25 February 2024
To: Deb Haaland
United States Secretary of the Interior
cc: The Political Party Pooper Play Book (P4B)
The Water Debacle in the Southwest
I’ve written articles previously about the subject at hand. A link is provided at the end of the text. That link has a very important video embedded. There may be work being done on these issues that we don’t know about, but I doubt it.
The American southwest is in a bit of a pickle. This has to do with the water supply. The Colorado River is being drained at an alarming rate. A tremendous amount of this water is being wasted on golf courses and Casinos, and poorly planned (to put it nicely) urban sprawl.
Due to an outdated and poorly crafted compact among states bearing no resemblance to those states that exist today, and through criminal neglect in your very department, predating you by decades, the southwest is creating a crisis, which as serious as it is, goes far beyond a lack of water.
It is in the national interest that we not allow the Colorado River to be drained for use in Las Vegas Casinos and Southern California Country Clubs. It is also in their interest. But parties responsible seem to lack the foresight required to cross the street, much less make the critical changes that need to made. Very strong suggestions are offered in the link provided. Act on them soon, requiring the southwestern states to go along, and we can avoid catastrophe…maybe. It’s pretty late in the game.
But failure to take action, certainly not on the scale of a moon landing, will end horribly. You know this now, if you didn’t already, so now the end of the story is entirely up to YOU, Madame Secretary.
California MUST carry the lion’s share of the solutions. It is ethically, economically and geographically correct that they do so. I’ll break it down.
Ethically: California has been unforgivably obtuse in its treatment of neighboring states versus this water situation. Through a combination of arrogance, ignorance and gutlessness, they have hidden behind an ill-conceived compact for too many decades. They have their priorities skewed to the point where no one wants to breach this subject. But this IS the most important issue they face by a considerable order of magnitude.
Economically: As compact beneficiary of the first order, California has built an economic leviathan. This is a good thing. But it also equips California with the means to have the greatest impact on what MUST be done to avoid the destruction of 1/5th of the nation’s economy and our ability to produce FOOD!
To be certain, all the signatory states will have to make financial sacrifices to stay alive. This is especially true of California. ALL spending by the state government will have to be paired back.
For just one example, spending on education will have to be brought into line with reality. K - 12 plus University spending will have to be narrowed to fundamentally academic subjects ONLY. Activities that don’t actually bring money into the schools cannot be supported by the state. That is how radically all the effected states will have to view ALL spending. And THAT is what the politicians have lacked the courage to do. They could have stepped up to the plate at any time and had an easier time of it. Now, it is going to require a real crucible in planning and spending. To kick the can down the road NOW would be a criminal offense of the first order, Madame Secretary.
It is possible that the answer can be enacted without such radical reductions in spending across the board, but if all the states involved are not prepared to go to those very lengths to fix this, they are not serious and deserve their fate.
Geographically: For a generation now, we’ve been told to fear the rising oceans. So fine, let’s start by exploiting these rising waters. The alarmism associated with the dire warnings indicate an infinite source of water to work with. And obviously, California is in a position to exploit this. They owe it to their neighbors, after decades of ignoring the problem and draining the water supply through horrible planning. This is explained in the article linked.
Potential answers to the problem are in the article. They are painfully obvious. But a modicum of guts will be required to make them happen. And the problem is clearly defined in the video. (Embedded in the P4B Substack).
If the southwest cannot get its act together on this, the economic damage will spread like a tidal wave across the country. Somebody has to be the hero. Why not you, Madame Secretary?
I respectfully request you reply re: what will be done/is being done do address this deplorable situation.
Respectfully,
Matthew E. Jordan III
GMC(SW). USN, ret.
Host, P4B
Associate article: To Get Water, First Kill All The Lawyers, by Matt Jordan 18 April 2023.
https://www.streetpolitics.us/p/to-get-water-first-kill-all-the-lawyers
Dear Deb...