There are many solutions to this problem. Evaporative cooling is just the cheapest. But it’s only cheap because we don’t charge these water users market rates for water. If they’re threatening drinking water or agricultural water we should just charge them for water usage the same as you pay for drinking water at home. That’s fundamentally what they’re taking when they drain the rivers dry. That way they compete directly on the water market instead of bypassing it.
summitsystems.co.uk/adiabatic-coolers-vs-cooling-towers/
There are many solutions to this problem. Evaporative cooling is just the cheapest. But it’s only cheap because we don’t charge these water users market rates for water. If they’re threatening drinking water or agricultural water we should just charge them for water usage the same as you pay for drinking water at home. That’s fundamentally what they’re taking when they drain the rivers dry. That way they compete directly on the water market instead of bypassing it.
They’ll install adiabatic coolers in no time.