All dried up: foreclosures and forecasts in the AmericanSouthwest.

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Not long ago, my fiancee and I were watching a movie about a small, waterless southern Californiatown. The film led to a conversation about housing policies and the mortgage crisis. "It's these drywestern towns that are driving this mortgage crisis," I declared, no evidence to back it up, waving aglass of wine in one hand while standing in front of the fire, "and this is just the beginning of theproblems we'll see from all this sprawling urbanism!"

The following morning, dropping the red envelope with the DVD to be returned into the mailbox, Ireconsidered this point and was surprised that it held up under the sober first rays of the sun on themorning dog walk. It didn't take much research to confirm that this foreclosure crisis is hitting usharder in the Southwest than in the rest of the country. Even so, foreclosure is just the tip of theiceberg when it comes to the problem of growth in the West xylem flygt repair kit and like anyiceberg, the bulk of the thing--including its most dangerous parts--lies underwater. Like all icebergs,also, the 'berg of western urban growth will have its existence and stability challenged by globalclimate change.

As I write this, the five cities with the highest foreclosure rates are: Stockton, Bakersfield, andRiverside/San Bernadino in California, Las Vegas/Paradise, NV, and Phoenix, AZ. There are a fewthings these towns have in common. First, show any one of these cities to a person who hadn't seenit in 50 years and that person wouldn't believe the growth. Second, in each case growth has requiredRube Goldberg-ian water projects, four of them relying on the Colorado River and Stocktonbenefitting from similarly complex plumbing in California's Central Valley. Take note of somestraightforward refinements which can be added to a standard

centrifugal or positive displacement pump. Regarding pumps with overhung impellers, moving to a.The majority of installed pumps were not originally sourced for their current use. Very frequently, aline in a plant changes and the pump that started out providing cooling water to an injection moldingmachine is now needed to move oil from a rail car to a tank. Sadly, this causes a substantial numberof problems for the pump and the facility. Pumps operate where the pump curve crosses the systemcurve. If you relocate a pump from one system to another, this means that the system curve isdifferent. This new system may cause the pump to operate away from its best efficiency point,leading to vibration and other component problems that are simply symptoms of a mis-matchedpump and system.solid shaft is a easy refinement in relation to more common sleeved shafts.Mechanical seals can be upgraded with the addition of tungsten carbide faces, and elastomers canbe changed to Viton. In conclusion, magnetic bearing protectors are certainly a great improvementin relationship to the lip seals that the vast majority of water pumps use to maintain clean bearingsump oil.

Finally, the growth of these cities has been funded and encouraged through construction on theurban periphery. These similarities are related, but there has never been an overarching plan forWestern urban development. The piecemeal policymaking style that has led to this crisis isparticularly evident to me--a water planner--in the Colorado River Watershed.

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The management of the Colorado River is accomplished through an interlaced system of treaties,compacts, dams and tunnels. Interstate compacts define delivery and management roles betweenadjoining states that share in this body of water. These states, then, are divided into upper- andlower-basin states with additional compacts defining water-sharing agreements within and betweenthese conglomerates. Next, a compact along the entire river system details sharing beyond thebasin, and finally, a treaty between the U.S. and Mexico ensures minimum quantity and qualitymeasures at the border.

Over time, these arrangements have altered the shape of the Colorado River and its watershed.Dams, pumping stations, desalination facilities and hundreds of miles of aqueducts store, carry,clean and move water throughout the basin. New Mexico takes its negotiated share of the riverthrough 30 miles of tunnels in order to carry water from three Colorado River tributaries under thecontinental divide and into the Heron reservoir near Abiqiu, NM--the once pristine home of GeorgiaO'Keefe--where it joins the Rio Grande and flows to the Atlantic. For years the focal point ofSouthern Utah's tourist economy has been Lake Powell, where tourists can explore ancientpictographs and sandstone arches as God intended--by boat. Passing through Glen Canyon Dam, theRiver turns massive electrical turbines before flowing through the Grand Canyon and into LakeMead where it again powers and waters a rural desert community--Las Vegas, NV, America's fastestgrowing city.

After leaving Hoover Dam, millions of acre-feet are funneled off into the Colorado Canal for deliveryto thirsty residents, pools, fields, and golf courses in Southern California, the residue being hung outto dry in the Salton Sea--saltier than the ocean, more polluted than a can of soda. The CentralArizona Project brings another share of this water all the way from the state's western boundary toPhoenix through series of siphons (to carry water uphill), tunnels (to carry water under mountains),and pumps (gigantic wells) that allow America's fifth most populous city to stay hydrated, to swimand to golf year-round. When a few persistent gallons reach the U.S./Mexico border, the River is runthrough a plant to remove just enough of the salt that accumulates through irrigation andevaporation to meet the terms of our agreement with Mexico, but not so much that a fish could livein it or a farmer could spread it on her field.

Perhaps this is just an economic downturn and not the moment when the chickens of past crimesagainst the environment come home to roost, but it should at least give us pause. Moving forwardwe will face additional challenges to our limited natural resources including impeller water pumpclimate change and continued population growth. As we begin to address these issues, it isimportant that we learn from our past actions and consider the relationships between our housingpolicies, our environmental policies and our natural resources in order to better envision our futurefrom a broad perspective and to shape policies to help us move towards societal goals ofenvironmental and economic sustainability.

ANDREW ERDMANN holds Master's degrees in Natural Resources Planning and Water Resourcesand lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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