August 18, 2022

Water flowing down the Mississippi River is kept at an artificially high level with mini dams and locks for barging. Barging was outdated in the nineteenth century; yet it is still being promoted during the twenty first century. Why?

All of the whys of water shortages point to the same thing: wantonness being promoted for wantonness sake. You probably assume no one does that. There are reasons why they do; but corruption is described on other pages. It's the result, not the why, that is being described on this page.

Whenever significant rains occur along the Mississippi river, flooding is the result, because the water cannot move over the mini dams used for barging fast enough. The water could be used for agricultural irrigation. Instead, ground water is used for irrigation. That ground water is rapidly disappearing far and wide due to irrigation. Adding up the factors says the river water is being used for barging, while the ground water is being used for irrigation.

Just to make sure the river water doesn't get used for agricultural purposes or human consumption, an oil pipeline goes under the Missouri River twice in North Dakota. Oil pipelines break and spill oil on a regular basis. When on flat ground, the oil gets scooped up and nothing is damaged. When the pipeline breaks anywhere near the Missouri River, the oil will flow down the river. It won't be stopped as easily going under the river as it does on flat ground.

Most of the water problems in the Western U.S. could be solved. One element would be to use Mississippi River water for human purposes instead of barging. Agricultural irrigation could be reduced to a small fraction by shifting agriculture away from fuel-tank ethanol and the wasteful fattening process of cattle.

The very largest part of agriculture in the U.S. goes into corn and soybean production. Not a gram of corn or soybeans needs to be used for feeding cattle or producing ethanol. Eliminating those purposes would reduce corn and soybean production to almost nothing.

Even if carbon dioxide were destroying planet Earth, ethanol production from corn puts more carbon dioxide in the air than pumping oil because of the production requirements. Yet power mongers whine over limitations on ethanol production trying to get the government to put 15% ethanol in gas tanks instead of 10%. That's because the wantonness of power overwhelms the rationality of human existence everywhere in society.

Cattle could be fed alfalfa only. Not an iota of corn or soybeans is required. There is enough protein in alfalfa. Normally, no chemicals are used with alfalfa. Alfalfa will fix its own nitrogen from the air. And alfalfa will grow wherever grass grows with no irrigation required, though yield usually increases with irrigation.

Dairy cows are commonly fed alfalfa; but feed lot operators refuse to do so. Less fat is produced when feeding alfalfa rather than corn and soybeans. Fat is what rich people want in their beef; but low fat beef is better for health and would be much cheaper and available to the lower classes.

It means the environmental destructiveness of corn and soybean agriculture has no other logic than putting excess fat in beef. Not part of the logic is the huge power structure created by corn and soybean production.

Agricultural erosion and run-off of chemicals is also a result of the corn and soybean wantonness. The GMO method of growing increases the problem by eliminating tillage. With GMOs, spraying replaces tillage in production of corn and soybeans. Without tillage, the ground erodes more readily and washes more chemicals into the waterways.

Fakes say the opposite—that no-till and GMOs are the answer to everything in agriculture. Persons who have never seen a tractor do the speaking for the power mongers, so they can wash the hands of important persons while producing mockeries of rationality. But the largest subject in agriculture research is how to cope with gulley erosion caused by the no-till practices used with GMOs. The research never ends, because the problem of gulley erosion never gets solved for using GMOs.

Why is industrial development expanding in Phoenix Arizona unlike anyplace else, while there is an extreme water shortage in the area due to the limitations on the Colorado River? No explanation. That type of industry could be put anyplace; yet it is being put where there is a water shortage and always will be.

Why are most of the vegetables grown in California, where the soil is sandy and requires large amounts of water, fertilizer and chemicals? For lettuce, growing is needed year around; but not for vegetables which are frozen or canned. Most vegetables could be grown in all fifty states. But industry likes to be located where there is a lot of industry.

Aggregation of industry is an outdated concept. Distances are not very relevant now days. But aggregation is necessary for power mongering. Power mongering is an aberrant mentality, not a necessary part of industry.