Stuff I Wrote Elsewhere: On Living Within Our Water Means

From this morning’s newspaper (sub/ad req.):

The notion of turning the Rio Grande through Albuquerque into a concrete channel like the Los Angeles River, while we drain away the groundwater beneath us and let the bosque die, is probably a nonstarter.

But the idea has a way of focusing the discussion, a sort of worst-case scenario defining one path we might be headed down without realizing it.

The problem is that we’re consuming more water each year along the Middle Rio Grande than nature provides.

Complete with a picture of the LA River, it’s a bit of a bait and switch. No one is advocating concreting in the Rio Grande, and even if they were, it’s a bad idea for reasons that I explain in the column. But it’s a reminder of the end member of a range of options that we’re stumbling toward without really having the necessary community conversation.

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