A thought on future housing prices due to something we take for granted: water

[DoJC]

I’ve been watching the growth of CA of the last 16 or so years, and have always wondered why the water supply hasn’t been forced to keep up with the demands placed on it. Now it appears that the next few years are going to be a rather large problem. LA county announced it would only supply 15% of the requested water, water bills are going to be substantially higher, and penalties will be increased.

Do you think that this will be another small factor driving teh home prices further down? Or, is this going to be a non-issue in comparison to the many other issues facing our housing in CA?

[afx114]

It is a huge problem. A lot of the infrastructure is well past it’s estimated life-span. Our grandparents and their parents paid (via taxes) to install the water infrastructure that we all take for granted, but it is now all falling apart. Some pipes are upwards of 100 years old. It’s similar to an old man with lots of cholesterol — the pipe may have been installed as an 18″ pipe, but “plaque” has built up within the pipe, essentially making it a 3-4″ pipe. Not to mention corrosion, rust, and root damage. We are due for a ton of hurt when it comes to our water systems.

It should also be noted that the initial infrastructure was paid for by grants by the federal government. Those grants don’t exist any more. That is why water prices are so low compared to other commodities — the initial systems were so expensive to install, future maintenance was never priced in. Like gas, we have been spoiled by subsidies. The real costs of clean and safe water delivery have never been reflected in our water bills, but they will have to be if we want to fix the problem.

Most people don’t realize that there are actually 3 independent water systems – drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater. If one of the systems mixes with another, that’s where we run into problems (polluted beaches, erosion, water borne illness). When one system fails the other two are affected.

All of us have to realize that water is not cheap, and not easy to deliver and take away (wastewater). Everyone loves water, but no one wants to pay for it. Try living even a day without using a single drop of water. That will put things quickly in perspective.

But of course, no one wants to pay taxes to improve the systems until it’s too late and ends up costing us 4x more than it would have to do preventative maintenance.

Unfortunately I think it’s going to take sickness from a water-borne disease on a massive scale to wake everyone up to the problems.

[afx114]

It is a huge problem. A lot of the infrastructure is well past it’s estimated life-span. Our grandparents and their parents paid (via taxes) to install the water infrastructure that we all take for granted, but it is now all falling apart. Some pipes are upwards of 100 years old. It’s similar to an old man with lots of cholesterol — the pipe may have been installed as an 18″ pipe, but “plaque” has built up within the pipe, essentially making it a 3-4″ pipe. Not to mention corrosion, rust, and root damage. We are due for a ton of hurt when it comes to our water systems.

It should also be noted that the initial infrastructure was paid for by grants by the federal government. Those grants don’t exist any more. That is why water prices are so low compared to other commodities — the initial systems were so expensive to install, future maintenance was never priced in. Like gas, we have been spoiled by subsidies. The real costs of clean and safe water delivery have never been reflected in our water bills, but they will have to be if we want to fix the problem.

Most people don’t realize that there are actually 3 independent water systems – drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater. If one of the systems mixes with another, that’s where we run into problems (polluted beaches, erosion, water borne illness). When one system fails the other two are affected.

All of us have to realize that water is not cheap, and not easy to deliver and take away (wastewater). Everyone loves water, but no one wants to pay for it. Try living even a day without using a single drop of water. That will put things quickly in perspective.

But of course, no one wants to pay taxes to improve the systems until it’s too late and ends up costing us 4x more than it would have to do preventative maintenance.

Unfortunately I think it’s going to take sickness from a water-borne disease on a massive scale to wake everyone up to the problems.

[afx114]

It is a huge problem. A lot of the infrastructure is well past it’s estimated life-span. Our grandparents and their parents paid (via taxes) to install the water infrastructure that we all take for granted, but it is now all falling apart. Some pipes are upwards of 100 years old. It’s similar to an old man with lots of cholesterol — the pipe may have been installed as an 18″ pipe, but “plaque” has built up within the pipe, essentially making it a 3-4″ pipe. Not to mention corrosion, rust, and root damage. We are due for a ton of hurt when it comes to our water systems.

It should also be noted that the initial infrastructure was paid for by grants by the federal government. Those grants don’t exist any more. That is why water prices are so low compared to other commodities — the initial systems were so expensive to install, future maintenance was never priced in. Like gas, we have been spoiled by subsidies. The real costs of clean and safe water delivery have never been reflected in our water bills, but they will have to be if we want to fix the problem.

Most people don’t realize that there are actually 3 independent water systems – drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater. If one of the systems mixes with another, that’s where we run into problems (polluted beaches, erosion, water borne illness). When one system fails the other two are affected.

All of us have to realize that water is not cheap, and not easy to deliver and take away (wastewater). Everyone loves water, but no one wants to pay for it. Try living even a day without using a single drop of water. That will put things quickly in perspective.

But of course, no one wants to pay taxes to improve the systems until it’s too late and ends up costing us 4x more than it would have to do preventative maintenance.

Unfortunately I think it’s going to take sickness from a water-borne disease on a massive scale to wake everyone up to the problems.

[afx114]

It is a huge problem. A lot of the infrastructure is well past it’s estimated life-span. Our grandparents and their parents paid (via taxes) to install the water infrastructure that we all take for granted, but it is now all falling apart. Some pipes are upwards of 100 years old. It’s similar to an old man with lots of cholesterol — the pipe may have been installed as an 18″ pipe, but “plaque” has built up within the pipe, essentially making it a 3-4″ pipe. Not to mention corrosion, rust, and root damage. We are due for a ton of hurt when it comes to our water systems.

It should also be noted that the initial infrastructure was paid for by grants by the federal government. Those grants don’t exist any more. That is why water prices are so low compared to other commodities — the initial systems were so expensive to install, future maintenance was never priced in. Like gas, we have been spoiled by subsidies. The real costs of clean and safe water delivery have never been reflected in our water bills, but they will have to be if we want to fix the problem.

Most people don’t realize that there are actually 3 independent water systems – drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater. If one of the systems mixes with another, that’s where we run into problems (polluted beaches, erosion, water borne illness). When one system fails the other two are affected.

All of us have to realize that water is not cheap, and not easy to deliver and take away (wastewater). Everyone loves water, but no one wants to pay for it. Try living even a day without using a single drop of water. That will put things quickly in perspective.

But of course, no one wants to pay taxes to improve the systems until it’s too late and ends up costing us 4x more than it would have to do preventative maintenance.

Unfortunately I think it’s going to take sickness from a water-borne disease on a massive scale to wake everyone up to the problems.

[afx114]

It is a huge problem. A lot of the infrastructure is well past it’s estimated life-span. Our grandparents and their parents paid (via taxes) to install the water infrastructure that we all take for granted, but it is now all falling apart. Some pipes are upwards of 100 years old. It’s similar to an old man with lots of cholesterol — the pipe may have been installed as an 18″ pipe, but “plaque” has built up within the pipe, essentially making it a 3-4″ pipe. Not to mention corrosion, rust, and root damage. We are due for a ton of hurt when it comes to our water systems.

It should also be noted that the initial infrastructure was paid for by grants by the federal government. Those grants don’t exist any more. That is why water prices are so low compared to other commodities — the initial systems were so expensive to install, future maintenance was never priced in. Like gas, we have been spoiled by subsidies. The real costs of clean and safe water delivery have never been reflected in our water bills, but they will have to be if we want to fix the problem.

Most people don’t realize that there are actually 3 independent water systems – drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater. If one of the systems mixes with another, that’s where we run into problems (polluted beaches, erosion, water borne illness). When one system fails the other two are affected.

All of us have to realize that water is not cheap, and not easy to deliver and take away (wastewater). Everyone loves water, but no one wants to pay for it. Try living even a day without using a single drop of water. That will put things quickly in perspective.

But of course, no one wants to pay taxes to improve the systems until it’s too late and ends up costing us 4x more than it would have to do preventative maintenance.

Unfortunately I think it’s going to take sickness from a water-borne disease on a massive scale to wake everyone up to the problems.

[Eugene]

It may drive home prices UP rather than down. Water shortages will put an end to indiscriminate building and cut off the supply of new housing.

[Eugene]

It may drive home prices UP rather than down. Water shortages will put an end to indiscriminate building and cut off the supply of new housing.

[Eugene]

It may drive home prices UP rather than down. Water shortages will put an end to indiscriminate building and cut off the supply of new housing.

[Eugene]

It may drive home prices UP rather than down. Water shortages will put an end to indiscriminate building and cut off the supply of new housing.

[Eugene]

It may drive home prices UP rather than down. Water shortages will put an end to indiscriminate building and cut off the supply of new housing.

[DWCAP]

[quote=esmith]It may drive home prices UP rather than down. Water shortages will put an end to indiscriminate building and cut off the supply of new housing.
[/quote]

Or we could just stop building houses with lush green lawns in the middle of the desert. We could take care of alot of houses water needs with the water we keep grass green with.

And if grass is that important to you there are plenty of places in the midwest where you couldnt stop grass from growing if you tried.

[DWCAP]

[quote=esmith]It may drive home prices UP rather than down. Water shortages will put an end to indiscriminate building and cut off the supply of new housing.
[/quote]

Or we could just stop building houses with lush green lawns in the middle of the desert. We could take care of alot of houses water needs with the water we keep grass green with.

And if grass is that important to you there are plenty of places in the midwest where you couldnt stop grass from growing if you tried.

[DWCAP]

[quote=esmith]It may drive home prices UP rather than down. Water shortages will put an end to indiscriminate building and cut off the supply of new housing.
[/quote]

Or we could just stop building houses with lush green lawns in the middle of the desert. We could take care of alot of houses water needs with the water we keep grass green with.

And if grass is that important to you there are plenty of places in the midwest where you couldnt stop grass from growing if you tried.

[DWCAP]

[quote=esmith]It may drive home prices UP rather than down. Water shortages will put an end to indiscriminate building and cut off the supply of new housing.
[/quote]

Or we could just stop building houses with lush green lawns in the middle of the desert. We could take care of alot of houses water needs with the water we keep grass green with.

And if grass is that important to you there are plenty of places in the midwest where you couldnt stop grass from growing if you tried.

[Author]

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