elessa: (fluffy bunny)
elessa ([personal profile] elessa) wrote2008-10-22 09:54 am
Entry tags:

tall cool drink of water

methinks there will be violence as a result of this. historically, there always is.

Construction of Imperial Valley water reservoir begins l.a. times.

a reservoir is being constructed in the imperial valley to store water that would otherwise be "lost" to mexico. here are some choice quotes from the article.

But it will mean less water for Mexico, where farmers and cities are suffering from drought and a leaky infrastructure that has trouble delivering water to its customers.

For decades, the United States has allowed Mexico to receive more water from the Colorado River than it was assured under a 1944 treaty.


oh, and this choice one.

"It's not Mexico's water," said Stella Mendoza, a member of the Imperial Irrigation District board. "It's California's water. Mexico has been using it for free all these years. They should have realized that someday it would stop."

isn't the water coming from colorado? doesn't that make it colorado's water. yeah, i know. there are water agreements/treaties, what have you.

this does not bode well for the future.

[identity profile] stmarc.livejournal.com 2008-10-22 05:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Most of the river is not in Colorado, and quite a bit of its final flow enters the stream downriver of Colorado. :)

In any event, as you say, Colorado and the other states which are entitled to water from the Colorado worked all this out a long time ago:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_Compact

Water rights are a touchy subject, especially in the West. But it all seems quite clear. Why do you think there will be violence, and by whom against whom?

M

[identity profile] kryptickelt.livejournal.com 2008-10-22 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Um, if they're thirsty and gasping for water, why don't they use their oil money for desalinization plants just as is happening here in the states? Additionally Mexico is bound by the International Boundary and Water Commission Treaty information for which is found at: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Boundary_and_Water_Commission) [Since I haven't upgraded to a better account.]

Besides, it isn't like a military option is really open to Mexico when it comes to diplomacy with us. In that arena we hold quite the hand and there are far too many people in this country who would be able to be exploited based upon their 'feelings' regarding illegal immigration to bolster military membership. It'd be ugly, but ultimately not worth Mexicos' effort.

[identity profile] appleblossom822.livejournal.com 2008-10-23 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
That "It's not Mexico's water" quote smacks of "Those damn stupid natives" to me...

When Georgia was in serious drought a couple years ago, they tried to get the state lines redrawn so that they could have access to the Tennessee River to basically steal water from Tennessee and Alabama. Nothing came of that, thankfully.

The things people in power try to do when they get desparate... *sigh*