“Why the Hydrants Failed” – Robert Simpson Confronts the Water Crisis Behind America’s Housing Shortage
The risk of wildfires, water crises, and housing shortages is rapidly increasing across the American West. Why the Hydrants Failed, and the Future of Housing in the West by Robert Simpson offers a bold and essential vision for rethinking how and where we build to tackle these dilemmas.
With a background shaped by his education at California State University Fullerton and a lifetime spent in the construction industry, Simpson brings firsthand insight into infrastructure and land use. He addresses a critical yet under-discussed obstacle to expanding housing and development in the western United States: freshwater availability on federally controlled lands.
Drawing from environmental history, infrastructure policy, and current housing economics, Simpson illustrates how outdated legal frameworks (some over 100 years old) continue to limit progress. These laws prevent arid inland regions from utilizing the very water that falls on their own soil.
“Most of the water that falls as rain or snow within this region is typically ‘earmarked’ for downstream coastal cities,” Simpson writes, “just as John Westley Powell feared, it has been monopolized by ‘downstream developers’ that mostly exist in the coastal cities.”
The book stresses that leveraging desalination, water reclamation, and distributed population centers along with building President Trump’s Freedom Cities is the solution to America’s ongoing housing and water shortages.
Based on current estimates, the U.S. needs to build between 10 and 100 freedom cities to meet growing demand and support economic growth. With a housing shortage of roughly 5 million units, and an average household size of 2.5 people, that means around 12.5 million Americans are without access to affordable housing.
Addressing this crisis is essential to restoring the American Dream and creating economic stability across the nation.
Simpson also explores the implications of infrastructure ownership, contrasting the privatized US energy grid (80% privately owned) with California’s mostly public water systems (85% publicly managed). In the aftermath of tragic wildfires and systemic failures, like hydrants running dry in the L.A. basin, Simpson challenges the bureaucratic opacity that often impedes innovation and accountability.
Why the Hydrants Failed and the Future of Housing in the West critique the current system along with giving the tools to rebuild and improve. Simpson believes that Americans still have the tools to reclaim the dream of homeownership, especially at a time when national challenges seem insurmountable.
Key Insights:
- Explains how historic water laws limit housing development on federal lands
- Shows how desalination and water reclamation can unlock vast potential in the arid West
- Proposes an alternative to coastal overdevelopment through the creation of distributed Freedom Cities
- Argues that strategic infrastructure reform can solve nearly 30% of the national housing shortage
About the Author
Robert Simpson, a graduate of California State University Fullerton, brings decades of experience in construction and land development. Raised in Southern California, he witnessed the challenges of building in the arid West. His work focuses on water policy, housing, and preserving the American Dream. Why the Hydrants Failed and the Future of Housing in the West is his first book.
