It was good to get a few decent monsoon rain storms in the Valley this year, but that does not erase the fact that this has been one of the hottest summers on record. All across the West, it’s the same story. The drought shows no signs of subsiding. The Colorado River supplies water to tens of millions of people in the Southwest; it sustains a large portion of the nation’s food supply, and it draws tourists from every corner of the earth to sustain our economy. It is also shrinking. The river cannot sustain the growing population that depends on it over the long haul, unless we do something.
We can all do our part by getting behind the new 90 by 20 campaign. It’s a simple and achievable challenge for residential water users to take steps to use less water. Right now, we use an average of 130 gallons of water per day, inside and outside. The 90 by 20 campaign sets a goal of reducing that average to 90 gallons by 2020.
We can do this. Water is precious, and more valuable to our economy than oil. We should treat it like the commodity it is. I encourage you to go to 90by20.com to learn how you can do your part.
Marc Parker
Tempe
Cerulean posted at 8:45 pm on Tue, Oct 30, 2012.
Evidently, the 90by20.com link is a mistake.
The city of Mesa has a very good site @ http://www.mesaaz.gov/conservation/
This site provides lots of helpful tips for gardeners, as well as rebate opportunities for those who switch from grass to Xeriscape.
Arizona Willie posted at 7:45 am on Wed, Oct 31, 2012.
This is the desert.
Duh.
Grass lawns should be outlawed completely.
Even golf courses ( gasp ) should be desert landscaped == no grass.
I know they use re-cycled water but even re-used water has better uses than pouring it on the ground.Unless you are refilling an aquafier.
Which is probably what should be done with the re-cycled water. It should be used to refill the aquafiers.
Fresh water is becoming scarcer and scarcer and with the pollution from fracking polluting more and more water sources -- the situation is going to get much worse in the next 30 - 50 years.
Do you really want your grandchildren to grow up in a world where recycled urine is the NORMAL source of drinking water?
Well that world is coming if we don't stop misusing and polluting what little fresh water is left.In some ways, melting of the polar ice may be a good thing because it will provide more fresh water.
But, considering mankind's misuse of resources -- it won't last long.
mrconservative posted at 11:17 am on Wed, Oct 31, 2012.
Willie, that is completely unrealistic. I'd rather have grass than dirt. Dirt is very unattractive.
I don't golf, but I would NEVER deny another's right to play it.
I love playing croquet, but I've never really tried it in dirt. I don't think it would be very fun or easy.
There is far more "fresh" water than you might think. And we need water to drink, in any case. We cannot live without it.
And by the time I have grandchildren, I don't think we'll need to worry about a shortage of water, because we'll (most likely) be living in the Millennium-era.
I think you know what that means. No more Obamanomics. No more US of A as we know it. Only one person will be over us, a fair and kind being. Do I really need to say who it is?
(Hint: His initials are "J. C." - and I don't mean Penny.)
Engaged Voter posted at 12:33 pm on Wed, Oct 31, 2012.
Thanks to mrconservative for pointing out another very real danger of putting those who have ridiculous superstitious beliefs in charge.
People like mrconservative DO NOT CARE about our water, or the environment, because they believe their magic sky fairy will arrive in a puff of smoke and fix everything.
This is not only delusional, it is dangerous for the rest of the sane population.
Engaged Voter posted at 12:35 pm on Wed, Oct 31, 2012.
Willie - did you notice that your logical, realistic, SANE courses of action were labeled as "unrealistic", and then in the same comment casually talks about the "millenium" myth as if it WERE realistic?
Unintentional irony is hilarious! [beam]
truth posted at 3:00 pm on Wed, Oct 31, 2012.
Look at this in another way, what if we lost the Colorado River water, every drop? If we allow mining in the Grand Canyon this is could be possible. Some of the existing mines are leaching uranium in the Colorado River now. We also have a Dutch mining company that wants to drill into a major aquifer in Superior and another copper mining company that wants to inject sulfuric acid in Florence, all supported by the Republican Party.
sockratties posted at 4:58 pm on Wed, Oct 31, 2012.
I was visiting the Casa Grande Ruins a couple of years back and noticed that the desert trees (perhaps Joshua, I’m not sure) were dead although they were the largest vegetation still standing in that part of the desert. I asked the museum attendant why and he told me that they died when the water table dropped below 30 feet because that is as deep as their tap roots can go.
That’s also why large sections of the flat lands are settling and huge cracks appear in the desert. We can’t keep building and increasing the number of residential and commercial taps without some plan to sustain the water supply.
I have lived where watering restrictions included large fines, the city provided a calendar of when yards could be watered depending on street number and the water bill was exorbitant. If we can keep from getting to that condition from where we are now we will all be much better off.
I have a zeroscape yard (except for one tree) and have installed dual flush mechanisms in my toilets. My water use has decreased since those changes. The toilet conversions only cost $20 each and take about a half hour to swap out. The grass to rock yard change has taken about 5 years but requires very little upkeep. Cacti, Yucca, Ocotillo and Saguaro suit the desert landscape better than grass anyway.
Engaged Voter posted at 5:15 pm on Wed, Oct 31, 2012.
Truth - "Some of the existing mines are leaching uranium in the Colorado River now"
This is because of people like Creationist Sylvia Allen, Arizona State Legislature, who said "that uranium has been there for 6,000 years and hasn't hurt anybody."
Sockratties - I applaud and admire your diligence, but until the BIG water users start acting responsibly (apartment complexes watering grass during rainstorms, golf course wasting tens of thousands of gallons, etc.) I don't think it will make much of a difference.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 9:03 pm on Wed, Oct 31, 2012.
Simple solution.
Send all the California Liberals, and the Illegal Aliens from Mexico and points South > HOME.
The only people allowed to live in this beautiful State are patriotic, God-Fearing, Hard-Working Citizens....who unlike.....ASU-PBS CHANNEL 8, KAET'S "HORIZON" MODERATOR, TED SIMMON...WHO STARTS OFF EVERY ONE OF THE FRIDAY NIGHT "REPORTER'S ROUNDTABLE" WITH THE QUESTION........"WHAT'S WRONG WITH ARIZONA".
THE ONLY THING "WRONG" WITH ARIZONA, MR. SIMMON IS THAT LIBERALS LIKE YOU...........LIVE HERE AND USE UP ALL THE WATER........[wink]
sockratties posted at 5:00 am on Thu, Nov 1, 2012.
Actully leon, you could just go BACK to Compton, California where you came from. That would save water, reduce local warming, minimize hot air and cut polution. It would be a win-win for everyone except California.
Arizona Willie posted at 8:08 am on Thu, Nov 1, 2012.
Yep they stopped the uranium mines --- under that name. Now they want to mine " potash " and any uranium that happens to get in the way of their digging for potash will, of course, just be a " side " product ".
It isn't a uranium mine --- nope --- it's a potash mine.
Just ignore the pile of uranium tailings with the rain water draining through them and into the ground.
No harm done.
Just mining potash folks, nothing to see here, move along.