by liberal japonicus
We’ve got some folks who have some knowledge of water issues, so this Texas Monthly piece, entitled War for the Rio Grande, (via LGM) may be of interest. Why do I think this will all hit the fan as Texas turns blue?
The piece talks about “Day Zero”, which is when a locale runs out of drinking water. My wife and I are currently having an ersatz Day Zero experience, the tap for our bath has broken, so we have to shut the water off at main valve. About twice a day, we turn it on, and while my wife washes dishes, I fill up some buckets in the bath, which we then use to flush the toilet, and then turn it off. We will have some plumbers repair it, but it will take about a month till they can get to it as there is a ton of work already booked as well as a shortage of fixtures and fittings in the south part of Kumamoto city because of the recent earthquake. We go to a local sento every evening for a bath. If I were a conservative, I might opine how it’s not too bad, I can handle it, but as a liberal, I’m thinking that even this slight speed bump in our routines, while a mere inconvenience on an individual level, would be pure hell if ramped up to a neighborhood, city or larger area.
Kumamoto is quite fortunate because all of its water relies entirely on underground aquifers, and it enjoys volcanic filitration of the rainwater which falls on Mt. Aso. On the other hand, Fukuoka, the city west of Kumamoto and the largest (and fastest growing) city in Kyushu, is having problems with water supply (it is on a coastal plain with no large rivers or natural aquifers), so they are aggressively exploring desalination, and a lot of conservation efforts.