Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by AlotOfReading 1832 days ago
Arizona today is using less water now than it did in the 50s, despite that massive increase in population. There's hope that by the end of the decade it will be entirely groundwater neutral. The population is not really the issue, especially given that domestic usage isn't anywhere close to the largest consumer.
3 comments
whoisburbansky 1832 days ago
That’s wild to hear, I’d be interested in numbers and/or how they managed to pull that off, what are some resources I can dig into?
link
AlotOfReading 1832 days ago
Usage: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environme...

It's not quite as amazing as it sounds because AZ households could still cut domestic usage to become comparable to neighboring states like NM. Regardless, we shouldn't focus exclusively or primarily on households because they simply don't use enough to matter compared to agricultural usage and they're way harder to manage policy-wise.

link
GavinMcG 1832 days ago
That's good, since it sounds like there's less water available than there was in the 50s. Still, it strikes me that even if Arizona isn't itself a disproportionate consumer, being between the water source and even larger consumers (i.e. Southern California) it's set up to be in a tough position.

Also, regardless of water availability, the other concerns of climate change are going to affect people living there. There are substantial wildfires every year, and not all that far from (expanding) communities in the Phoenix area, for example.

link
xref 1832 days ago
Crossposting from yesterday’s thread where Phoenix is somehow getting held up as the platonic ideal of water responsibility:

> Phoenix has made strides, but largely because it started from such a low, low bar. Exemplified by the Navajo Generating Plant, one of the largest coal fired power plants ever built, just to power pumps for lifting Colorado River water 2900ft up to Phoenix.

> Not to mention the damage to the Colorado, which no longer has enough flow to reach the ocean. That “Net groundwater contributor” comment? It’s because Phoenix drains the Colorado and pumps it into the city’s private aquifers

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27556422

link
AlotOfReading 1832 days ago
The Colorado is a far more complicated discussion to have. Arizona contributes to overuse with the CAP, but it's a bit misleading to frame that discussion without bringing in the wider context of border politics, the all-american canal, and how the CAP water gets used.

As for the NGS, you're aware that it was built after hydro was (rightly) rejected by environmental groups in the 70s and has already been torn down?

link