[MCN] Eat beef, help dry the streams, kill the fish? That's how it is

[Lance Olsen]

Nature Sustainability March 2020
Water scarcity and fish imperilment driven by beef production

Brian D. Richter  1,2 ✉, Dominique Bartak3, Peter Caldwell4, Kyle Frankel Davis  5,6,7,
Peter Debaere8, Arjen Y. Hoekstra  9,10, Tianshu Li  11, Landon Marston  12, Ryan McManamay  13, Mesfin M. Mekonnen  14, Benjamin L. Ruddell15, Richard R. Rushforth15 and Tara J. Troy 16,17

Abstract 

Human consumption of freshwater is now approaching or surpassing the rate at which water sources are being naturally replen- ished in many regions, creating water shortage risks for people and ecosystems. Here we assess the impact of human water uses and their connection to water scarcity and ecological damage across the United States, identify primary causes of river dewatering and explore ways to ameliorate them. We find irrigation of cattle-feed crops to be the greatest consumer of river water in the western United States, implicating beef and dairy consumption as the leading driver of water shortages and fish imperilment in the region. We assess opportunities for alleviating water scarcity by reducing cattle-feed production, finding that temporary, rotational fallowing of irrigated feed crops can markedly reduce water shortage risks and improve ecological sustainability. Long-term water security and river ecosystem health will ultimately require Americans to consume less beef that depends on irrigated feed crops.

Opening paragraphs of text: Water shortages have afflicted human societies for thousands of years1. As population centres grow and farmlands expand, freshwater consumption typically increases until renewable water supplies are fully utilized (for example, in Fig. 1); at this point, water users and freshwater ecosystems become highly vulnerable to water shortages during drier periods2. Historically, water shortages had local causes and consequences, involving only the communities that were directly dependent on an overused river or aquifer. Today, however, with trade networks encircling the globe, demand for asparagus in the United Kingdom can contribute to the depletion of an aquifer in the Peruvian desert3,4 and water shortages in the Central Valley of California can affect the availability and price of almonds and pistachios imported into the European Union5.

Climate change exacerbates water shortages by affecting both water supplies and water demands. Higher temperatures increase evapotranspiration, reducing aquifer recharge and watershed run- off6. For example, Udall and Overpeck attributed one-third of recent declines in Colorado River flows (19% below average during 2000– 2014) to temperature increases7. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expressed high confidence that irrigation—the largest water-using sector globally—will increase in coming decades due to increased evapotranspiration6.

Human-induced depletion of river flows has deleteriously affected freshwater species and ecosystems across the globe8,9 and is a leading cause of fish imperilment in the US10–12. Richter et al.12 documented that 62% of sub-watersheds in the western US contain at least one species endangered by flow depletion, with a total of 367 plant and animal species affected, including two-thirds of all native fish species in the Colorado River basin. To protect species listed under the US Endangered Species Act, water regulators have been forced to curtail water use for irrigation in some watersheds, lead- ing to severe political controversy and economic hardship13,14. The annual cost of recovering Endangered Species Act-listed fish species (more than US$800 million per year) now exceeds expenditures for all other animal and plant groups combined15. 

**********************************************************************************
“It’s time that everyone, from the humble homeowner to the highest levels of business and government, rethink their relationship with energy and take action. 

"Relying on renewables alone won’t be enough.”

<<https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikehughes1/2019/08/02/climate-change-18-months-to-save-the-world/#166763c749bd <https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikehughes1/2019/08/02/climate-change-18-months-to-save-the-world/#166763c749bd>>>

***********************************************************************
“Collective action works; we have proved that. But to change everything, we need everyone. 

"Each and every one of us must participate in the climate resistance movement.”

Greta Thunberg, youth climate strike leader in Sweden.
Luisa Neubauer, German climate activist.
Angela Valenzuela, Fridays for Future in Santiago, Chile.

<<https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/11/29/why-we-strike-again <https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/11/29/why-we-strike-again>>>
**********************************************************************************
“It’s time that everyone, from the humble homeowner to the highest levels of business and government, rethink their relationship with energy and take action. 

"Relying on renewables alone won’t be enough.”

<<https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikehughes1/2019/08/02/climate-change-18-months-to-save-the-world/#166763c749bd>>

***********************************************************************
“Collective action works; we have proved that. But to change everything, we need everyone. 

"Each and every one of us must participate in the climate resistance movement.”

Greta Thunberg, youth climate strike leader in Sweden.
Luisa Neubauer, German climate activist.
Angela Valenzuela, Fridays for Future in Santiago, Chile.

<<https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/11/29/why-we-strike-again>>

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