The examples you give from CA, FL, etc., are quite enlightening.

Water is generally what is referred to as a “Common Pool Resource.” With the exception of “bottled,” water isn’t a commodity that can be packaged and sold. Market solutions alone don’t constitute an adequate solution for distribution because. Water just doesn’t have the characteristics of a normal commodity.

Sometimes I say “NIMBY” when I really mean “BANANA” — “Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything.” NIMBYism has kept plenty of good developments from happening, too. In fact, it’s my understanding that NIMBYism kept the Corps of Engineers from developing a new source of water for Lake Lanier.

The Mid-Manhattan expressway, by the way, died as a result of being caught in the crossfire of what was essentially a war between Robert Moses and Jerry Finkelstein. Moses insisted on building the expressway above ground. The Board of Estimate had directed the Triborough Authority to study all proposals. Finkelstein has a proposal to build the expressway below ground. When the mayor gave permission for a study of Finkelstein’s proposal, Moses decided he was no longer willing to build any mid-Manhattan crossing at all. Moses killed that proposal himself, not NIMBYism.

It also wasn’t NIMBYism that caused the Brooklyn-Battery bridge to became a tunnel.

The lower-Manhattan expressway is a different story. People fought that not because it would ruin their backyard, so to speak. It was opposed because, like the Cross-Bronx Expressway, the residents would get evicted out of their homes. Personally, I don’t think that opposition to the Manhattan expressways was NIMBYism.

The point of all that is whatever you think of me crying NIMBY, crying “intellectual laziness” is also a bit intellectually lazy.

The only short-term answer is conservation and recycling for re-use, imo. But there is a long term solution too: Unfortunately, it won’t happen but if water could be treated as a commodity that can be bought and sold at a free market price, there will be no shortage and the price will be really low. The politics of it is impossible of course. In some river basins (for example the Rio Grande below & not including El Paso because you can’t shift water upstream and New Mexico doesn’t release water to Texas) there is a market where water rights can be bought and sold and the reallocation that is accomplished is smooth and easy. In times of great drought, the price goes up somewhat but not much as marginal users find they can sell their water for more profit than their alternative use would yield.

Texas has very recently built a couple of desalination plants but entirely with funny money. It will be interesting to see what happens with the operating costs. My prediction: Eventually some city manager is going to realize he can solve a budget crisis by shutting his RO plant down. Probably about the time the operating costs spike when they reach the first filter replacement cycle.

One other thing Joe. NIMBYism saved Manhatten from destruction by freeways. There other examples. Point is: people really do know their back yard best. Meet their arguments head on. Yelling NIMBY is intellectually lazy, imo.

But still, 17% of the needs of 1.5 million people, from the world’s largest desalination plant powered by renewable energy. That would translate to a very expensive drop in Atlanta’s thirsty bucket.