Use access key #2 to skip to page content.

dwot (99.54)

Water floodways

Recs

7

August 20, 2011 – Comments (3)

I have posted on water in the past as I think water issues are going to get more serious.  Having said that, I was looking at a really interesting story this morning.

There was horrendous flooding in the praries this year and I saw this story about a billboard demanding Canadians keep their d@mn water.  It just seems like such a strange outlet for anger, it got my attention.

I read some of the comments, one of which was to the effect, get pro-active and do something to protect yourself, like how Winnipeg built the Red River Floodway.  Looking at the history of this thing, well, it has been used about half the years since it was built.

To me that seems like a lot of water that isn't wanted but could be wanted somewhere else, but at the very least ought to be directed away from other cities.  Too bad it is totally unfeasible to get that water to California and the other desert states that could really use it.

3 Comments – Post Your Own

#1) On August 20, 2011 at 1:58 PM, smartmuffin (< 20) wrote:

Maybe there will be funding in the next stimulus package for a trans-America canal or some such thing.

 Who knows, at some point the situation in the desert states might become so dire that shipping water all the way from Canada does in fact become economically feasible.

Report this comment
#2) On August 20, 2011 at 9:01 PM, rfaramir (30.52) wrote:

If there were a true free market in water rights, we might see some rational behaviour, both from consumers and producers.

Government intervention, on the other hand, will only produce more boondoggles.

"The American West faces severe water shortages because of U.S. Government policies of this past century.... end the water socialism.... water... has been distributed politically" http://mises.org/daily/1557

Rothbard explains private property rights here: http://mises.org/daily/2553 and in long form, here: http://mises.org/daily/2459 podcast (read by Jeff Riggenbach) here: http://blog.mises.org/6135/ethics-of-liberty-audiobook-podcast/ 

Report this comment
#3) On August 20, 2011 at 11:00 PM, ajm101 (33.74) wrote:

Ah, the Red River floodway.  Mocked as wasteful government at the time, has paid for itself many times over since.

Report this comment

Featured Broker Partners


Advertisement