Southwest Megadrought

A brilliant idea.
Quick: the White House should ban it. Imported Chinese solar panels are a security threat.

Cheers

Folks that provide for themselves are the security threat. Breaking the dependence. Batteries and monitoring break our addiction to endless power. The dirtbag lifestyle of a minimalist where ultralight and nature are a philosophy close to religion.

Hiking wise, water in the Southwest is the rainy seasons with an eye towards El Niño or La Niña increasingly.   Arizona has two rainy seasons, while the Chihuahuan has only one in the summer; meanwhile California gets their rain usually in winter.   Note I said “usually” as historically In biogeography terms the deserts get 1 or 2 monsoons but there’s non-soons as well.  Look at the weather of course, but looks like the upcoming El Niño is going to be a biggie.  Think with a topo hikers will be good post-deluge.

There’s also realizing you’ve drawn water to treat or boil from the middle of cow-patty central, so try to avoid that.  Think there’s generally less ranching due to the overall megadrought trend however.  When is a cow patty so old it becomes soil?  Anyways ..

City-wise, almost all the big cities are implementing wastewater recycling that theoretically makes groundwater 100% recyclable.  This research was actually started by El Paso, actually a large city, in the 1980s. San Diego has desalination that’s even more expensive but makes enough to “sell” to surrounding counties or even the states of AZ, NV.  Desal water costs on the order of $3400 vs more regular water pumping at $50.

Thesr sunsets increasingly won’t be cheap (if you visit the cities, it may be BYOBw in the distant future .. bring your own bottled water).

Arrowhead?

There is no question that the prolonged drought in the mountain West is concerning. However, is the sky falling? Maybe it already has.

Anyone that has visited the sites of the Anasazi Indians should have learned of the Great Drought from about 1270 to 1300. This has been confirmed by studying tree growth rings. Because of the great drought, the Anasazi people were forced to migrate.

Modern man is just a little arrogant by thinking that weather-wise, everything should be hunky-dory

And yet, anthropogenic climate change is very real. The arrogance comes in thinking we can get away with anything and not experience the stupidity of our own actions.

https://uaf-iarc.org/2022/07/27/iarcs-giant-climate-stripes-boldly-proclaim-arctic-change/

I wish I could impress upon you how striking this display really is, and they represent some very simple but compelling data. You walk down the hallway and think “oh my god.”  And that is one tiny drop of data in a huge ocean of evidence.

Here’s an excellent free online course, very interesting.

https://uaf-accap.org/resources/climate-resources/

It’s no secret that farming consumes the biggest chunk of water throughout the Southwest. Of course less thirsty crops and more efficient techniques would help, but it’s the wasteful use from homes, golf courses and car washes that I’d like to see tackled first. The gluttonous consumption is something which should be curtailed now, however it will be tough because so many Americans are beyond spoiled. Only when the price of water gets to be so high will conservation efforts be aggressively carried out. When I left Phoenix in 2015 I paid $42 a month for water at a small 1 bedroom apartment and I was careful with how much I used. I suspect water bills will be going way up throughout The Valley.

The latest on Lake Mead water levels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abLwDP3cVDY

And if you believe in freedom / Let a man live his own life / Rules and regulations, who needs them? / Open up the door.”

Some here will recognize that line. The author had later regrets over writing it.

I’ve had customers complain about building codes. I told them that the codes protect them from me. In turn they gave me a level playing field with the compatition.

Who needs them. We do.

We need the watersheds. The control over water use. Safe housing. A safe environment.

None of this is addressed with blanket statements presenting simple answers which are used merely for propaganda. “Common sense” answers outside of the realm of facts.

We can provide all our electricity without fossil fuels, but it will take a while.

True. This is why we need to double up on developing nuclear.

Or learn to live with less.