https://ktla.com/news/california/why-cant-we-just-move-water-to-solve-a-drought/amp/
This article is about building an aqueduct from the Eastern to the Western US where the drought is very bad. The experts say it’s impractical and would cost too much – a trillion dollars or more.
An alternative would be to build desalination plants along the coast and pipe the pure water inland to water the crops. I also thought that it would be good to get rid of coal power plants and instead use the railroads to transport water instead of coal.
Quote from article:
<< “You have to ask the question, what would that be supporting?” adds Hall. “If you look at Southern California, half our water is being used to keep plants on life support that wouldn’t grow here naturally. You’re proposing something that not only is environmentally destructive … but it’s supporting really bad environmental practices locally.” >>
I don’t understand what this is saying, and it’s not what I’ve read. The water in California is used mostly for agriculture – something like 80% or more. This food that we grow is keeping *us* on life support! And by us, I mean somewhere around 40% of the produce that the whole US eats. We cannot eliminate food!
We can conserve a lot of water by stopping eating meat. 43% of the land in the US is used for growing livestock or growing food for livestock. That’s where we should conserve. It takes something like 1600 gallons of water to grow a pound of beef.