Reallocating Water More Sensibly in the West: A Necessary Step to Avoid Ugly Consequences

Key Highlights :

1. There is a water crisis in the West, and it is affecting both households and agriculture.

2. The crisis is caused by overuse and underpricing of water.

3. The key to resolving the crisis is to ration water like we do goods in a market economy. This would be difficult to do, and would require a lot of pain for farmers.

     Rio Verde Foothills, Arizona, is a small community that has been hit hard by water shortages this year. The city of Scottsdale, which had been supplying water to the area, recently cut off the supply in order to conserve water for its own residents. This has resulted in rationing and timed showers in the area, and has brought to light a crisis that is affecting the entire West. The West was built on cheap water that is now running out from overuse and underpricing, and climate change is exacerbating the situation.

     The biggest user of water in the West is not households, sprawling lawns, fountains, industry, or golf courses, but farming. A study found that 88 percent of water in 17 Western states was used by agriculture, with alfalfa fields alone drinking up almost three times as much as all households. Almonds, in particular, require 3.2 gallons of water for each almond.

     Researchers have determined that the Southwest is experiencing a megadrought that is the worst in at least 1,200 years. Wells have been drying up as far north as Oregon, and the Great Salt Lake in Utah has shrunk by two-thirds. Unfortunately, the wet winter and spring this year have not been used to devise a new water regime. Politicians are hesitant to impose necessary cuts on agriculture and other uses.

     The Rio Verde Foothills offer a glimpse of what more Americans may face if we do not reconfigure how we manage water. Water bills are soaring and families are saving water in red buckets in their sinks to use for flushing toilets. There is also a fear of wildfires, as it is unclear where the water would come from to fight them.

     The solution lies in allocating water more rationally, by market price. This means rationing water and raising irrigation costs, which would be difficult for farm families who have gone into debt to plant almond orchards. However, this is the only sensible path forward. If we do not take this step, nature will do it for us, and the consequences will be ugly.

Continue Reading at Source : nytimes