Beyond-Time t1_j9ag2cv wrote on February 20, 2023 at 2:18 PM

Reply to comment by SoBeefy in TIL that, as recently as 34 years ago, water from the Great Salt Lake was pumped into the desert so that the lake water level would not get too high. by SoBeefy

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.

Desblade101 t1_j9aka1c wrote on February 20, 2023 at 2:51 PM

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