GR: Taking a longer view of this subject, the demise of Phoenix and its satellite towns might be good for the land and for people because it will give natural systems an opportunity to recover. Recovery might not occur, however, because of the intensity of our impacts. The vegetation preceding Anthem, for instance, was hardly “virgin” when the bulldozers came. Intense livestock grazing had gone on for decades. Invasive fuelweeds from Eurasia are well established in the desert and were already at work replacing native plants when Anthem was just a gleam in a developer’s eye.
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The CAP is an open canal that is completely unprotected. Phoenix receives much of its water from wells. However, the groundwater level is continuing the fall begun when wells were sunk in the 1920’s to provide water to irrigate crops. Residential housing has replaced most of the crops. As groundwater level continues to fall, Colorado River water becomes more critical.
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I have always hoped the government had the good sense to place heavy security on the canals or whatever they are CAP? coming into city from the Colorado. Without this imported water, Phoenix would become a ghost town. I lived there 15 years and always wondered what they do to protect this influx of water.
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That’s progress.
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Even cities (which are big populations that are smaller than the world population) benefit from growth. We are constantly reminded about how we need to bring in more jobs and more homes for those taking the jobs, and then more jobs and so on.
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Renee, development has controlled Arizona land-use planning for decades. Big ideas for filling our open space with housing developments come along and when the reality of limited water hits, corners get cut.
It is a sad reality that the state’s public utility investors would rather see continued use of fossil fuel with its steady profits than risk the money flow in a shift to solar energy. These investors have control of the Republican state government.
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I had no idea Phoenix was so far gone…not taking advantage of solar power, still spreading out with no thought to limiting growth, nuclear power…it boggles the mind.
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Sometime in the ’80’s, Asimov used simple projections to argue for population control. He used the global rate of population growth to estimate the number of years until the mass of humanity equaled the mass of planet Earth and he went on to calculate the number of years until we equaled the mass of the solar system. Few voices and fewer still of our leaders have admitted this problem. Short-term gains and wealth are all they want.
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As you know, San Jose is not in a drought, and has never had a real drought. It is our normal chaparral climate. There are just far too many people here!
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I don’t know, but they must be right up there. Worldwide, cities in arid lands like the U. S. Southwest are facing water problems.
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Are Los Angeles and San Jose the second and third least sustainable cities?
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HAH! True, and ain’t that the understatement of the year, huh? 😳
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Analogous, but Earth might respond more lethally.
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Grrrrrrrrr. 😦 The negligence humanity, particularly the industrial sector, has shown Earth and her sustaining ecosystems isn’t really much different than each of us neglecting, ignoring, or abusing our very own biological mothers. 💔
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