Water? We don't have too much! We live at 7600' and I always say we grow rocks and dirt. No lush lawns here. No glorious gardens…UNLESS you irrigate. We do not. We do have a lovely meadow and we begin the season with green, but as the summer becomes parched, so too does the meadow. I do have 2 small gardens and have planted hearty, drought resistant plants. Outside watering goes to the few pots of flowers.
A phenomenon here in the west you don't see in most parts of the country is 'Watermen'. People drive to the Watermen in their truck (or with an attached trailer) with a huge plastic tank filling the truck. This has a large screw cap at the top and folks drive under the water hose, fill their tank and drive home to syphon this into their cistern or just hook a hose to their house water system. I believe it costs .25/gallon.
"The historic four-year drought in California has been grabbing the headlines lately, but there's a much bigger problem facing the West: the now 14-year drought gripping the Colorado River basin. One of the most stunning places to see its impact is at the nation's largest reservoir, Lake Mead, near Las Vegas. At about 40 percent of capacity, it's the lowest it's been since it was built in the 1930s.
The east coast had a tough winter, we will have a tough summer. Is there a 'perfect climate?
And fuel? What does that look like out here? When you look at a map of the US and see the amount of fuel being consumed, it isn't here. It is on the east coast and the west coast. We just produce it.
We have 3 gas wells in our neighborhood. The gas companies 'own' all that is underground, so as long as they abide by the rules of the spacing of these wells, they can put them anywhere, even in your front yard! Since moving here 14 years ago they have halved the spacing of well locations due to high demand, so instead of 1 well every 80 acres it is 1 every 40 acres.
Now they have a new plan. Rather than put a new well in a high producing area, they will horizontal drill from an existing well. In our neighborhood that means drilling from an existing well pad 2000 feet sideways and 1000 feet down angling to a new underground reservoir.
The southwest is the mecca of gas drilling. We have a staggering 40,000 wells here in the 4 Corners!