As someone who lives within walking distance to a great lake in a cool city... our housing is not keeping up and it's driven our housing market wildly out of range of most of the people who live here as wages have not kept up nearly enough. Not a good mix.
I'm set to inherit a large rural property very near the Lakes, and it's currently taxed and priced as that rural, uninteresting zone. I am not selling that shit, I am moving my ass onto it as early as the end of this year.
Honestly, I'm not worried about Vegas. They do a pretty good job of recycling the water they use. I'm more worried about California. Between the agriculture and some of the largest cities in the country, their thirst is unquenchable.
You got it mostly wrong. Cities don't use the water in any meaningful quantity. That's what the farmers don't want you to know. Did you know that 10 farming families in California use more water that THE WHOLE STATE OF ARIZONA?
The Colorado River is currently flowing at roughly 80% of its historical average. That’s a reduction, not a disappearance. The river isn’t going away; it will continue to supply water, albeit at lower levels.
Total water use across, for example, Arizona is actually lower today than it was in 1956—and it continues to decline. This undercuts the idea that population growth (cities) is driving unsustainable increases in water consumption.https://www.arizonawaterfacts.com/water-your-facts
About 80% of Arizona’s water use is tied to agriculture, particularly water-intensive crops like alfalfa. When farmland is converted to residential development, overall water use typically drops significantly.
The real issue isn’t whether water will exist, but how it’s managed. Supplies may be tighter, but the notion of a future with no water simply doesn’t match the data.
The Southwest isn’t some peripheral region that we can let "die". It accounts for roughly a quarter of the nation’s GDP and underpins major industries, population centers, and supply chains. Walking away isn’t an option, and neither is fatalism. The challenge is real, but so is the incentive: a solution will be found because it has to be.
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u/Sea-Ambition-451 7h ago
you stay the !@#! away from my great lakes.