We can be grateful we are not California, which is reeling from record drought conditions. But it鈥檚 not some distant, disconnected event 鈥� it will touch us on Vancouver Island, sooner or later. And it has lessons for us.
With nearly 60 per cent of California suffering extraordinary drought, the state with its huge orchards and vegetable fields is expected to incur economic losses of more than $2 billion. That means scarcities and higher prices for produce we import from the U.S.
That鈥檚 one of the lessons 鈥� eat more local produce and eat more wisely.
About half of the food produced in the world is wasted. In North America, it鈥檚 estimated that more than 30 per cent of fruits and vegetables are discarded for cosmetic reasons before they even make it to store shelves. The resources used to grow, transport and process that food are wasted 鈥� it鈥檚 like leaving the tap running and letting all that water go down the drain.
In addition, the food waste adds to garbage-collection costs and boosts greenhouse gases 鈥� landfills account for about 20 per cent of the methane produced in sa国际传媒.
With much of the U.S. Southwest suffering from severe to extraordinary drought, sa国际传媒鈥檚 seemingly abundant supply of water must look good 鈥� we have about nine per cent of the world鈥檚 fresh water supply. Are the Americans going to be knocking at our door, asking to buy our water?
Not likely 鈥� exporting water is a sensitive topic for Canadians, most of whom favour keeping the resource at home. But it pays to be vigilant.
In the 1950s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conceived the North America Water and Power Alliance, a scheme that would see massive amounts of water from northern rivers 鈥� the Yukon, Liard and Peace 鈥� diverted into the Rocky Mountain Trench, entering the U.S. in northern Montana, adding to the flow of the Columbia and Missouri river systems. Aqueducts would connect to the Colorado and Rio Grande systems, enabling Mexico to benefit, and some water would have been pumped to the high plains to stabilize the Ogallala Aquifer.
A plan put forward in the 1960s even envisaged sending some of the water east across Alberta to connect eventually to the Great Lakes.
It was a monumental dream that would have been an even more monumental environmental nightmare. It was a scheme, wrote one historian, that 鈥渄ied a victim of its own grandiosity.鈥�
And there鈥檚 another lesson 鈥� the pace of development should not exceed the capacity of the resources. We should tailor our living to the resources, not keep looking for more resources to support an ever-expanding lifestyle.
No one is likely to propose a scheme of that scale again, but as water becomes more precious, the demand will grow. We should protect what we have and use it wisely, and should be wary of anyone seeking to buy our water and take it elsewhere.
The Greater Victoria area is blessed with a high-quality water supply, but we are still vulnerable here. We depend heavily on winter precipitation for the water we drink and spray on our lawns. A dry winter is cause for concern. We should be frugal all year round, but especially so during the summer drought. The levels of our lakes, reservoirs and rivers affect not only us, but the surrounding habitat, and they are crucial to successful spawning of salmon.
Sure, there鈥檚 lots of water in sa国际传媒 and sa国际传媒, but it鈥檚 not distributed evenly, and even where it is plentiful, it should not be taken for granted. It鈥檚 a resource more precious than petroleum and minerals.
We shouldn鈥檛 be throwing water around like it鈥檚 money.
