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July 28th, 2021
Via CNBC, a video looking at the potential for water scarcity to incite “wars” between different users such as agriculture, industry, tourism, and families:
Brad Howard, CNBC producer: Water is a crucial resource that all humans need.
Emma Newburger, CNBC Business News: And right now what we’re seeing is there’s just not enough water to go around.
Maddie Stone, freelance science journalist: The current situation is that large swaths of the West — basically all of California, Oregon, Nevada and Utah, and a few other states — are in a state of drought right now.
Kathryn Reed, correspondent, North Bay Business Journal: It’s hard really to find a business that’s not being affected.
Brad Howard CNBC producer: Then when the water runs low, the economy feels the effect.
Morgan Levy, assistant professor, University of California, San Diego: Agriculture consumes more than 70% of the available water supply. During drought years, agriculture will drink up an even larger fraction of water supplies.
Brad Howard CNBC producer:: Tourism, landscaping, homebuilding and farming are just some of the businesses that get hurt because of one of the worst droughts the West Coast has ever experienced. In 2020, wildfires and drought cost the U.S. $21 billion. With lower water levels and higher temperatures, the wildfire risk runs hotter, according to the National Centers for Environmental information. In the West climate region alone, which includes California and Nevada, wildfires caused $12.1 billion in damage in 2020. With fires, political feuds and a changing climate, water is becoming more important to the U.S. economy than ever.