2006: If we don't do something about climate change we will have a bad time.
people: yeah, right...
2026: we're having bad time
people: 🤷♂️
this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2026
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Over the last decade I have told several people who were moving to the southwest that it was not a great idea because of the impending water crisis. None of them took it seriously. They thought I was either making it up or being alarmist. It has finally arrived and I can't help but wonder if anyone involved in encouraging the population growth in a fucking desert will be held responsible or even consider they did something wrong.
just something to keep in mind....
something like 62% of all water used is for alfalfa crops grown to feed industrial livestock operations. the US exports 1.1 billion tons of beef annually. meaning, multinational meat packing corporations are literally exporting our water so they can capture markets in Asia and elsewhere.
only like ~20% goes to all of Residential, Commercial and Industrial use.
The majority of the water in the Colorado River basin—more than one trillion gallons—is used to grow feed for livestock, connecting the region’s water crisis to how much dairy and meat we eat.
simply managing the resource a teensy bit for the benefit of the public would free up enough water for generations of new development.
this is a resource management problem and can readily be solved if enough people got angry and forced Big Ag to mildly cut back their profits.
Isn't a bunch of that also for Saudis growing alfalfa in the US?
Everyone asked why I was leaving, but didn't care when I tried to warn them about water.
I got my sister to sell and move away a couple years ago. I bet most people stay until Phoenix collapses into the void that used to be it's ground water supply.
...and data centers in southern CA are still suing for water rights
federal intervention is expected
Oh good. That should help things.
The states have had decades to fix this, they have done nothing. Federal intervention should have happened 10-15 years ago. That said, we live in an age where fixing problems is not rewarded, so it might have to get this bad or worse before people really want a solution despite it being complex and costly.
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that we continue allowing the states to deliberate. I'm implying that "federal intervention" with the current administration would look something like auctioning off the Colorado River.