Unfortunately, federal and state mismanagement compound the megadrought, driving the river to the brink of disaster.
Markedly, at the onset of the compacts, federal and state governments assumed that river flows would average 16.4 MAF per year, states CRS. But that turned out to be a deeply flawed assumption.
From 1906 to 2020, the actual river flows averaged 13.9 MAF, but consumption and losses averaged approximately 15 MAF. Demand outpaced supply.
sj_zero@lotide.fbxl.net 1 year ago
The other thing that's really frustrating is they expect individual people to pay the price of conserving water. Individual people are part of the water table. The water that they consume whether it's through drinking it or by taking a shower or even by watering their lawn ends up staying basically in the same area. It's the farmers and businesses that end up either polluting the water or packaging it up into products that leave the area.