Hager, Alex. “Amid Climate Change, Water Managers See Promise in Recycled Wastewater.” NPR, 27 Sept. 2022, www.npr.org/2022/09/27/1125270299/amid-climate-change-water-managers-see-promise-in-recycled-wastewater. Accessed 29 Jan. 2023.
Las Vegas is willing to pay $750 million for people in Southern California to drink recycled water during their “megadrought”. Southern California is spending over $3 billion dollars on top of a $100 million per year operating cost in order for a heavy duty water reuse solution that will help sustain them during their drought. Although water recycling wont permanently solve all problems it will help stall while a more permanent solution is created. Western rivers are predicted to drop 10-20% in the next 5 years making a temporary solution necessary for Southern California.
This is a good example of what will happen if we don’t change anything and pretend there is no problem. The severity of water recycling was overlooked and now will cost upwards of $3 billion dollars for a temporary solution. I wonder if there is some solution that we will see in the next few years that will allow us to almost completely decontaminate and reuse water. Without a strong and permanent solution I see places like Southern California being one of the first but not one of the last places forced to spend millions in order to get themselves out of a dangerous situation.
I completely agree that we have been putting off treating water and recycling water which is now becoming a real issue. It is insane how even though water is so vital to our lives and the lives around us, yet most of us do nothing to try to protect this valuable resource. What do you think will happen in the future of Southern California?
I think the government will start to see the severity of the problem and eventually step in to help SoCal by putting new rules and regulations in place.
I agree that this is a huge issue. Seems like a solution is much needed because we are spending huge amounts of money to come up with a temporary solution. Do you think we should pour more money into researching a more permanent solution?
I think money will help but awareness should be the #1 concern.