Well hot damn! Legislative water conservation efforts continue in America’s dirthole.
Southwestern states: Nevada, California, and Arizona are now coming to an agreement on 400,000 unused acre-feet of water in Lake Mead. Which is a big deal for a few reasons.
You can read the article here:
http://tucson.com/news/science/environment/arizona-earns-federal-assurances-on-lake-mead-water/article_13641985-2a56-501d-8a09-d3d5cb0eed60.html
But do that later.
Arizona had a snarky tone. Very insistent on acknowledging ownership of the water. And it is theirs, about 345,000 acre-feet of it. California appears to not want to touch this and will let NV and AZ settle it.
Okay so why this is important…
The ordinance for the Law of the River, the ancient agreement of 1922, establishes each "lower basin" state their yearly Colorado River water allotment. Nevada only gets 0.3 million acre-feet per year. Check out that interesting tidbit here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_Compact
But that link's not important right now.
Nevada gets hosed. The water Arizona has been storing since 2014 has grown bigger than Nevada's yearly allotment. Arizona is saying to Nevada, “Hands off, its mine, I’m saving it for later.” Must be tough for Vegas. With the lake outside their city.
Some other state just told them, “Even less of that is yours.” And there's nothing they can do. The Law of the River is final.
California seems to be taking a back seat because the 50,000 acre-feet not claimed is around 1% of their allotment. All they say to Arizona is, "that’s yours, but let’s talkboutsomethings.” They might want to push for changes in the Law. Arizona would not be considered an ally when it comes to the Law. I assume they want to be on Arizona's good side, they are the only State with land claims to all four of the southern-most high capacity reservoirs: Lakes Powell, Mead, Mohave, and Havasu.
The storage of water is complex, as with most things in 90 year old laws. Often the states just sell the water for a quick buck. But have you seen the water market today?! States are less inclined to trade bulk water purchases for cash. That water’s needed. Arizona knows this well. They are some of the best in the business when it comes to water management. Sometimes...
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-water/2016/05/19/what-drought-nestle-plans-35-million-plant-bottle-water-phoenix/84599910/
Nestle is expecting 264,000,000 half-liters of water, roughly 105 acre-feet per year.
For all of you that are not in the SW and don’t see this as your problem, here’s a nice article for you.
http://articles.courant.com/2005-09-16/news/0509160148_1_conservation-measures-willimantic-river-water-situation
Rivers are running dry in Connecticut. They might be running dry in a state or country near you!
From The Big Short, do you remember what Michael Burry began investing in after the crash?
Water!
Pay attention to the crisis. Because it is a crisis, its just not scary yet.
Don't freak out though. Water’s exciting! But it’s also very slow moving.
Comment below, and please excuse me while I tag for a wage.
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