Water Education Foundation
This is just one post in the Colorado River & the Southwest Category
Click here to view all posts

Adding up the water deficit: Even Lake Mead, the biggest reservoir in the U.S., will eventually run dry if its outgo consistently exceeds income, says commentary

Posted by: Maven on January 14, 2012 at 6:40 am

From the Los Angeles Times, this commentary by William deBuys, author of the newly released “A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest”:

“Southern Californians are used to turning on the tap, or the sprinklers, and getting the water they want. Their ability to do so depends, in large part, on the Colorado River and the reservoir it feeds, Lake Mead.

In 2008, Tim Barnett and David Pierce, scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, wrote that the lake — a lifeline not just for Southern California but for much of the desert Southwest — would soon teeter at the brink of failure. The Review-Journal in Las Vegas, a city especially dependent on that lifeline, responded with predictable bluster: “We’d love to buy some action on the odds provided by Mr. Barnett and Mr. Pierce. They can name the amount at stake. Are they willing to put their money where their mouths are?” … “

Continue reading this commentary at the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.

January 14, 2012 · Filed Under Colorado River & the Southwest

Comments

Leave a Reply