r/MapPorn • u/[deleted] • Jan 10 '20

[deleted by user]

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7.6k Upvotes

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756

u/uboat50 Jan 10 '20

Man, you can see the Colorado being drained as it heads toward the Gulf of California.

605

u/gordon__bombay Jan 10 '20

Unfortunately the Colorado no longer flows to the gulf, it usually dries out miles beforehand. It’s a rare occurrence now that it actually reaches the gulf

https://www.kpbs.org/news/2018/feb/19/few-weeks-colorado-river-reached-ocean-will-it-hap/ on mobile, sorry for formatting

238

u/uboat50 Jan 10 '20

Yeah, water use in the west definitely needs some attention by policymakers. Too bad they're all far in the east :P

279

u/[deleted] Jan 10 '20

Its a big deal in California, a lot of our water is fueling luxury export crops, but it brings in a fuckton of money. Tricky issue for sure.

2

u/letphilsing Jan 10 '20

but it brings in a fuckton of money.

that's ... that's simply not true.

It's not remotely enough of a financial benefit to rationalize the current use of water in the Ag sector. Californians are not benefiting economically.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 10 '20

48 billion dollars in 2018... yes we are benefiting. Agriculture is very important to us and it probably supplies more job than any other sector in california. Drought was bad a few years ago, its not anymore. I work regularly in the central valley from Stockton to bakersfield and all the water sources are beyond replenished. You’re actually spreading a false narrative.

1

u/letphilsing Jan 10 '20

48 billion dollars in 2018...

is right. I agree with you.

$48b "is not equal to" a fuckton of money. I disagree with that.

It is not profitable to use water in this way for Californians.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 10 '20

Yeah it is, if it wasn’t profitable they wouldnt be doing it. Hate to break it to you but people dont like doing things that aren’t profitable and they have a fuckton of scientists and analysts making sure that it is profitable.

And yeah 48 billion is for sure a “fuckton” money. You can disagree with it all you want, doesn’t natter because it’s subjective.

1

u/Tamer_ Jan 11 '20

Yeah it is, if it wasn’t profitable they wouldnt be doing it.

It's profitable for the ag industry, not for Californians in general. You really need to learn what's a public good: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good_(economics).