Not enough water to go around: Colorado River Basin, ravaged by drought, plans for a drier future

California has 1100 golf courses, 140 in Palm Springs. Arizona has 300, Utah about the same. It takes 385,000 gallons of water per day to keep the grass watered for these courses. Saudi Arabia has 15,000 acres of alfalfa in Ariz. And Cal. 1 acre of alfalfa takes 1100 gals 0f water per acre. Alfalfa is illegal in Saudi Arabia because it takes to much water to grow. They need it for their cows. The acres of alfalfa planted in Ariz. are above an aquifer that the Saudis use with no restrictions. Meanwhile our farmers are going bankrupt because they have no water. Our citizens have to have drinking water trucked in. Cattle farms are selling off their cows and why are golf course allowed in the desert? WTF!

Who would have thought that we would run into water issues when establishing cities in the desert? Amazing

If you see how much water people and businesses waste in the LA basin is mind blowing everywhere you look there is fountain and water decoration like wow

Decades ago, I hiked down the Canyon to the Colorado River. The water was so nice. I hope there will always be water.

First problem: Arizona is allowing Saudi Arabia to drain millions of gallons of water every year free of charge. Second problem: Gourds require a large amount of water to grow yet they're mostly decorative. There's little to eat inside a gourd and what's there isn't palatable anyway. Third problem: If you want to live in the desert like a Bedouin then live like one, start by getting rid of the lawns and golf courses. 🤦

Why does farming in a desert seem contradictory to me? Especially a water-hungry crop.

California water mismanagement is the second problem when it comes to a water shortage out west. The first problem is probably far to many people want to reside in the desert without learning to live the dry life.

John Wesley Powell, the namesake of the river, predicted a similar situation more than 150 years ago. The plans at play were based on a very wet period of time. Now precipitation declines back to what should be seen as normal and everyone panics.

correction, the colorado river basin is ""NOT"" ravaged by drought, but by water abuse.

Greed is the “magic” word here.

If you are a Colorado farmer, do this: Harvest your rain water by subsoil plowing 2 to 3 feet deep during your rainy season. Build swales on land that you are not planting to harvest rainwater. Around your well subsoil plow or build swales to harvest rainwater to help raise your well water , raise your groundwater levels and to raise your water aquifer levels. If you have clay soils, build large ponds to collect rainwater and cover with tarps to prevent the pondwater from evaporating.

As we've been reporting our whole lives, " WATER IS LIFE".

Millions of people live in a desert and they wonder why water is running out?

Let's talk about a farmer who grows water thirsty plants like cotton (which is inferior to hemp) and alfalfa (used for animal feed) and crookneck gourds (which are a substitute for pumpkin) and each of those crops can be grown where there's enough water to sustain them. Arizona is the wrong place to grow thirsty crops and animals.

Thank you for this video! I spend a vacation in that region in 1996 and a ranger informed us about water problems at Lake Mono - and now it´s 2023 and the problem is much bigger....

When the SoCal Municipal Water District (SoCal-MWD comprised of 13 counties) was founded & then funded the Colorado Aqueduct Project back in 1931 (for $220M) the entire population of California was approx 7M people. The project employed nearly 38K people during the depression over a 10 year period. CA today (August 2023) is nearly 40M people and the states of Nevada, Utah and AZ have grown significantly and are demanding their previously agreed upon allotments. In 1980 the population of CA was approx 23M - when several lakes on the Colorado river were at "full pool". We are almost twice that in CA population now - with significantly increased agricultural production. Almonds and other crops are particularly water intensive and, as noted in the video nearly 70% of CA's water consumption is for agriculture. The demands on the CO aqueduct system are at levels far beyond the original design. Truly a testament to the engineers and people who made it a reality. And yet we blame "Climate Change". Nope - It's Demand Change. We ignored our increased demand, lack of planning and the cyclical weather of an arid region. The LADWP "stole" water from Northern CA back in the 1930's as well - it's still an issue today. There's so much history to this story & easily glossed over. Don't get me wrong - the Colorado Aqueduct system which terminates at Lake Mathews CA is an AMAZING feat of engineering - traversing 5 mountain ranges and creating some of the most beautiful lakes to be enjoyed along with Boulder Dam (aka Hoover Dam). As a side note, due to the extended winter the western US has recently experienced, Lake Powell is up over 43' and Lake Mead is up over 20' as of August 7th 2023 from a year ago. I encourage anyone who has read this far to search YT regarding Boulder Dam and the CO Aqueduct system - it's an amazing story of Vision, Engineering, Politics and shear Determination by the hard working people who made it happen.

Gourds, cotton, alfalfa none of which are edible by humans.

WATER is more important than any amount of wealth !

I live in arizona and have always hated seeing large grass fields

When you find out after all these years 60 minute specials are only 13 minute long when all the advertising is taken out.