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“Why are we planning for growth when we need to cut back?” asks editorial

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 13, 2007 at 7:39 am

From the Albuquerque Tribune, this editorial which paints a gloomy picture for the southwest:

If we don’t stop wasting public resources on growth that could well end up impoverishing us all, I see a systems breakdown caused by bad water, water shortages and aquifer depletion, traffic congestion, air pollution, astronomical fuel prices, global warming, drought and increasingly expensive trucked-in food.

The systems breakdown and drought in the West will cause a growing exodus from California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico to the Midwest and East Coast, where water and public transit and agriculture are more stable.

If the mountain snowpacks in California and Colorado continue to recede, as they will during the next 18 years, unless we do the impossible and reverse global warming, ruinous things will happen.

Every state that depends on the Colorado River for some of its water will be left drier than ever. In Albuquerque, that means not only will our aquifer continue to shrink, but our water table in the valley will lower drastically, affecting agriculture just when we need to start growing more of our own food.

California’s shrinking snowpack, which is the source of the vast majority of its water, will have an impact on New Mexico. California desalinization and recycling processes will require massive new amounts of energy. And chances are that will have to come from coal-fired power plants in Navajo-owned parts of New Mexico and other coal-rich areas, heating up global warming. Long waits for nuclear power would be impractical.

October 13, 2007 · Filed Under Water & Development