To: cirrus who wrote (99871 ) 8/20/2011 12:00:46 PM From: tejek Respond to It's hard to see long term climate change in the short term, and decades are in that grey area between short and long term, but the west has been arid for thousands of years. Now, given the huge population, I would think that even a normal few decades long "dry cycle" that might have been survivable for a limited population could now be highly disruptive... not in terms of human deaths - people can move - but in economic terms. When I got to S. CA, there was a drought around 1990 and mandatory rationing of water was required.......statewide I think. The ban got lifted but then reimposed as voluntary rationing a couple of years later. It went on for so long that I got accustomed to not flushing every time I go to the bathroom.....even now. Rationing became the norm. By the mid 90s, water saving devices were required on every thing. By the late 90s, water charges for summer usage were jacked up tremendously. Xeroscape became increasingly popular. Still water usage is way over the top........LA people still have green lawns in summer at the peak of the dry season. However, what does one do? Banning golf courses and obvious water waste is a start. Charging high water rates to discourage consumption is another. But is that enough? I can't see putting a population cap on the greater Phoenix area. From what I understand, Phoenix still has golf courses and does little to reduce water usage. I think there is more evidence of xeroscaping than in LA but water consumption is still high considering the city is located in a desert. To tolerate outdoor dining in the summer months, restaurants spray their patrons with a fine mist as they sit eating their meal in order to cool them off. Its insane. It strikes me that the SW is asking for trouble with its continued high grow rate. This summer alone there have been three dust storms called haboobs that have hit Phoenix. I think that's a record. Here is a clip of one of them:youtube.com
