(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Surprised? Rural AZ Fears Dying of Thirst more than Regulation [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-04 The Virgin River traverses the far upper left corner of Mohave County, Arizona through the deep and breathtaking Virgin River Gorge. How’s the free-for-all for resources going out here in the Wild West, y’all? Kingman, AZ in rural Mohave County (same county where my Father-in-Law has a home) pushed some pencils around and found out their nearby industrial farms are mining their groundwater so hard it’s being depleted at more than a 4:1 rate versus inflows. And what do you know? They’re starting to figure out that regulation is preferable to not dying of thirst. Go figure. This CNN piece tells the story of “one of the reddest areas of a red state” deciding to actually measure how much is being ripped out of the ground! But that’s not all- the immense breadth of “miles and miles” of pistachio, almond, and pecan trees in the high desert are finally starting to look a little funny to more than just the city manager...well, that and the prospect of being dessicated outside on the parched plain. So they’ve barred future large-scale irrigation of corporate megafarms that pumped out between “60% to 72% of the groundwater used there as of 2021.” Of course, the farmers say they’re being “demonized” and “simply disagree with the math.” At local hearings they tried to woo everyone over with their usual conservative logic we’ve come to recognize so well: “We’re not going to pump any more water than we need to, because it’s an expense,” Schmidt said at the hearing. “We might have a well that can pump 1,000 gallons a minute, but that doesn’t mean we’re pumping it at 1,000 gallons a minute- we might be pumping it at 500 gallons a minute. We watch our water very closely.” They say 1) we limit ourselves, and dollars limit us, so don’t worry! 2) Look, we’re being responsible by pilfering less than we could! 3) Look at this hypothetical scenario I invented at one moment in time. See, it doesn’t sound so bad, right? Clearly, 1) dollars here are causing great expansions, not restrictions you effing moron. Just look around at what’s changed. This is resulting in more, not less, farms, and thus more, not less, water consumption; 2) you are not being responsible by pumping less than hardware capacity- if you were at capacity it’d mean some of your crops would be withering and you’d be putting in a bigger pump or additional wells. Spare us that crap. And; 3) the farms’ collective water use contradicts your garbage hypothetical scenario. That’s why the meters are being installed- because numbers don’t lie and you will soon look bad. One farmer was interviewed about the new legislation: He says he will comply with state-mandated metering of his wells but believes the regulation is “just so premature.” Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner!! Premature- what an insightful word! In conservative minds, it’s always too soon to pass laws, even when in reality it serves the public good. As long as they’re not being personally screwed then they want precisely the status quo. Only when they’re affected, and it becomes a problem right, right now, do they begin to realize that hey, maybe we should try this legislation thing to bail our asses out of the hole we’re in. Boy, if they ever figured out what “strategic planning” means we might get somewhere together. Meanwhile, people who care about the public and have scientific backgrounds warn us what’s around the corner: Communities running out of water is “a public health disaster,” Dr. Ryan Swapp, a physician in Kingman, told CNN in September. “I don’t think it’s too strong of a word to say we’re being strip-mined by corporate farming.” Yep, it’s a free-for-all where no regulation results regarding the resources which are being basically stolen and that are being used by and should be reserved for the public. It’s definitely wild out here in more ways than one. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/4/2151039/-Surprised-Rural-AZ-Fears-Dying-of-Thirst-more-than-Regulation Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/