In the case of the aquifer, it's clear. It's a finite resource that is going to be depleted sooner rather than later.
But that doesn't apply to diverting water from the Missouri River.
I guess the author just wants people to self-flagellate and repent their sins, rather than look for solutions?
2004 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rivers_by_discharge
2000 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogallala_Aquifer
It might work, though would be expensive, but what are the literal downstream effects?
However, calling the proposed aqueduct "regressive" is not a good reasoning.
For them it means: "Actually thinking about a solution instead of wringing hands"
These businesses are going to go under. You cannot run food manufacturing operations with the amount of water they have available. We will grow food someplace with more water.
The people who own those businesses will hold on until the bitter end. This is expected. They will try increasingly desperate measures to continue running their business, including but not limited to ecologically destructive practices. It won’t work. There’s no water.
Solar, wind, nuclear, biodiesel?
In particular, Kansas gets a whopping 50% of energy from wind and 14% from nuclear. They still use coal for 30% of the generation, but it's on the way out.
Mind you, mandating that the pumps are powered by renewable energy would be a good requirement.
> If so then you are making climate change worse just so you can grow crops in an area that isn't suitable for for growing crops because of a lack of water.
So your whole idea is to wring hands, self-flagellate, and then to write tearful articles about that?
There are some problems that can be solved if everyone gets over themselves and applies a can-do problem-solving attitude. There are other problems that are caused by fundamental system constraints and can't be solved, only worked around.
The trouble is that a certain kind of manager believes that every problem is the former kind, and considers everyone who acknowledges the existence of the latter kind to be weak-willed.
Yes, the water pumping is unsustainable, so we need to talk about the way to replace it with sustainable water sources. It will probably also involve optimizing the water usage.