What Will Life Look Like as MAJOR Rivers Run Dry?
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Rivers and reservoirs around the world are drying up this summer as record droughts rage on. Lake Mead along the Colorado, the largest reservoir in the nation, hit record lows. And experts fear the dreaded deadpool - where the reservoir can no longer provide water or hydropower to downstream communities - may only be a couple years away. The Yangtze river in China, the world’s 3rd largest by volume, got so low that Sichuan province experienced rolling blackouts as hydropower had to be severely rationed. And the Danube that runs through eastern Europe is currently at half its usual levels for this time of year.
So what does all of this mean? In short, it means that, as global warming continues, we are going to continue seeing record droughts and many places are, simply, going to have to live with far less water. But, more specifically, it means we are going to need to innovate both how cities and agriculture do business. In this episode of Weathered we discuss how the vast majority of water is actually used in agriculture and how the greatest gains in water use efficiency will have to come from irrigation.
Weathered is a show hosted by weather expert Maiya May and produced by Balance Media that helps explain the most common natural disasters, what causes them, how they’re changing, and what we can do to prepare.
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Neighborhoods with lawns where water is an issue is ridiculous. California pays residents to remove turf, and plant native, drought hearty plants. We did it in 2017, and our yard became amazingly beautiful, full of bees, butterflies, and color
Should have happened long ago
I've tried to explain this to others and they get irate at me saying that it is planting scrub in their yard.
@@eitkoml we actually got an award from the neighborhood for how amazing it was. All native NorCal low water plants, drip system with rain sensor. The county of Sacramento paid for half of it
Agriculture uses most of CA water. Farmers get water for much cheaper and then there is water rights which makes things worse.
I live in PA and I want to ditch my grass lawn but the neighborhood is having none of that 🙄
A while back I read a piece written by a farmer noting that she legally cannot upgrade to use more efficient irrigation methods without loosing her family's long-standing water allocation. This stupidity has been around for over 50 years, and is noted as being an obstacle every year, yet nothing is ever done about it. Another long-standing stupidity are "use it or loose it, forever" water allocation use regulations...a known problem for many years as well. Solutions are never purely supply side or purely demand side. They are all the sides.
If they made even the slight adjustment of allowing farmers to sell off that unused water, that would probably get a large number to upgrade quite quickly.
I was telling people ten years ago that water had been chosen as the new profit replacer for oil, and all our rivers and aquifers were going to be emptied under suppossed "bad management" and they all said I was insane. People choose not to see.
Not the farmers, but the bureaucracy. If it won't be used, then let them keep the allowcation.
People need to contact their representatives and get this changed!
It won't matter. The glacial ice is all melting. Yearly snowfall can't replace it. The Colorado will eventually go dry in summer.
There was a woman 20 years ago who was the czar of water management for Vegas… her far sightedness is what has kept the water flowing in a desert.. someone should do a story on her… she is AMAZING!!!
Patricia Mulroy
Except, isn't she the person who pushed for taking water from northeast Nevada and sucking it dry? Isn't she the one who said "water always flows uphill toward money?" Maybe I have my persons mixed up or maybe not?
Analyzing what?
@@wannabetowasabe in a neoliberal world, EVERYTHING flows towards the money!
The problem with efficiency is that when you say that we could grow the same amount of grass using 50% less water, the person who is selling grass will hear “I can grow twice as much grass using the same amount of water.” Efficiency under Capitalism is a paradox, it ultimately just provides cover for unsustainable growth.
Well said.
The concept you are describing is referred to as Jevons paradox.
yes reminds me of fuel efficiency in vehicles just leading to more miles driven because fuel became less expensive.
Very well said. Exactly what I was thinking when I heard them say that.
Your analysis assumes that the demand is infinite, such that all producers could double their production without cratering market prices. That's obviously not the case. More efficient producers can out-compete less efficient producers in the market place, selling to existing demand at a lower price
Cities with millions of people in the middle of a desert, makes zero sense, no matter how much you conserve the water resources, its still arrogant.
The flip side of that is that if you *can* get water into the desert, crops grow way better there than they do if you grow them where the water already is, because of the soil type, sun, and relative lack of fungal problems. That's why the biggest cities for much of human history were largely I'm arid regions. Not that that excuses the waste that it imposes, but it is worth pointing out that the cities didn't just spring up there for the hell of it
Depressingly, I have to applaud the title. *As* rivers run dry, not *If*
Growing Alfalfa with irrigation just made my inner plant scientist want to throw a meteor at the USA.
Over half of my water bill is a meter fee. If I cut my water use in half, it would reduce my water bill by about 20%. This discourages water conservation.
Las Vegas is ahead of it’s time when it comes to managing its water. From living in Hawaii to living in Las Vegas I’ve seen such a huge difference when it comes to conserving water.
@@JustinWilliams-ed2ug - Salt water. Desalinators are expensive, but the trades bring in lots of rain on the windward sides of the islands. The leeward sides are just as dry as Vegas.
@@JustinWilliams-ed2ug pretty sure you misunderstood their comment
@@JustinWilliams-ed2ug I think that _they_ thought that _you_ were the one making the desalinator point that you were arguing against in your reply. And they were trying to argue against the same point that you were against, by saying that Hawaii doesn't get its water from desalinated ocean water, but from trade winds on the windward side of the island. I gotta say that I was mighty confused when I saw you arguing against the point that I thought _you_ were making with your original reply, and in a highly aggressive manner too.
@@JustinWilliams-ed2ug oh so you were just trolling. That explains the sudden change in attitude. You just didn't care about what you were saying. Though that leads to the same question for all trolls, why? 🤔
@@JustinWilliams-ed2ug obviously a troll wouldn't say they're trolling. And forget about the "I know I'm right" attitude. The real reason I know you're trolling is that you referred to 3 comments as "all those old comments".
One of the biggest reasons for rivers running dry is to with the degradation of soil organic content. Soils that are rich in organic content can hold much more water , which then trickles into streams and rivers drop by drop. Some simple measures such as growing cover crops instead of leaving tilled and barren lands exposed to sunlight can also help with this.
Check out savesoil website savesoil dot org
It’s also good for herds to trample grass and graise naturally - we needed to get back to the old ways in this case
Maiya, I love how you present the information not just in this video but all the other weathered videos. You explain the topics in a way that makes it really easy to learn something.
She’s only pushing industrial agendas without actually exposing them, saying that industrial companies would compensate farmers for not using irrigation that they have already paid for, and set up and to irrigate their crops, and that water, instead would be used by the industrial industry which the semiconductor field alone uses a ridiculous amount of water just to create ultra clean water that is needed to clean semi conductors whether it’s from Intel, AMD or TSMC your iPhone as the M1 chip or whatever Apple didn’t make that chip it’s from TSMC and each semi conductor has numerous layers every time a layer is added you need to clean the wayfer with ultra clean water it takes millions of gallons of regular clean water to create all a small supply of ultra clean water. Yet cleaning away for uses more water than feeding cattle supply, which I don’t see them mentioning because it’s not in their best interest economically. Everyone’s focused on profiteering while we’re destroying our planet and there’s not another earth we can go to why the hell is Intel headquarters in Texas words dry no water, so where are they going to get the water from the even clean the wayfers I’m telling you a World War III is about to happen. It’s gonna be over energy semi conductors and water. what happened to information being free America, sanction China and won’t let them get the fourth generation EV ASML machine to create semiconductor of their own. Intel, AMD, and TSMC have a monopoly on semiconductor and we don’t need a new iPhone every year we need instead of spending billions of dollars and using tons of water to create ultra clean water for the semiconductors that money can instead be going towards water treatment facilities that I can take waste water and recycle it back into our water supply, as well as agriculturally. Countries like Israel have figured out a way to reuse agriculture water and recycle it so they don’t water waste. Where is America on this especially since America funds almost 90% of Israel’s projects.. How about you tell the full story, and not what you were told to say by the industry. Do more research before creating videos like this don’t get me wrong what you’re saying is true, but you’re not giving the full story dumbing it down . Now regarding Arizona crop fields that are used to grow alfalfa. We don’t need to grow that much alfalfa especially since now farmers are selling most of their cattle’s because they can’t even provide water for them yet we grow a shit ton of alfalfa and export it overseas to China especially so for one perspective do you want to do business with China selling them alfalfa but in another perspective, you don’t want China to get his hands on fourth generation ASML technology so that they can create their own semiconductors because you don’t want China to win the new space race to be able to mind space astroids and get resources from space. If you truly want more people to be aware, stop using broad terms like climate change and address every single little thing that is impacting Matt, such as all the tourists that are allowed to go in Yellowstone national Park and treating it like a Six Flags rather than natural park we need to preserve .
gotta give credit to the people writing the script too
Thank you!!
@@odoylerules4503 Absolutely!! My producers are amazing 🙌🏽
Easy to listen to and easy to look at.
It's interesting that the dude was like '64% of our water goes to growing feed for meat" but thought the solution to that was to just make irrigation more efficient... not reducing meat consumption.
what would mcdonalds sell then?
I laughed at that too. Most people can't see the wood for the trees. I'm off to have a double cheeseburger (sarcasm).
Just reducing beef and milk, cheese, butter intake would be a massive, massive improvement. Farming chicken and pork is not nearly as water-thirsty as beef. There are pretty simple swaps you can do for most of these. Chicken and pork can replace beef. There are like a dozen seed and nut milks now, Oat Milk being among the most sustainable--Just make sure to get no sugar added! Vegan butters have been around for a while now, and olive oil can replace quite a few of its uses. Plant based cheese, too.
Alfalfa is also exported from Arizona to Saudi Arabia. Kind of wack if you ask me
He is a politician so he said it without saying it.
The majority of that alfalfa in Arizona is being sold to other countries. These farmers are literally shipping our limited resources overseas to the highest bidder so it's not heartbreaking to hear fields going fallow.
Same with corn and beans (and topsoil loss from row crops, with intensive unsustainable chem use) in the midwest.
Business people are selling their products in the market that pays them the most??! Stop the presses! ;-) As long as those business people have to pay real prices for the resources they use to produce their products, what's wrong with this? The real problem is they _don't_ have to pay the real cost of production, so they're getting a free ride
Great job Las Vegas. My house is in a place where water isn't really a concern yet. However many years ago I noticed a few homes were doing low maintenance landscaping which looked really nice so I took out both lawns and landscaped with rocks, gravel , shrubs more natural. I can say I haven't brought out a garden hose since. More people should watch this video, Thanks PBS.
I think that with all of the information about permaculture and the importance of cultivating soil that this type of agriculture is irresponsible and dangerous in this day and age and it should be illegal. I also think that the states and especially the young people of those states should sure for the damage done to their future. It is time to hold these corporations accountable. No one should be above the law and the law should protect everyone's access to clean water and air. This should be a universal human right and not a privilege. Thank you for igniting this conversation and sharing the enlightening content.
It's so upsetting to see the cognitive dissonance in environmentalists when it comes to their diets and spending habits. So many people are afraid of climate change and want to fix it but continue to eat beef and pork on a daily basis. I feel like people get overwhelmed by the idea of "it's all or nothing". You dont need to be vegan to reduce your impact on the planet. It has to start with making a conscious effort to put your money where your mouth is.
Voters have to vote for that and liars like Fox News and the Republican party make that difficult.
@@PlanetZeroVideos I know so many people who express concern for the environment yet still don't look at many of their own habits. My friend loves signaling his concern yet still flies many times a year, often to parks to hike, climb and camp. Leave No Trace needs to start before the journey begins.
@@AlicedeTerre People who casually fly every month or two really upset me. If every person on Earth lived like they did, the planet would be utterly destroyed by now. It's an incredibly selfish mentality to have.
The states and federal government are complicit.
What's the answer? With as big as the problem is, we need to use every tool on the table. Incentivize farmers to make upgrades. Subsidize food items that are sustainably produced - including the sustainable usage of water - so people have better options. If it's $3.50 to get a burger and fries from a fast food place, we need to make it possible to get sustainable foods with comparable price and convenience.
A huge part of the problem is just agriculture in general. These places are just going to dry up and the problem will have to sort itself out
There's a reason junk food, aka "burger and fries" are only $3.50 and healthy food is expensive.
@@-cheshire-cat Healthy food isn't "expensive" -- it is priced to reflect its true cost of production (somewhat). Everyone's looking at this backward: junk food is subsidized, i.e. it costs TOO LITTLE. There's no need to subsidize sustainable production -- that's just adding to the problem. The solution is to STOP subsidizing unsustainable production. Normal market forces will take it from there
@@JustinWilliams-ed2ug Are you suggesting the government should buy out these millions of people? If not, since they obviously can't sell their current properties, what do you expect them to use to buy new, non-desert homes?
@@JustinWilliams-ed2ug To be clear, are you saying the people who built homes, established lives, etc., in desert communities should have known all along what would happen to the climate and the consequences for desert locations? The cost isn't a tangential issue here: if one believes society should buy these millions of people out then it makes sense to consider alternate uses for those trillions of dollars, such as making desert communities livable while we slowly shrink them, maybe as slowly as over a couple of generations
It's those feed crops that are disproportionately sucking the water resources dry. So let's address the real culprit here: Animal Agriculture. Why try to get a 10 or 25% reduction in consumption through improved efficiency? Why not get the much larger reduction that would come from reducing reliance on animal-based foods? Not only would people's health improve, but the resource consumption would drop dramatically! And then there's the reduction in emissions as well. Addressing one of the primary roots causes, means that people need to migrate towards plant-based diets.
What kind of bugs will you prefer to eat in the future? Or are you able to afford not to give a shit about prices?
the point is to have different avenues of attack, if you will, to resolve the issue. one thing alone won't fix anything. don't understand why some people think everything is an either/or issue... you can do both or more.
Not going to happen. Changing to more sustainable meat is a better option. Chicken is really good compared to other meats. Banning meat would be like banning alcohol. We also dont just get meat from animals. You would be destroying tons of production chains. Just not realistic at all.
and also, some of us who enjoy eating meat (the overwhelming majority of people) don't actually eat so much meat. I get a burger once in a while, I rarely have meats at home other than deli meats to make a sandwich. I eat beans and other source of protein because I'm Mexican-American. We like beans, they're fricking great for you with lots of fiber. You also toot here and there. Whatever. Point is, it's about moderation. no one is going to go for your down low vegan argument except other vegan/vegetarians.
@@letterkeys4440 The huge problem is BEEF, not all animal meat. Chicken/turkey much more efficient etc
I am a lettuce and passion fruit farmer in Puerto Rico, and one possible solution is for the USDA encourage and discourage the growth of produce according areas and states. Maiya, on the matter of Alfalfa you mentioned that is grown for cattle. Please investigate because I believe that it is used for cattle but a substantial amount is used for cattle in Japan for high end meat growing. And Alfalfa is over 90% water, it is literally water transferring or water being ferried outside the U.S.
I know an alfalfa farmer here in the Phoenix area that has had their water allotment cut back every year since the late 2000's. What started at 300 acres is now only sustainable at 40 acres for what water is allowed to be irrigated. I wouldn't say a 'substantial' amount is being exported, as all the feed was sent to local ranchers and dairy farms. Doesn't mean some farms aren't exclusively selling to foreign markets, but my example doesn't support your idea
75% of Arizona water goes to alfalfa. I live right next to huge fields. The alfalfa is for dairy cows. it's supposed to be primo alfalfa as far as alfalfa. It gets shipped everywhere. New Zealand decided to go all in with dairy . They used grass/pastures. In 20 years they destroyed their water with cow poop. The reason for all this desert farming ( not to justify it) is the year round growing. Yuma County gets 10+ yields a year of alfalfa. It's hard to ignore how overpopulation stresses out the environment. Young people in California are fond of saying- we're paying for lifestyle. I think we might say- we're all paying for your lifestyle. California exports 40% of what they grow and they grow a lot. CA is 13.5% of the GDP. Arizona is 1%. The whole thing is a mess.
@@stevenboldt6489 Well I've read this far down and you are the first person to state what I think is rather obvious, that "overpopulation stresses out the environment." That is the understatement of the century. It stresses out the environment in more ways than just affecting the water supply. How about soil erosion, deforestation, especially in the tropics, loss of wildlife habitat and ecosystem diversity, which is the very thing that keeps us alive. We are starting to tweak some very large systems that ensure our survival.
@@stevenboldt6489 True. California is the number one exporter of fruits, vegetables and nuts to other states. Think about that when you shop for produce.
Javier, I'm currently visiting PR from Canada. Can you explain to me why farmers in PR don't grow more? Why did I find 5 tomatoes imported from Canada for $14.50usd at Ralph's? Is it hurricanes that wipe out crops or is it due to political reasons? Thx
FYI everyone. Desalinization is incredibly energy-intensive.
True fact.
But not having water requires very little energy. Energy can be produced from wind and solar. So far we can't make it rain but we can produce more energy. Wind, solar and storage needs to be drastically increased because that is something that we can do now.
On The Flip Side Drought Leads To Famine. You Cant Have Your Cake And Eat It!
Better start harnessing more of the suns power. The world only harness less than 1 percent of free energy, the sun.
@@kennethliew7828 I think a big part of it is to also blame the industries. The whole we-all-have-to-do-our-part is corporate public relations BS. Remember the famous native American crying at litter ad? Brought to you by the plastics industry! We have to hold the powers that created this mess responsible. The main problem with your argument is the existence of stupid people. It doesn't matter how many enlightened and semi-enlightened people become vegetarian and reduce, reuse, and recycle. As long as the industries can manipulate stupid people and sell to them, there will be a critical mass and market. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am with you, but it's just that we are past this. 74 million Americans voted for Trump. They are not even close to doing their part. They are morons. We need to cut off the heads of the snakes. Not by complaining, but with concerted collective action.
Great video and presentation! It’s amazing to see how far Vegas has come in reducing and reusing water. I hope others catch on
I agree 1000%. Our local "Hualapai basin" is drying up fast due to agricultural farms not too far by. Came in, in sweeping numbers and are depleting our water fast, no regulation in our county in AZ. Makes me worrisome but AZ has been my home all my life.
Those of us who live in Australia already know what dry river beds look like, and how easily reservoirs can dry up. Many of our irrigation canals have already been replaced by pipelines. Look at our country to see what is coming, for we are already there.
This is truly terrifying this is happening.
I agree - what I'd like to see in these agricultural shifts is 1) hemp - it has thousands of important uses 2) mustard greens & chard 3) pole beans, amaranth, zucchini and okra heavily mulching these drought tolerant crops and an accelerated rotation schedule might yield enough ca$h crops for farmers in these affected areas. I'd also like to see way more construction of greenhouses out of reclaimed materials to give folks the opportunity to grow th
An explanation as to why water going down the gutters is not recycled would be useful. Yes, it will contain all the muck that comes with a car-centric urban hellscape that is basically every American city, but there are ways of cleaning that up.
Car-centric urban hellscape? Well well well it seems we have someone here who understands the shitty way we built our cities.
One thing I have learned since moving closer to desert communities. Water outside our systems like rainwater is vital for communities downstream. The reason that water is lost is two fold. One, much of it evaporates and Two what doesn't evaporate is pushed father down river basins. It is vital communities in river basins don't take excess water. Las Vegas has made this distinction between indoor water as theirs and outdoor water as evaporated or for down stream users. It has less to do with how contaminated the water gets and more to do with overall conservation. Many big cities in the west do not allow rain barrels because it removes water from the overall system. See Portland and even Las Vegas. This is a great way to conserve water.
@@clairephillippi4083 wut
@@chuckpuck6744 long and short. There are communities down stream of rain gutters that need that water. Las Vegas has made a distinction that water inside houses and buildings was for them. Water raining down or in sprinklers is for people down stream of Las Vegas. Think western Arizona and Mexico.
Hollow microfiber filters can remove most particles from water runoff. A solar still can make water safe to drink. 1 gallon a day of potable water is adequate for human consumption. Most of the water could be treated to a lower standard.
I live in BC 🇨🇦 which is like living in a rainforest but this yr we had maybe 2 days of rain since June and its Oct 16 and it was 22c today .that's not normal and our water source never been so low .things are changing real quick 😕
But then in November it's going to 'atmospheric river' flood the PNW again like last year.
I'm down in Seattle and can attest to how hot and dry this summer/early fall has been. This was after record rainfall during the last rain season.
Well how much seeding of the clouds are the states doing to screw up our weather up here in Canada and around the world. They mismanage everything in life right up to electing a sick corrupt president Biden.
Exactly. People in the Pacific Northwest enjoy dry summers because we have it wet the rest of the year. But every time it seems we go 30 days without rain, somebody has to jump on a soapbox & say we need rain. No we don’t. We have snow high in the mountains & it rarely all melts, but when it does it’s just like rain in streams, creeks, & rivers & in BC the Fraser River has never ran dry, nor the Columbia or other rivers in Washington & Oregon. However, it is noticeable recently this region has been melting snow pacs faster & hitting a record 120°f 2 summers ago in BC, the hottest temp ever in Canada & 120° in Washington State and 113° that day in the suburbs surrounding Seattle when before 2020 I could count how many days I experienced over 100° in my life on one hand. This certainly is testament to warmer dryer summers, but we are also getting these atmospheric rivers which make flooding more common & basically just wash out to the Pacific. A total waste of fresh water. If the SW needs water, we have built pipelines for oil, diesel, gasoline, but how many for clean fresh water? We don’t need all the water we have & these atmospheric rivers are not expected to go away. Maybe we can solve some of our river flooding issues & build a fix for our friends south, because if we don’t, they’ll just move here.😊
@@cme98 go jump in the river ! You start changing thing and it will end up let Lake Mead. Haven’t you guys learnt yet don’t F with Mother Nature.
Thanks! I’m surprised the video did not mention the evaporation percentage when using sprinklers. 30-50% evaporation rate. Pure waste.
Would definitly say that the incentive structure for efficiency improvement needs to be rethought. I mean, the most obvious thing would be to just decrease the allocation while subsidizing the cost of the equipment used for improving efficiency. They have the same amount of land as before, if the equipment needed to be able to use all of it with less water costs less it will be feasable for them to adapt to their decreased allocation. Or you could charge for water instead of allocating but provide free equipment to go with the now not free water.
Great information in a concise and intelligible format. Thank you!
Thanks Matt! Glad you enjoyed this episode 🙌🏽
Great job with this series. It's presented in a very easily understood way, which is what people gotta have of they are to get value from it. Kudos to you and your whole team!
Most farmers have small profit margins. Anything that causes them to spend more money or reduces yields can put them out of business. If we want agriculture to change, we have to ensure farmers can still make a living.
Everyone I know who has direct constant contact with farmers tell me they are mostly millionaires. They just don't project their wealth. If the government setup a program to upgrade their irrigation systems that made it worth it to do so they would. Successful farmers are intelligent businessmen.
Automate. Grow everything indoors, under LED lights in a computer controlled environment, harvested and maintained by robotics.
@@pandoraeeris7860 Eventually, yes.
Then maybe those farmers with small profit margins should start calling out large corporate farms and their water usage who have dominated certain parts of California and Arizona with irresponsible water intensive crop exports.
@@kurtsampson4942 Solar farming might be the answer for some, happening in southern MI, getting ready to go big scale. Currently farming row crops, corn and soybeans (with lots of chems), unsustainable and losing topsoil in the midwest from what I've read and experienced first hand living in a rural area there.
Why is there no discussion in the video about golf courses? Acres of useless land that do nothing but suck up all the water. All the conservation efforts Las Vegas does is outdone a thousand times over with stupid golf courses. Drastically raise the water bills on those places and most of them will have to close down because of costs. Gotta hurt them in the pocket.
Golf courses are incredibly wasteful and i do agree that they need to change but there's few enough of them that it really doesn't make sense to make them a main priority. The inefficiencies they present are dwarfed by the inefficiencies of the animal agriculture system and our current drought-amplifying water retention methods
There are over 200 golf courses in phoenix area. It’s a destination for golfers and retirees. Phoenix can’t give up their water addiction and it will be their downfall.
@@jakelittle1261 California has lots of incentives for homeowners. The local water district where I live is paying for grass to be removed. We get substantial payments for installing water saving devices such as low flush toilets, low flow showerheads, dishwashers and clothes washers. When my wife and I remodeled our house 10 years ago these incentives allowed us to spent more money on other parts of the remodel, none of which required any water consumption.
I'm in Colorado. I legally have to have a decent looking lawn or else my city fines me. It takes like a thousand gallons per day that I water it. They just recently allowed rain barrels in Colorado, 110 gallons, a fraction of what I'd need for a single watering. We are not taking this problem seriously.
It’s illegal to have a xeriscape? Sounds fascist
Just stop watering and refuse to pay the fines, they're the ones who are going to look bad in the public eye if they try to fight you on it. I'd normally say I understand someone not wanting to take a fight on themself but it sounds like you have significant resources if you have a lawn of that size and enough money to water it in the first place.
You can maintain a yard without having a perfectly manicured lawn e.g. large flower beds or mulched areas with low water plants. Even certain grasses are more drought tolerant than others.
@@sabrinusglaucomys For reference, my water bill is $3.92 per 1,000 gallons. You're supposed to water about 1 inch of water over the lawn once a week. For 1,000 gallons that works out to be a 1,604 square foot yard, or about 40'x40'. With these resources I can afford to send a somewhat strongly worded letter... but not too strongly worded.
Rock gardens! Look at Arizona
I spend two months in S. Arizona most winters. Very disheartening to drive thru mile after mile of water intensive crops like alfalfa and cotton. Who the hell ever authorized that?!
The free market system. No one seems to want to repeat what Alan Greenspan said after the Great Recession of 2008-2009, that the free market system doesn't always make the right decisions. Up to that point Greenspan was the darling boy of conservative capitalists.
This exact question has been bothering me lately. Thank you!!!!
There will be amazing innovation going on... right after the water runs out.
Right?
The innovations today are pushing that deadline out farther and farther, as the green revolution did for terrible predictions about populations outstripping food supplies.
We could do way more to capture rain and snow run off and force it to percolate into the land rather than letting it run out to sea or lakes where it evaporates quickly when hot. More land is going to turn into desert if we don't start capturing virtually every bit of rain and snowmelt run off through permaculture. If all landowners were made to do permaculture projects on every bit of land from the high mountains to foothills to the valleys, almost all rain and snow run off would be forced to percolate into the ground instead of flooding or running off in rivers to the ocean. The land owners would do the work but would benefit from having healthier and more fertile soil. It's better to store the water in the ground because it doesn't evaporate. Water stored in lakes can have an evaporation rate of 90 percent in extreme circumstances. Other benefits from extensive permaculture is healthier forests, more water for farmers, refilling out aquafers, less chances of flooding, and a much better local environment that's full of plants that are soaking up all CO2 from the air.
A Grand Solar Minimum Occurs Every 400 Years Or So. The Myan Race Perished Due To Their Inability To Irrigate Their Crops 2 Cycles Ago (800 Years). This Is A Celestial Phenomenon Beyond The Control Of Us Mere Mortals. "Desalination For Irrigation" & Waste Water Should Have Already Been Put In Place. It Is Too Late To Shut The Barn Door After The Horse Has Bolted.!! Conserve What We Have And Find Better Ways To Harvest The Rains. Ways That Capture And Store This Commodity Without The Run Off Which Ultimately Can Lead To Flooding.
Somehow, I don't think you've ever traveled around the southwestern United States all that much. Maybe not that much in the entire western U.S. What you say sounds like terraforming Mars. Farmland is a very small portion of the western U.S.
@@JustinWilliams-ed2ug kzhead.info/sun/or1xlNdseZt9ZHk/bejne.html
BEEF / MEAT IS THE MOST NUTRIENT DENSE FOOD ON EARTH. Most plants have low bio-availability of nutrients / minerals. Many plants BLOCK the absorption of nutrients when eaten together. Finding a way to feed ruminant animals is ESSENTIAL to man's nutritional survival and health, as is husbanding ALL water resources.
Great idea Vegas, glad to see and hear about the change
Such a well directed video. Thanks for the info!
Thanks for watching. Glad you enjoyed the episode!
Please tell me you've got like three more parts to this episode
I like the way you're thinking!
Before we end up in a Mad Max world.
@@kennethliew7828 You sound like a shill for fossil fuel
@@infinitemonkey917 I'm saying what the UN IPCC scientists are reporting. fossil fuels are also a major polluter but so is animal agriculture. did you read the report?
I would say the following: 1) We do NOT "need" the highly destructive beef industry and its related massive water allocations for feed grasses. 2) We do NOT "need" grass laws and/or private swimming pools in the freaking desert. 3) We do NOT "need" to continue with our extreme car-centric culture. Here are a few things we DO need: Home construction practices that actually fit in with the different regions we live in and, on that same vein, city planning that encourages alternative modes of transportation to serve not only city-wide, but long distances as well. Think combining the convenience of the '15 minute neighborhood' model (where there are groceries, restaurants, schools, shopping etc..all within a 15 minute walking/biking distance), with wide spread and frequent public transport to take anywhere else you want. The truth is that we, especially in stubbornly "head-in-the-sand" US, are going to have to change our willfully wasteful ways...or die.
Here's an anecdotal progression that I've observed in Arizona (even before the mandatory reduction of Colorado River water in certain countries): 1. Farmers fallow their crops due to water limitations (including pricing systems designed to discourage wasteful use). 2. Farmers sell their land to massive developers/international investors in order to pursue better opportunities elsewhere. 3a. Investors purchase the land primarily for the water rights, then they harvest relocate the water out of the area or factory farm. 3b. Developers build hideous tracts of massive "disposable" (stick frame & stucco) single family homes and "amenities". These homes attract out of state purchasers from more water-rich areas. The new residents are general water-wasters who expect things like lush lawns/fields, non-native plants, and sprawling golf courses. They are also highly put off by the concept of reclaimed water for irrigation use. These developments literally blow through the area water tables without providing any real benefit to anyone. 4. The land is purchased by solar "farmers"... but the nearby residents of 3b developments (see above) throw massive NOT IN MY BACKYARD fits, frequently causing solar purchasers to just give up and sell to 3a & 3b purchasers.
And we learned nothing about the Danube or the Yangtze. Also that water girl never breaking eye contact with her script was kinda creepy
Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view!" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment ?"
The common denominator for all these places with water shortage - huge population and putting all there trust in one river. Look at the Nile as an example.
It's sad for the farmers and communities, but it just doesn't make sense to spend all that water on crops in the middle of a desert.
Why would they keep using the old metric for how much water to allocate, that’s actually insane
This all sounds really good. I grew up on the Columbia River in the great pacific north west in Washington state. I have all so seen that river once in my life Time really low in late August. I think the guy is thinking that his martinis are going to keep coming, and that his next one won't be his last be cause the bank never runs dry.
Suicide is dependent on observing individuals. Homicide as well. It is not effective or responsible to leave treatment up to the impacted individual. They can't rebound without trying, but no one survives isolation. It is a long list of types that are at risk, and the number that stand in prolonged depression is more vast. Where we fail is understanding that professional help and medication isnt enough. Drifting away from those who are broadcast their decline, and those who disappear, firmly attributes blame. You did nothing and later regret for what you could have done solves nothing. It is a leason that cant be positively gained from. Go check on someone, in person. You have the time.
So that means that already warmer areas will see a larger increase in water vapor capacity. Scary.
I know! And pretty quickly
@@pbsterra Sentences usually end with a punctuation mark. In this case, quickly period. ... quickly.
@@majoroldladyakamom6948 Jerk
Thanks much for sharing!
Thanks for watching! 😀
I would replace the grass in my yard with something that didn't need mowing and be very happy about it...
Right??? Me too.
As many have said, It’s pretty sad the solution can’t just be eat 30% less meet without somebody saying that this would infringe on his tegridy 🤦♂️ It’s so easy we deserve all the shit that will catch up with us for this
Tegridy? What is that?
@@brownro214 ROFL it's a South Park reference.
@@NightRunner417 So does the reference to "meet" instead of "meat" have something to do with South Park also. I really can't follow his comment. Then again, I've never watched South Park.
@@wannabetowasabe Nopers, that's either total surrender to autocorrect or total failure of English. Could be both, I suppose.
@@JustinWilliams-ed2ug Post 30% less. We all have to do our part!
If it's true our nation was built on inconveniencing others for our benefit whether it was the original inhabitants or the great Forests of the East then it depends on if we've actually changed enough to imagine living if all resources were equally distributed among every inhabitant including animals and plants on the Earth.
Woah woah woah, this is america. You say anything like that again and the anti-communist police will come after you
Each mosquito would get equal resources with each whale? Got it.
Not going to happen.
@@normanwells2755 - ever heard of a food chain? Species in a particular chain are dependent upon all of the species below it for their survival. Yes, mosquitoes are part of a chain.
@@pkerber Congrats for missing the point entirely.
Monocropping and inefficient irrigation practices are the name of the game. The rules determining land ownership, debt structuring for farmers, farmer middle men contracts, and how companies like Monsanto can hang farmers out to dry just in getting the seed they need is ridiculously rigged to enrich big AG. We supplement farming but we also supplement or turn a blind eye to big business, it’s time we regulate and make sure that by law sustainable practices are utilized in terms of water use and soil retention and make the big companies involved pay most of the difference in cost instead of consumers or farmers.
How to start preparing. Take three days during the work week and turn off your electric and water. Make do with what you can and write down things you needed and didn't have or tasks that were difficult. After you have this list, research alternatives Eat, wear and consume cheaper. Choose cheaper meals to create room in your grocery budget to put back food. Wear second hand clothes or put a spending freeze on clothes shopping in order to make room to buy what you'll need for the future (especially if you have small children who grow frequently). Consume less electricity, gas, propane by finding alternatives. This may mean using a crock pot, hang drying clothes, using candles at night and opening windows for sunshine during the day etc. With the wiggle room you've created in those bills you now have some money to buy more food storage, medical supplies or invest in a small solar unit. Make an edc bag. This is something you will carry all the time (on your person or in your car) that could provide you with what you and your family need for 3 nights. Think about what you may put into an overnight bag if you were to stay at a hotel. This will ensure even if something happens and you're out you're able to shelter in place Understand how to take care of medical emergencies at home. Remember that in a major event, ems could be down or unavailable for sometime. While this is never the first line of defense in an emergency, understanding how to manage medical emergencies (high infections, deep wounds, pneumonia, asthma attacks, shock, 2nd and 3rd degree burns, poisoning, radiation sickness, torn ligaments, allergic reactions, excessive bleeding) while you wait on help can be life and death. Food, water, temperature control are your highest priorities. If faced with a major event where services are limited for more than 3 days, having stored food as well as a way to cook, a way to filter and store water, and a way to keep yourself cool or warm can be life altering. Please remember as we are entering or for some of us are already in uncertain times, having this foundation gives security as well as lowers stress. It allows us to feel more in control and gain a more positive perspective on not only our lives but the world. I'm willing to answer any questions from my own experience in the comments if you feel overwhelmed!
The Eco system of the underground water has used way to much. Eventually the the largest farm lands of the great plains of the United States will run dry or to salty to use. That day is coming. Cat is out of the bag 🎒😳
And that cat is asking "can you spell Ogallala?"
Well that happens when you ask a cat to spell. Cat was drunk and I said good enough someone will respond with the correct spelling. 🤣
An interesting presentation. The thing that needs to be remembered is that there isn't any 'one' solution to the fresh water problems the world faces. Many changes in a variety of 'systems' need to be made for things to stabilize. Note I said stabilize not replenish. Each and every change is interlocked and none of them gives 'immediate' results. It's a sad reality will become worse. Unfortunately, a large portion of population do not understand what is happening and why. An even larger number of people don't want to acknowledge we have a problem.
Good on Nevada! Would add it's easier to build better infrastructure from scratch vs retrofitting an old established system particularly in the desert. Also wondering how much water they were wasting before 'reducing by 64%'? Finishing with Vegas has SOOOO much cash flowing which again makes things a little easier.
And here in the Philippines, rivers are rising up. 😬 My hometown in the North of Manila is now drench in flood all year round, even in the summer.
Mybe grow more native plants like we have hundreds of thousands in America alone. Line roads with trees to reduce heat flooding sound from loud cars and trucks and provides food. Mesquite trees are native to deserts and we got 13 edible kinds 1 of doesn't tast good so 12 desert native edible food trees cactus we got thousands and there edible too well 60% of them. Fun fact only 5% of the energy for las vegas comes from the dam the other 80% garbage and the rest solar or wind.
Such a good video. Thanks!
Thanks for watching! 🙌🏽
10:50 we will do a little bit of both but not nearly enough, the reservoirs will drain until they're dry.
We are going to have to greatly reduce forage crops, and instead grow crops people can eat. That means, we will need to reduce our meat consumption. I'm not a vegetarian, although I was for a dozen years from 1969-1980. I'm working on reduction. Recently, I noticed I hadn't consumed meat for a week or so, and hadn't even planned on it. It's a healthy alternative for the planet, and the individual human. One barrier is that our culture is highly meat oriented. We've made it so much easier to have a rounded meat-centered diet than it is for a meatless (or reduced meat) diet.
I love your videos. thank you!
Increase the microbiology in your soil. Mycorrhizae fungi can move water through their network. They can go down 30 feet and move water upwards to the plants. They might be able to create even larger networks, possibly the size of a football field.
100%! I'm growing in sand but have utilized compost, leaves, grass clippings, charged biochar, bentonite clay, worms and worm Castings, you name it! It's developed into a thriving little ecosystem where the predators take care of my pests. Birds, Bees and Butterflies are everywhere, and life is thriving in a once barren space!
Would it survive the heat of Arizona?
@@crayonburry I'm not sure but they do it in Africa and the Queen in Jordan has a program to replant (their problem is sheep/goats overgrazing but heat, too) Plants transpire and lower temps it's why they're planting trees in Phoenix and using that reflective asphalt. The fungi and bacteria and microscopic nematodes that make up that whole food soil web eat each other and help the plants to uptake the nutrients in the soil. Elaine Ingram said they can go down 30 feet to bring up water to the plants but the unproven thought is their network might be the size of a football field. we had 100s degrees for over a month in Kansas. I didn't amend and barely watered, my dirt is almost dead. I've kept my garden alive but there are no worm worms and prob no microbial life. the worms are the tell that and not even weeds. I've got leaves to put on the soil and I'm going to spend the $ and amend it. The growth was off the charts last year. I should add I spilled sunflower seeds in the grass last year(I have no grass to speak of this year, the drought) and i had 12 sunflowers come up 3 feet from my garden bed. I transplanted 7 but left 5 no watering no feeding nothing they grew to 13 feet in that rock hard dirt and was an attraction for humming birds and finches and all flying bugs. JSMH.
@@crayonburry With enough wood chips and ground cover to protect it, yes. Look up The Soil Food Web by Dr Elaine Ingham.
@@koicaine1230 with enough wood chips? How many trees are we gonna have to cut down for the Colorado basin?
Growing grass in a desert for livestock is just insanity. Grow grass in wet areas, raise cattle in wet areas
Excellent reporting as usual!
As the late Sam Kinneson once said about the famine in Africa, don't move the food to the people, move the people to the food. We have to reorient that entire ecosystem.
People already were where the food was in Africa. Famines weren't like they are now prior to the widespread colonization and destabilization of the continent. So many people lost their traditional food sources when land was cleared for other productions and have been forced into cities just to eat. That could be seen as moving them where the food is sure, but it also ignores that that's why there's no food in the first place
Africa is a continent not a country. Only certain nations and areas in those particular nations in Africa was going through a famine not the whole continent of Africa.
Good idea. Let's move them here.
That's easy to say when you're not the one being moved to the food
America Is A Big Country! It Is Not All The States That Are Able To Produce Sustinance Enough For Their Own Populus's. It Doesn't Matter If One State Faces Famine. Why Hell No! Your Ignorance Is Only Surpassed By Your Written Words. This Is A Global Phenomenon To Which We Need Solutions After All We Are All Worldonians!!
One thing I would consider is creating solar & wind farms for the Vegas area. It would cut down on the water used to run the hydro-electric dams, and therefore, conserve more water.
I agree with increasing wind and solar but water used in hydroelectric dams isn't lost.
This is such an amazing video!! I cannot tell you how useful this information is and how much I appreciate the content and all the work that went into it. I’m a homeschooling parent of teens. My teens, their friends (Homeschooling, and not) and many parents are very interested and all these types of topics related to water, climate change, efficiency, etc. Thank you thank you thank you.
Everytime a farmer ships out a small amount of produce, he's actually shipping out a small amount of water with it. Fruits and vegetables are mostly water.
Water should not be wasted growing forage crops in arid areas such as deserts. The South West needs a major attitude adjustment. Too much of the water is just wasted. You need to realistically grow crops in accordance with local weather realities. The existing current system is designed to encourage in appropriate crop choices and a huge amount of wasted water growing crop that a not climatically suited to local reality
Agrivoltaics is growing crops in the shade of solar panels. Maybe an idea whose time has come.
Talk to indigenous people and find out how they farmed historically and what low water foods they grew in desert areas. Perhaps we need to learn to eat differently as well.
Some people already eat vegan.
I think the Pueblo people were forced to move due to drought. They were not immune to drought and we can’t be either.
Native practices are great for non industrial farm/community farms but this is an impossible task for our current industrial farms to feed a global population. Over consumption and waste is the issue, which must be addressed to start conserving resources. Mega droughts have come to the southwest before, and lots of tribes suffered and were completely wiped out
9:50. Fatmers are discouraged from upgrades because the only benefit is that the saved water goes to another user. Somewhere in that sentence is the summary of our species.
Lawns have virtually disappeared in Vegas. Golf courses are being torn out on a regular basis. Parks are all desert features. Only native desert plants are being planted in public spaces. I think we should really look into things like white pavement and massive solar cells mandatory for all buildings.
Sadly, even with all of the near term technological fixes, we will be fallowing the entire southwest - not just in agricultural terms. This kind of thing happened before. Just ask any Anasazi.
Too bad they aren't around anymore to ask. Oh wait, I think that is your point!
How much water is exported out of areas such as California by the sales of Wine or other crops that require lots of water?
So one thing I have heard recently that los Vegas has been pump water into underground storage area even as lake mead is drying up and they currently have enough for the next 20 years already stored so I wonder where the water going
What I don't understand is why not cover those open aqua ducts to combat evaporation. They go on for miles and miles.
Other cities need to take some notes and should try to improve efficiency as well. Great video!
Agriculture is the biggest consumer of water. I think.
You’re correct!
The Thirsty West: 10 Percent of California’s Water Goes to Almond Farming
@@royboy7401 It takes 7 gallons of water to grow one almond. That makes almond milk seen a whole lot more wasteful than cow's milk.
Drought appears to be decreasing globally (Watts et al, 2018) measured by SPI 1901-2017.
6:15 😮 WOW…. Hats off.
What Las Vegas is doing to conserve water is encouraging!
We have a small pond that we can draw water from and use desalination to turn it into potable water. Who knows, maybe even the remnants of what is separated, called brine, can be further processed into useful materials for something involving batteries. Since these materials are so valuable to the future economy, one could predict a situation where the owners of such processing plant would beg their customers to use even MORE water.
Nestle joins the chat..... All your water belongs to us.
Let's say Vegas recycles back to Lake Mead for storage. What keeps CA, AZ & Mexico from using it up... Eg: clip @ 9:34. AS soon as you fallow fields people build houses... Start by getting rid of high water usage crops unneeded in the USA. Tunnel Mississippi flood basin to the SW. Start building desal plants, you hate them but we need water. "You don't scramble for water". Thank you for a great video!
I really like this show. The host is awesome in sooooo many ways.
Aw, thanks so much! 😀
Would've liked to see more about China and Germany and compare strategies. Guess that's out of the budget.
Future episodes!
The Swiss people drank almost all of the water from the Rhine river this summer, leaving almost none for germany.
0:40 That point didn't make sense. Because the warmer air can hold more water, the air can transport more water from the oceans to the land. Globally it has always been dryer when it was cold (for example during the last ice age). With global warming, it will get less dry over all. However, certain areas can get dryer because of changing weather patterns. Let's say a given volume of air with a humidity of 100% cools down from 15°C to 10°C. The result is rain, because the cooler air can't hold as much water. Now add global warming. The same volume of air with a humidity of 100% now cools from 17°C to 12°C. The result is more rain than in example one, because the 5K drop of temperature now causes a larger drop in water storage capacity. Leading to more rain, not less.
Great info!
Why did we think it was a smart idea to having farming in the desert?
Agriculture in and of itself is not the problem. Native Americans have been farming in the desert sustainably for tens of thousands of years. The problem is that we are forcing western mass production style farming in an environment that is not suitable for it and growing crops that aren’t suitable for the desert
You guys do a very good job with science communication!
Las Vegas gets one of the smallest water allocations from the Colorado River. About 330,000 Acre feet compared to over 2 million for Phoenix. Because Las Vegas was very small compared to Phoenix when the water allocations were made. While the other cities have been improving, they have to start doing everything that Las Vegas is doing. As well we have to eliminate the raising of cotton in the south-west and to reduce the amount of water used for growing animal feed by 50%, Yes this will increase the cost of meat. Something we have to live with. When I lived in Orange County in CA from 2001 to 2010, I was amazed at how much residential grass there is, The people there have to start to realize they life in an arid area and start adopting Las Vegas landscaping as the norm there. Place much higher prices on the rates charged for water beyond the base amounts allowed now.
When the temperature in certain places rise it falls in other places. This is how the water works as well large cycles usually. These places that are experiencing droughts the most abnormally dry places will flood eventually, this is something we can track throughout history. But it gets worse when humans try to alter the flow of water by building dams. There is a perfect balance of flow and evaporation that interference messes up completely.
Hi Joseph. Human interference in so many of natures processes has expanded along with our capacity to tinker at will. Another form of what you call water displacement that I am wondering about the impacts of is the amount of water that is being removed from inland lakes to fight forest fires. I assume most of it evaporates, but it takes a long time for water to reach a lake in an ordinary cycle, doesn’t it? So we are taking it out where a hundred years ago we were technologically incapable, and at ever increasing rates because the extent of fires that are now occurring- and which must be fought because human habitation is moving into areas where fifty or a hundred years ago we had no direct interest that made us need to fight the fires that did occur. (Any thoughts on this possibility?)
@@Laurencemardon i hadn't even thought of the massive increase in large forest fires and all the water being moved to different places where its carried away after evaporation. Yes that absolutely would increase the rate that the imbalances occur. And there are quite a few places with record rain fall that were dry and wet places with record drought.
@@voice-of-the-flame they keep on acting short term and solve the problem short term so no need to look or think long term, right??
Good video on the issues.
Droughts are not caused merely by warm air. Don't forget all rain comes from evaporation. Droughts are when the vastly complex weather veriables keep precipitation from occurring within a region at an extreme level. The rain always falls however on other regions.
There are many factors that prevent precipitation. Here in humid south Texas the dew point is often too high during much of the summer. Aeresols in the atmosphere cause cloud condensation into droplets. I don't claim to know very much about rainfall, its a complex subject. The tropical rain forests are pretty warm.
No, the rain doesn't always fall somewhere else. If the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere increases then the total water carrying capacity of the atmosphere goes up and, as pointed out in this video, it does so superlinearly. If it gets hot enough rain could cease entirely in huge areas of the earth's surface (not saying we'll get to that point any time soon, but a steady decrease in the total amount of rain falling on earth is virtually certain at this point)
As We Are Entering The 'EDDY MINIMUM' The Sun Is Loosing Some Of It's Magnetic Pull. This In Turn Causes The Jet Stream To Go Out Of Flow Thus Causing The Weather Anomalies That The Planet Is Experiencing. The Previous Grand Solar Minimum Was The, 'MAUNDER MINIMUM' 1645. This Was When The Peasants In Parts Of Europe Starved, Commonly Known As The Little Ice Age. This Was The Period In Time When Marie Antoinette Is Credited Witb The Phrase "Let Them Eat Cake" The French Revolution Shortly Thereafter Ensued Primarily Due To Crop Failures And The Then Supply Chain Issues.