The Southland has mileage when it comes to water wars. But a prolonged, potential permadrought will be its toughest challenge.
"The driest periods of the last century -- the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and the droughts of the 1950s -- may become the norm in the Southwest United States within decades because of global warming," writes the LAT, referring to a report published in Science. According to the report, "the transition to a more arid climate should already be underway." It predicts a permanent drought by 2050 throughout the Southwest, which is "one of the fastest-growing regions in the nation," reminds the LAT.
Water allocation will require some tough decisions on who gets left behind: cities or agriculture? L.A. or Vegas? The seven Colorado River Basin states -- Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and California -- are likely to battle each other for diminished river flows, writes the LAT. They are alreay half empty, as a result of a drought that began in 2000. "Inevitably, water would be reallocated from agriculture, which uses most of the West's supply, to urban users, drying up farms. California would come under pressure to build desalination plants on the coast, despite environmental concerns."
"Le changement climatique, ce n'est pas que pour les pauvres et les non-Américains," Libération remarked cynically [climate change is not just for the poor and non-Americans]. Maybe our special-interest governing ostriches will take notice at last -- if only because the Supreme Court and institutional investors are breathing down their neck [as reported in the IHT, the NYT and The Economist].[edit 04/15/07: Thomas Friedman's The Power of Green in NYT]
[edited 06/25/07: La sécheresse parfaite menace L.A. in 20 minutes]
[update 10/21/07: The Future Is Drying-Up in NYT]
[edit 01/31/08: Climate Change Escalating Severe Western Water Crisis in Wired]
[edit 02/04/08: Drying of the West in National Geographic]
illustrations: AFP, Lake Powell by David McNew/Getty Images, KAL/The Economist
