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This graphic, which is pretty cool, looking like a river continually diverted, shows where the water from the Colorado River goes. What's missing from the graphic is the bottom legend which shows that the left section, representing 54%, goes to sustaining cattle. The middle section, 24%, represents other crops, the right, 21%, everything else.
To put it in perspective, it could take more than 38 gallons of water, by some estimates, to produce one quarter-pound beef patty. That includes the water to grow all the feed like alfalfa and hay that the cattle themselves eat. In comparison, you need about five gallons of water to get the same amount of protein from tofu.
Dairy products like milk and cheese are even more water-intensive per gram of protein than beef because dairy cows require more energy to produce milk. They’re often fed alfalfa, in part because it’s higher in calories and protein.
also...
Although agriculture dominates water consumption in the West, most of the new demand for water comes from growing cities, Ms. Cooley said, and there are a lot of opportunities to conserve water at the tap.
Fewer lawns could make a difference. But experts say what we eat remains the biggest driver of water use along the Colorado.
“We have to be thinking about dietary changes,” said Brian Richter, lead author of the 2020 study and president of the education organization Sustainable Waters.
That doesn’t necessarily mean quitting meat entirely. Instead, it might look like a mind-set shift: Those products might need to become more of a specialty item in our diets, he said, “rather than something we consume every day.”
Water and climate and growing debt ("by 2050, approximately 50% of federal revenues will go towards interest only") seem to be enormous issues that are time bombs.
They seem to be society's blind spots... something related to the psychological concept of denial.
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