I live in the southwest USA and the mountains near me just sparked up again. People in the local sub are somehow surprised because it rained an inch or two last week. They literally don't conceive of the notion that decades of drought can't be undone by a few days of cold rain and snow.
The American West is going to be on fire every summer and fall for the rest of our lives. People are gonna complain about the smoke and never question why we're growing water intensive crops and lawns full of grass in the goddamn desert.
Isn't civilian lawns still a rather low part of total water consumption in the American Southwest? I thought a good part of water consumption there was still from agricultural/industrial/commercial use. (Though growing a bunch of grass for no reason in the desert certainly isn't helping)
Yeah, you're absolutely right that that lawns are a small part of total water consumption. I can't remember exactly what the source was, but if I remember right then personal water consumption is less than 10% of water use in the US West. I know I shouldn't blame individuals and their lawns for our terrible waste of water here but it does feel like it gives people the illusion that there's unlimited water to use.
p.s. Found a couple sources that say that irrigation and livestock are responsible for about 85% of water use while public consumption is about 10-15%. 12
I live in the southwest USA and the mountains near me just sparked up again. People in the local sub are somehow surprised because it rained an inch or two last week. They literally don't conceive of the notion that decades of drought can't be undone by a few days of cold rain and snow.
The American West is going to be on fire every summer and fall for the rest of our lives. People are gonna complain about the smoke and never question why we're growing water intensive crops and lawns full of grass in the goddamn desert.
Isn't civilian lawns still a rather low part of total water consumption in the American Southwest? I thought a good part of water consumption there was still from agricultural/industrial/commercial use. (Though growing a bunch of grass for no reason in the desert certainly isn't helping)
Yeah, you're absolutely right that that lawns are a small part of total water consumption. I can't remember exactly what the source was, but if I remember right then personal water consumption is less than 10% of water use in the US West. I know I shouldn't blame individuals and their lawns for our terrible waste of water here but it does feel like it gives people the illusion that there's unlimited water to use.
p.s. Found a couple sources that say that irrigation and livestock are responsible for about 85% of water use while public consumption is about 10-15%. 1 2
yep
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