Posted on 11/27/2016 10:12:36 AM PST by Mariner
LOS BANOS - The helicopter landed in the western hills above the San Joaquin Valley and out of the dust walked President John F. Kennedy.
It was Aug. 18, 1962, and the sun would not let go. In the hollow of the mountain, where California was about to build its newest reservoir, the air felt like a blast furnace. Summer had baked the earth to a tan and shrunken form. The hills turned to hide. Though not a drop of rain had fallen from the sky since spring, no one in the assembled crowd, certainly not the cotton kings, thought of this as drought.
Going dry for eight months was California’s condition. And here was the president coming west to deliver California’s fix. A son of Massachusetts, he knew this was a place where “things do not happen but are made to happen.” Looking down on the Valley, he could see nature’s aridity and man’s answer side by side. Desert and farm, salt and fruit. The difference was the reach of an irrigation canal.
Two Irish American politicians at the peak of their power, JFK and Gov. Pat Brown, came together that day outside Los Banos, “the baths,” to build the nation’s largest off-stream earthen reservoir. No partnership between Washington, D.C., and Sacramento had ever tackled a project of such monument. By dint of the new reservoir and an aqueduct that sent water from one end of California to the other, the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project forever joined hands.
But the building of the San Luis Reservoir and canal stands out in the annals of western reclamation for a more inglorious reason. The Westlands Water District, 600,000 acres of irrigated agriculture, controlled nearly all the federal water that moved through the new plumbing.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
That is simply not true. The FedGov has been allocating the water in the Colorado River since the days when Hoover Dam was built. The problem for Southern California is that now Arizona is laying claim to it’s full share of that water, so SoCal is having to cut back on what it takes.
How can California rob Colorado of its water? The Centennial State sits upstream from the reservoirs out of which California gets its water.
“How can California rob Colorado of its water? The Centennial State sits upstream from the reservoirs out of which California gets its water.”
Very simply, the Colorado River water is allocated to users along it’s entire length. Just because it starts in the Rockies doesn’t necessarily mean that the folks in Colorado can simply take what they want from it. The Colorado River is a water resource for millions of people, not just those living in Colorado.
Actually, when Hoover Dam was built, an allocation of the impounded water was set up between California and Arizona ( it’s interesting that Nevada was left out, but there weren’t any people in Nevada then ). For years, Arizona did not take anywhere near all of the allocation given to it, but now it is, and so each year, Southern California is able to take less water because of Arizona’s prior claim on its given allocation.
The bigger problem is that the Colorado River isn’t going to be able to sustain everyone who’s taking water from it now, particularly when there are draughts. Here in Northern California during our draught the last few years, we are now taking reclaimed water to use for non-potable uses. The water is free, but you have
to transport it yourself.
California has been dumber than dog $hit getting rid of nuclear power, because it is the only way that desalinization of sea water is viable.
California and other states vie for the water in the Colorado River, but Colorado is not one of them.
Agreements were made years ago, and as I understand it California abides by them. So do the other states.
This taxes the water supply remaining in the Colorado river. That is a concern. I’m not sure what the current situation is, but California having as much frontage on the river as anyone, has a right to stake claims to the water just like others do. Nothing evil about it.
Agreed. At some point those plants do have to go though. They don’t last forever.
When it costs too much to keep them going, they shut them down.
I would favor smaller plants, more of them, and desalination in conjunction with all of them.
I’ve only been advocating this for 25 years or so.
As a Nevadan, I will 100% agree with you. Cut off California’s inland water so they desalinate the Pacific.
California has the most frontage to the Pacific Ocean, which makes what they're doing completely evil.
B.S.
Thanks for playing. Don Pardo, tell our guest what his parting gifts are...
Nada!
Thanks Don.
Anti-desalination NIMBY liberal coastal elites claim another victim.
Should we just send the bill for the extra cost of our water to you?
I advocate for desalinization, but that doesn’t mean it’s evil not to. California has as much right as anyone to claim part of the Colorado River water.
Sorry you can’t grasp that.
I grew up south of Owens Valley, and we used to cruise the aqueduct along the length of the Sierras. What a feat of engineering; what a crime of the century!
If they do away with the electoral college, the entire country will be raped just as the Owens Valley was.
Los Banos= the bathrooms ?
I think toilet is a more descriptive term!
Just remember: California is “The land of the Fruits and Nuts”: agriculturally, socially, etc.
Ever wonder why LA has such strict environmental laws and so much smog? Check out Richard Dana’s “Two Years Before the Mast” published in 1840 for a description of the smoke of Indian fires trapped in the LA area before 60gotzillion people and 120gotzillion cars moved there!
What water? California has a multi-year drought.
Try not paying for gender reassignment surgeries, gang tattoo removal, six figure pensions, etc. and put the money towards desalination plants where everyone can benefit.
Oh waaah that might mean some liberal in Malibu gets their property value drop by $500K. Can't have that.
California has zero right to claim any part of the Colorado River water when they have an entire ocean bordering them, which most western states where the Colorado actually originates do not.
Delusional drivel based on your bias and not your brain.
It’s painful to watch you act as if you’re rational.
Please tell us how much we expend each year in California on state paid for reassignment surgeries, gang tattoo removal.
Then tell me what can be done about pensions that both sides agreed to in advance.
Just how much do you think nuclear plants with desalinization facilities cost anyway? LOL
As for Malibu, there isn’t much beach there for plants, but then I wouldn’t expect you to get one thing right after missing on everything else.
Thanks for the humor.
What have you done to cut your water usage or develop a new source?
I’m listening.
There is a fresh water supply shortage across this nation, and as the population grows it’s going to become more acute.
So what are you doing to reduce your water usage?
California entered into agreements decades ago, and it is abiding by them.
That’s how it works. Some pinhead with a dislike for California can’t just mouth off and change things.
Let me guess, you didn’t know that.
How’s your government pension system doing? Noticed you left that out.
What’s more important than clean water to drink and irrigation for farming? Apparently Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, etc. should just give all the water to California when none of those states border the Pacific Ocean — and the Colorado is the sole source for water in a significant portion of those states.
Long overdue to remap Colorado River water rights based on current desalination technology.
“As a Nevadan, I will 100% agree with you. Cut off California’s inland water so they desalinate the Pacific.”
Sorry, my wife is a Nevadan ( born in Fallon, raised in LV) and she would beg to differ with you as a CA resident for 60 years. California needs to manage it’s agricultural use of water. The farmers are the problem here as regards water, not the residents. Agribusiness is growing stuff here that makes no sense, but they have “bought” the government so they can take advantage of us. Beyond that, the underlying problem with Los Angeles is that it has been allowed to grow beyond the ability of the natural resources available locally to sustain it. It’s like a huge vacuum cleaner looking into every nook and cranny for water and electricity. It should not be allowed to rape the rest of the state to satisfy its thirst.
Bookmark for later comments
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.