Opinion: Politics won't solve water problem

It’s going to take either climate change or a technological breakthrough to keep this region livable, as far as water is concerned.

Drilling more wells into a shrinking aquifer or relying on pipelines connected to vulnerable reservoirs, which in turn depend on unreliable precipitation, isn’t a viable long-term strategy.

Neither approach is a solution; only a temporary patch. Maybe patching the problem can get us far enough into the future for a proper solution to be found. Be prepared either way.

This isn’t a problem that can be solved by politics. I’d argue that no problem can be.

It’s not a popular topic, unless you’re pretending one of the proposed patches will serve as a solution. Which I can’t do. I don’t oppose either approach, even though I oppose government involvement and tax money being spent on them.

So what is the answer? I don’t have one. Neither does anyone else, even if they pretend they do.

It’s always assumed climate change can only make things worse. This is a bad assumption. Any change in the climate will be a problem somewhere for someone or something. Almost any climate change would also make things better for someone, somewhere.

Many places on the planet are inhospitable now. Only a change in climate that decreased the total amount of habitable space would be completely negative. At least from the human perspective.

The positive possibilities of climate change are never discussed. Those don’t invite government intervention or increased power and control so they aren’t useful for politicians to talk about.

An increase in average annual rainfall in areas where it could help the Ogallala Aquifer would be good for us, here, but might be bad for people trying to live and farm in those areas where rainfall amounts suddenly increased enough to have an impact. At least until they could adapt.

I’m suspicious of any technological weather manipulation. I think the potential for disaster is too high.

Perhaps industrial-scale water manufacturing could become a solution. Water is a simple molecule, easy enough to make at home if you have hydrogen to burn. This wouldn’t be economical today, but we aren’t desperate yet.

The point is, don’t give up. With the right incentives, humans are pretty good at finding solutions. Keeping government out of the way would probably help.

Often, humans manage in spite of government “assistance.” Betting in favor of humanity over the long term is a safe bet.

Farwell’s Kent McManigal champions liberty. Contact him at:

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