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SoBeefy OP t1_j98z5td wrote

I don't want to contribute somehow to disinformation related to water conservation and management in the Western United States.

Fwiw, we can and should do better with how much water we take out of the Colorado basin and who gets it. In particular, it is becoming increasingly difficult to honor the legal claim made by those engaging in high water use agriculture in California.

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Beyond-Time t1_j9ag2cv wrote

California, due to their climate, is the perfect place to grow many crops. The amount of food produced there is unbelievable, and the water is important in that respect. I'm sure there's much waste but most people who want to divert water away from California simply don't understand the vast amount of the country's food that is produced there. 75% of Arizona shouldn't exist if you want to talk about water use.

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Desblade101 t1_j9aka1c wrote

There was a geographer named John Wesley Powell who proposed making all western states based off of their watersheds to avoid water conflicts in the future. Obviously he was overruled because of politicians who wanted to make sure the right people were making money like taking Nevada away from the Mormons when they found silver there.

But that kind of system would lead to much better natural resource management than our current system.

https://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/defining-the-west-boundaries-john-wesley-powell

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