Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

homestead - Re: [Homestead] bubbles

homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Homestead mailing list

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Don Bowen <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] bubbles
  • Date: Thu, 02 Nov 2006 08:18:24 -0800

At 11/2/2006, you wrote:
As usual, being downstream sucks. Seven states get Colorado River
water under the Compact signed in 1922. Mexico doesn't have the power
to take the water that rightfully should still flow to it as it did
for thousands of years. The law of prior appropriation ends at the
border. The problem was, is, and will continue to be California.

The water allocation is based on maximum flows during flood season. Since the measurements were taken, several other dams have been built such as Glen canyon. Dams reduce the total amount of water available by two mechanisms, one is evaporation over that huge surface area and another is that many of the smaller dams impound water for local use. Throw in several lawsuits that have given more water to local indian tribes and you can see that the total available is much less than allocated.

Much of the California water goes to Los Angles with some to San Diego and other cities. The remainder goes to those nice winter vegetables you see in the grocery store. San Diego is paying irrigation districts to line the irrigation ditches with concrete then taking what they claim was seepage. They also pay farmers to use more water efficient irrigation methods and take what was saved.

An unintended consequence is that seepage water no longer flows into the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea was formed when an irrigation canal broke in 1903 and in maintained by seepage and runoff from the many irrigated fields. Now there are lawsuits about that. A recent study looked at various options including letting the Salton Sea run dry. The problem here is that it has become a very important stopover for migratory water fowl even tough its saline content can kill.

Now about that water flowing accross the border. Again treaties and legal judgements have forced the US to allow more water to flow. It soon became a brackish wash of polluted water so instead of further reducing the flow to cities and farmers, the US built a very expensive desalination plant.


Don Bowen Awl Knotted Up KI6DIU
http://www.braingarage.com
My travel journal
http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html

I am omnivagant.
From genegerue AT ruralize.com Thu Nov 2 17:26:12 2006
Return-Path: <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
X-Original-To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Delivered-To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Received: from n120.sc0.cp.net (smtpout1092.sc0.he.tucows.com [64.97.144.92])
by lists.ibiblio.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 51BA64C00D
for <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>; Thu, 2 Nov 2006 17:26:12 -0500
(EST)
Received: from SLIM.hughes.net (72.168.70.61) by n120.sc0.cp.net (7.2.069.1)
(authenticated as genegerue AT hughes.net)
id 4547C360000A7F3E for homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org;
Thu, 2 Nov 2006 22:26:11 +0000
Message-Id: <7.0.1.0.2.20061102161212.02ce68f0 AT ruralize.com>
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 7.0.1.0
Date: Thu, 02 Nov 2006 16:25:42 -0600
To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
In-Reply-To: <6.1.2.0.2.20061102080347.01c83e38 AT earthlink.net>
References: <7.0.1.0.2.20061101111848.02c8f6d0 AT ruralize.com>
<20061101200432.51632.qmail AT web61114.mail.yahoo.com>
<7.0.1.0.2.20061102084422.02caa510 AT ruralize.com>
<6.1.2.0.2.20061102080347.01c83e38 AT earthlink.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Subject: [Homestead] Water out West
X-BeenThere: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.8
Precedence: list
Reply-To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
List-Id: <homestead.lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead>,
<mailto:homestead-request AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/homestead>
List-Post: <mailto:homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Help: <mailto:sympa AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=HELP>
List-Subscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead>,
<mailto:homestead-request AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 02 Nov 2006 22:26:12 -0000


They also pay farmers to use more water efficient irrigation
methods and take what was saved.

Farmers have done well. Some in the central valley no longer farm, just sell their water rights to cities. Why work? If memory serves, the original Colorado River Compact was based on the amount of irrigable land for agriculture. People had no idea in 1922 that population would grow to such immense numbers.

The story of the Compact is a lesson. The original negotiators managed to get an agreement through reasonable negotiation without the usual lawsuit process. Later, Arizona and California brought big-time lawyers and the federal courts into their dispute. We all know where that leads.





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page