Letters to the Editor: We need ‘hyper-creative, out-of-the-box solutions’ to address water-use issues
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- A 25-year megadrought affecting the Colorado River will probably extend to 2050 and beyond, according to new research.
- More than 400 data centers across four states are using billions of gallons from the dwindling Colorado River supply.
- A Burbank resident calls for radical solutions such as a 1,000-mile pipeline from Lake Michigan to address Western water crisis.
To the editor: I have the deepest sympathy for staff writer Ian James, who has to continually cite such familiar quotes as: “We’ve got a real problem”; “Everybody needs ... to cut right now”; “A near-term crisis is unfolding”; and “This is a moment that demands urgency, collaboration and transparency” (“The dwindling Colorado River can’t wait for states to cut water use, experts say,” Sept. 14).
These quotes are essentially the same ones we heard five, 10 and 15 years ago. But, on top of that, new research in the journal Nature Geoscience strongly suggests our 25-year megadrought will most likely extend to 2050 and beyond. If that doesn’t light a fire under you, maybe this will: There are now 682 data centers in the seven states dependent on the dwindling water from the Colorado River Basin. Collectively, these data centers are using billions of gallons of water directly from municipal suppliers.
Peak water is here now and we must produce hyper-creative, out-of-the-box solutions — such as exploring the possibility of a 1,000-mile water pipeline from a source like Lake Michigan — for a long-term solution.
Unfortunately for James and the rest of us, we’re just treading water until the bureaucratic hand-wringing and general complacency end — and until there’s no more water left to tread. This complacency overrides any sense of dire urgency to build a sustainable solution for the 40 million citizens in the West.
John Boal, Burbank
