A Rare but Remarkable Questioning of Overgrowth in the U.S. Southwest
Should we help cities grow further into the desert when they require more and more water?
It’s almost a given that Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles will continue to grow indefinitely. But there’s one problem that much concerns society. These cities consume vast amounts of water in a region historically known for extended periods of drought. We’re in one right now tied to climate change, and listening to the media it’s almost as if that were somehow novel to the desert Southwest. A huge regional agricultural industry that feeds so many people, near and far away, consumes even greater quantities of water than the great metropolises themselves.
And so, a radio broadcast called “Water in the West: Can Biden's infrastructure act help restore it?” caught my attention. The U.S. government has just allotted over $8 billion for western water management, to include storage of vast amounts of water underground, water recycling projects, dams, and research on sea water desalinization. Richard White, professor emeritus at Stanford University and Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network, fielded most of the questions from the show’s host and moderator Meghna Chakrabarti.
For most of the program I was hugely disappointed. A half hour into it, I heard nothing about overgrowth and the environmental devastation it has caused, only about ways the billions of dollars might serve to further build a desert civilization despite worsening water shortages.
I almost couldn’t stand it anymore after Professor White emphatically reassured us that “the West [as we know it today] should exist!” His main point: urbanization should now take priority over agriculture. His main solution: water storage underground that can be pumped up when cities need it. The host Ms. Chakrabarti questioned what would happen to food production.
Mr. Roerink agreed about the need to cut back agriculture. Chakrabarti wondered: “Will people have to give up all those pistachios and almonds, or year-round salads?” To which Roerink replied “we’ve used expensive water to subsidize crops we don’t really need.” Yet there’s hope, like the giant water recycling plant being built in southern California.
Finally, 80% of the way through the program, Ms. Chakrabarti expressed clear skepticism: “Why should we do anything to help a Phoenix, a Las Vegas, a Reno grow further into the desert when it’s going to require more and more water?”
Like a wily professor, Richard White responds by mentioning two reasons neither of which, unfortunately, gets to the heart of the question. First, he explains, there’s nothing unique about bringing water into major cities, citing New York by way of example. Second, he assures that cities have been very good at conserving water. I’d give him a D+ for his can-do-but-not-why answer (the plus for his skill at sidestepping the question).
Show host Chakrabarti persists: “Should we be doing things to further grow the cities that wouldn’t have been there at all had it not been for some of these massive engineering projects a century or a half ago?” Mr. Roerink, thank God, is motived to finally address the matter. He cites Colorado River explorer John Wesley Powell’s comment that there are places you should not have the masses come too. Roerink opens up, I cheer: Los Angeles imports water from Owens Valley and the Sierra mountains as well as the Colorado River, “look at the environmental destruction and degradation.”
Mr. Roerink is on fire, explaining that he’s fighting a pipeline project to bring to Las Vegas, Nevada, unrenewable Pleistocene ground water from over 300 miles away. Another Utah city seeks to do likewise. Yet another wants to pipe water directly from the depleted Colorado River to accommodate urban sprawl.
The conversation begins to wind down as Professor White talks vaguely about the need to “design a system” by way of solutions. Roerink presses his point, “the feds shouldn’t approve crazy projects like water pipelines. That will just suck water for growth that I don’t think is sustainable.” But he seems at a loss as to what next to say, citing the problem of green lawns and the amount of water they require.
I’d love to hear a broadcast entitled “Is Endless Growth Possible in the West (or anywhere else for that matter)?” One with a questioning voice from the get-go. Demand it and maybe someday.
Just for your information, here’s how the city of Phoenix answers that question. Pretty insane! It obviously hasn’t a clue about sustainability.
“Why doesn't Phoenix just stop growth to save water?
Fortunately, meeting current and future water demands during times of drought does not require stopping growth in Phoenix. Our current economy relies on continued growth and most people in Phoenix and the region support policies that favor managed growth… stopping growth could result in a drastic slow-down in the local economy; a slowdown that would hurt not only the home building industry, but the entire employment and commerce base that sustains our community. This would limit the city's ability to finance the development of new water resources and have a major impact on our ability to meet demand during times of drought.”
And, if you can bear it, here’s more insanity:
“To the west of Phoenix a new tech city is emerging. Mt. Lemmon Holdings, a subsidiary of computer magnate Bill Gates’s investment firm, Cascade Holdings, has plans to built a “smart city,” for example, on the outskirts of Phoenix near the town of Buckeye. The new city, on 24,000 acres — about the same size as Paris — would have infrastructure for self-driving cars, hi-tech factories, and high-speed public wi-fi.
Meanwhile, the so-called Sun Corridor — 120 miles of Sonoran Desert between Phoenix and Tucson — is seen as the state’s next burgeoning megalopolis. It’s one of the fastest-growing regions in the country and its population of more than 5.5 million — anchored by Phoenix in the northwest and Tucson to the southeast — is expected to double by 2040.”
So depressing! I am one of the few who experienced the Glen Canyon before it was converted into Lake Powell. The purpose of Lake Powell was to allow further growth.
Well said. How about that insane dairy sucking water from the Willcox, Arizona playa aquifer. What kind of backwards county allows residential wells to be destroyed for an out-of-state company? Answer: COCHISE CO. They allowed this agribusiness nightmare to operate a more than 100,000 cows dairy in the desert - about the most unsustainable enterprise one can imagine. However, the water is there for who ever pays to pump it up. Meanwhile, John and Jane Doe watch their well go dry. Pretty sad.