via British Columbia down to the southwestusing a network of dams and pipelines. The Canadian Prime Minister thought is was a good idea. A great many of his potential voters weren't too cool fwith the idea though, since the plan involved building that huge dam and creating a reservoir five hundred miles long.
Most of western Canada probably looked at THEIR rivers that were awfully close to that network and wondered how long it would be before the US cast our greedy eyes towards those rivers. There are limits damn it. We either learn to live within them voluntarily or the universe will impose the limits and believe me, we won't like it. Although I probably won't be here to see the fallout. Not so sure about my great nieces and nephews.
And how blithely the commenters spoke of diverting just ten percent of the flow from the Columbia. Won't hurt the salmon since we won't need to build any new dams. Yo, we have a drought up here too. Maybe Oregon and Washington could build greenhouses and supply some of those out of season vegetables.
And what would a ten percent decrease do to Portland's viability as a port? And what would ten percent mean to pulling sea water up the Columbia River. The whole "we need it so let's figure out how somebody else can give it to us." Incidentally the Columbia was placed off limits by congress two generations ago and believe me we will fight to keep it that way. Thank you senators Jackson and Magnuson of Washington. You see some folks down south just hate of idea of ANY fresh water making it to the sea.
Once upon a time the Colorado reached the Pacific though wetlands and delta rich in plants and wild life. The Colorado reaches the ocean maybe every few years and then only a trickle. The Colorado network never carried the water it was assumed it would provide and that was over allocated. There are limits folks. Don't assume that the rest of the country is going to bail you out without some draconian limits placed on your dreams. If the dreams are fulfilled at all.
We might be convinced to keep the lights on and the faucets flowing for the population you have NOW. You want more people you figure out how to get the water. You won't get it from us. We have our own lights to keep lit and our own faucets to fill.
2 comments:
California isn't the only place that has decided to bring life to desert areas. Back in 1966, we traveled across country from Illinois to Grants Pass to visit my grandparents. We drove through Idaho at one point... It was barren, dry and windy. One park we camped at was called "Craters of the Moon," which was appropriate to the landscape. Most of the part of Idaho we traveled through looked just like the moon. A decade later, we drove through again, and "the moon" was planted with wheat fields, potatoes and onions. Down in the Klamath basin, they have done the same thing, and now their lives are dominated by arguments over who gets the little water that is left after decades of drought. We humans have had a field day manipulating our environment to suit us. Mother Earth is currently bent on manipulating it right back.
It's getting harder and harder to make the choices for ourselves. One of the comments in the Utah paper basically said One) people want to move here so they should and Two) if you don't help us we won't help you when if you need it. Dear Utah nobody is expecting any help from you for anything. You can take steps to help yourselves deal with the problem or mother nature will fix it for you.
Down in Klamath they've cut off the irrigation water from the canal. Not enough water.
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