Podcast on water shortages in the Southwest (1)

The water crisis in the Southwest of the USA is causing shortages and impacting citizens. Dams, reservoirs, desalination, and conservation efforts have been tried, but water is still declining. 771 million people worldwide lack access to clean water. Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and California are heavily affected, with lakes losing water and farmers struggling. Wildlife and plants are also impacted, with fires becoming more dangerous. Low-income people are disproportionately affected, leading to health issues. Environmental justice is important, and organizations like the EPA are working to help. This issue is not only happening in the USA, but globally. In the morning, the first thing you might do is take a shower, then hopefully you'd brush your teeth and probably use the water from your sink. And with a nice breakfast, a glass of water. Have you ever thought about where this water comes from? Is the amount you're using too much? With the current rising temperatures and water shortages, many people in the USA have been suffering from water crisis in the Southwest. And have had to ask themselves these questions every day. Today, we will be talking about the water crisis in the Southwest with me, your host, Annalise. And your co-host, Han. We will talk about why the Southwest is experiencing water shortages and the impact it is having on the many U.S. citizens. First off, let's go over some facts and history. The Southwest drought was declared a crisis in 2001. Since then, there have been many solutions that have been tried. Some of these include dams and reservoirs, adequate and artificial channel conveying water, desalination, removing salt from salt water, water reuse, and water conservation. But even with all these efforts, water is still in decline. Did you know that 771 million people lack access to clean water in the whole world? Those are some big numbers. 771 million is a lot of people, about double the people living in the U.S. Many people are affected by water shortages. But some communities are really suffering, like Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and California. For example, Lake Powell in Arizona and Lake Mead in Colorado were both almost full around 2001. Two years ago, in 2021, they had both lost water and fallen to about 30% capacity. At the rate we're going, you might need to call your friends in the Southwest and tell them to move before their lakes lose all their water. People in these states have been hugely affected, have given up everyday pleasantries and cut back on their personal water usages. Farmers have also felt full effect of this. They have cut off acres of their land to keep even some crops alive. Survival of the fittest, or most tasty, I hope. I hate to be stuck with some Brussels sprouts. These states rely on farms to provide them with food, so these farmers have a responsibility to their community and state to keep producing food. Imagine not getting fresh produce. Without the hard work and sacrifice of these farmers, the people living in the Southwest might have to eat canned bananas. We have a farmer with us that has been recently struggling because of the water shortages. This is Lillian. She's a farmer in Arizona whose farming community has been heavily impacted by this drought. How's your farming going? I hear you've recently inherited your father's farm. My family has had a farm in Arizona for many generations. Since I was a kid, I've always wanted to take over my father's farm. Now that I have, I've been struggling with supplying our farmers with water. The acres and acres of land we own are going weeks without water. My fathers feel their suffering. In the five generations in history of this farmhold, we've never had to sell so much land just to water a crop. It is a crisis. Us farmers simply don't have enough money or water to stay afloat. What has been your biggest issue with reducing water shortages? My crops aren't getting enough water and I've been forced to make significant cutbacks on our land. I've been using my savings to keep my crops watered because of the water increasing in price. I've had to sell some of my land to supply my farm with water. I fear my farm will become a desert again. How do you feel about Utah building a $1-2 billion pipeline that would siphon 27 billion gallons of water a year from Lake Powell? Utah is taking water from a lake that is already drying up to support a city in the middle of a desert. They are siphoning water that they were entitled to when the lake had a ready amount of water. Arizona has to cut back their water intake rather drastically and California doesn't have to give any water. Us farmers are getting the short end of the stick. We worry that our crops are going to turn into a desert. We want to save the river and it has supplied us for so long. We must give back. Will it be enough? Enough to save our farms from turning into a desert? Is taking shorter showers enough to conserve enough water to bring the river back to life and to the people? While humans are clearly being affected by water shortage, wildlife and plants are also being heavily impacted across the southwest states. A big example of how animals and plants are affected is fire. Although fire is good for regrowth and can clean out sick shrubs, it can quickly become too much and become unstoppable. As you can imagine, with the rising temperatures and decline in water, fire is a scary thought for many people in the south and animals and plants. Many plants and animals have been killed or driven out of their homes because of a fire that was unsuccessfully put out and also because of the current water shortages. Also, just like humans, plants and animals need water. And with it more difficult to find water, it has become a lot harder to survive because they cannot adapt quickly enough to this new challenge or they are dying from dehydration. One question we need to ask ourselves is how does this relate to justice and are all demographics equally impacted? The water shortage does disproportionately impact one group over another. People of low income who already have trouble accessing water are hugely impacted by this because if water was already hard to access, it is even harder now. And because most of the time people aren't able to access enough water, it leads to a lot of health issues like dehydration or illness from dirty or unfiltered water. Environmental justice relates to water shortages because low income people are more affected by the current water shortages. There are many organizations fighting to help people. For example, the Safe Drinking Water Act and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. There is still an unjust distribution of water to people. I think we also need to recognize that this is happening all over the world. America is not the only country that is facing water shortage problems. If we come together and acknowledge that we are not the only ones going through the water crisis, we can work together and create a solution and continue to help people. That's it for today. Thank you for listening.