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der_innkeeper t1_irpu6b4 wrote

The Data may be Beautiful, but the implications are crap.

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Reddit_-_username t1_irq6udu wrote

Genuinely curious, what's bad about growing food in new Mexico?

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Tuckers_Salty_Nips t1_irq7vo7 wrote

We're using too much water/ the climate is changing and the rivers are drying up

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RogerSaysHi t1_irqhrvp wrote

We'd have been better off investing in rail and desalinization than farming in the desert. It was one thing to move so many people into a place that couldn't support them, it's a completely different ballgame to try to irrigate the desert.

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boredatschipol t1_irqv0mb wrote

Point irrigation systems, as I understand them, are about as water efficient as open air irrigation can be. The alternatives being green \ glass house or hydroponics setups. What I would be interested in is the source of water for the irrigation and how sustainable that is. If its over pumping a restricted aquifer then yes, implications are bad

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der_innkeeper t1_irr63d5 wrote

Water the desert and making it bloom is probably a very bad idea.

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Well_shit__-_- t1_irrb4ew wrote

I’m sure that’s why humans have kept doing it for 7000 years

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der_innkeeper t1_irrfdw1 wrote

Small scale is one thing. Moving when the rains stop is what happens, normally.

Draining aquifers and rivers to make it happen for 10 or 100x the normal population is not normal or sustainable.

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