Living in the west is a wonderful experience. However, as many know, water is a problem out here. More and more people are moving west (and being born here as well). The issue is a shortage of water to supply everyone’s needs. Not only are we huge consumers of water but we also live in an area largely considered desert.
A recent study published in Science magazine points to ourselves as the culprits. Air conditioners, lawn watering, and lack of proper storage facilities all contribute to the growing lack of water in the west. In addition, housing booms in the southwest have also put a strain on the already scarce resource.
Researchers led by climate expert Tim P. Barnett at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, studied climate changes in the West between 1950-1999. They noted that winter precipitation falls increasingly as rain rather than snow, snow melts faster, river flows decrease in summer months, and overall warming is exacerbating dry summer conditions.
“The climate’s changing in the West. We’ve known that. The question is why, and no one’s really addressed that,” Barnett said in an interview. According to the study, “The answer is it is us.”
“The picture painted is quite grim so it’s time to collectively sit down and get our act together,” Barnett added, suggesting the need for conservation, more water storage, and a slowdown on development in the desert Southwest.
State governments are aware of the situation already. For several years there have been billboards in Utah urging residents to ’slow the flow.’ Hopefully we can heed these warnings before conditions become similar to the Dust Bowl era in the plains states.
In the bookstore: Water Shortage and Crisis
On the web: Science
Tags: desert west, drought, water shortage, water west
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