Water's not everywhere


Another blogger offers a water shortage solution
Another one of those that got lost in the stack for a few days.

Warren Meyer takes on water subsidies in the desert.

Look, the problem is not lack of water.  The problem is lack of market sanity.  Water in the west is regulated and sold in a hodge-podge of complex arrangements and negotiations.   The whole system is too complex to describe here, but at least one general conclusion can be safely drawn about the whole system:  Water is under-priced.

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Can you believe it?  We here in Phoenix, out in the middle of the largest desert on the continent, during a multi-year drought (yes you can still have a drought in the desert), while everyone laments that Lake Powell and other reservoirs are getting sucked dry, Phoenix has one of the lowest water prices of any city in the country.  Can you get over the irony of Seattle having some of the highest priced water in the country and Phoenix the lowest?

And you know what - I have not seen a single article in any of our local media that has once mentioned this fact.  Look here -- the articles blame global warming and lack of conservation and development and too many lawns and not enough low-flow faucets and talk about the need for government rationing, but never once mention PRICE.  We have the scarcest water in the country and one of the lowest prices for water.  Talk about ignoring the elephant in the room.  I should have just labeled this post "Duh!"

And these are the consumer water prices.  The situation actually gets worse when you look at agriculture.  In most of the southwest, farmers get water prices subsidized below the rates paid by ordinary consumers.  When you combine these water subsidies with massive subsidies already rich groups get for growing crops in the desert from farm programs, you get an enormous distorted incentive to grow water-hungry crops that are totally inappropriate for the desert.

One of the things that makes me angriest about today's environmental movement is the way that everything has become subordinate to global warming. "We can't take that on until we've solved global warming!" goes the refrain.

There is no doubt that most of the water problems in the west come from subsidized water and power. And it has been going on for a LONG time. Heck, the backstory in the film Chinatown deals with diverting water to California's Imperial Valley.

My favorite example is the low flow toilets that are mandated by law that often take two or three flushes to clear the bowl, assuming they don't clog. But fly into Phoenix, Los Angeles, or Las Vegas and just count all the swimming pools, golf courses, and outdoor fountains. These three cities are in the DESERT, yet they pump water like there is no tomorrow.

Did you know that one of Arizona's major crops is cotton? Do you know how water intensive that is?

Warren Meyer is right, if the prices reflected supply and demand rather than the politics, people would save their own water. And probably not as many would choose to live in a desert to begin with.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Wed - April 18, 2007 at 01:49 PM  Tag


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