If water supply is a big problem in the States, can’t we effectively store stormwater in some way and replenish our supply?

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If water supply is a big problem in the States, can’t we effectively store stormwater in some way and replenish our supply?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

We already do, these are called reservoirs and cisterns. Building them is not always practical, and there are still limits to their capacity, no matter how many you build.

The truth, however, is that the water supply isn’t the problem. It’s growth far beyond the capacity of nature to sustain. The Federal government knew that the draw on the Colorado river would exceed its ability to replenish back in the early 1990s. Here’s a citation from a 1993 study:

>Under conditions of long-term flow reductions and current operating rules, these reservoirs are drawn almost completely dry.

Since then, Colorado’s population has shot up by 61%, Nevada’s population has shot up by 128%, and California has grown by 26%. An impending disastrous drought wasn’t sufficient to blunt the construction of new housing developments. Decades of intransigence and procrastination by office holders has produced a reckoning which cannot be averted anymore.

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