BEYOND THE CADILLAC DESERT - Water Planning · 2018-09-25 · BEYOND THE CADILLAC DESERT “the...
18
How myths of crisis and conflict stand in the way of solving the West's water problems John Fleck, University of New Mexico Water Resources Program BEYOND THE CADILLAC DESERT
Transcript of BEYOND THE CADILLAC DESERT - Water Planning · 2018-09-25 · BEYOND THE CADILLAC DESERT “the...
How myths of crisis and conflict stand in the way of solving the West's
water problemsJohn Fleck, University of New Mexico Water Resources Program
BEYOND THE CADILLAC DESERT
“the term ‘Colorado River Basin’
means all of the drainage area of the
Colorado River System and all other
territory within the United States of
America to which the waters of the
Colorado River System shall be
beneficially applied.”
- Colorado River Compact, 1922
Greetings from Albuquerque in the “Upper Colorado River Basin”
Los Angeles Times, Jan. 24, 1960
Myth number one: We’re running out of water.
Myth number one: We’re running out of water.
Source: USBR Basin Study, December 2011
Myth number two: “Whiskey’s for drinkin’,
water’s for fightin’ over.”
- apparently not Mark Twain
Yuma, Arizona Las Vegas, Nevada
Myth 2a: “Water flows uphill toward money.”
US gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005 dollars from 1900 to
2005 (left axis) plotted with total water withdrawals for all
purposes in cubic kilometers per year (right axis).
Peter H. Gleick, and Meena Palaniappan PNAS
2010;107:11155-11162
©2010 by National Academy of Sciences
Decoupling, Vegas style
Albuquerque water use, courtesy
John Stomp, ABCWUA
Albuquerque groundwater rebound
Onions, Imperial Valley, spring 2014
That’s all great, John, but Lake Mead’s still pretty much empty, right?
When confronted with
scarcity, we have shown
again and again a
remarkable adaptive
capacity.
Where does it come from?
How can we nurture and
encourage it? Most
importantly, how can we
scale it up?
Recognize scarcity signals
Don’t be tricked by the orange line
