Meh. I say we clean it out and make it part of Texas. If CA were full of Texans, it would be way better.
Maybe God thinks Cali has gotten a little too uppity?
Gee, if only there was a technology that could make all that water to the west drinkable.
The Liberals always worried about “peak oil,” but did nothing about “peak water.”
Drought in Cali
Move to Bali
Who gets the electoral votes?
Mixeco?
California is out of water and has a huge coastline bordering an ocean. It has the technology to built nuclear plants on the coast that can convert sea water to fresh water at night and provide electrical energy during the day. This is clean energy that is not dependent on sunshine or wind.
Yeah, let's spend billions on a train to nowhere.
Sorry, these idiots deserve their fate.
People have misunderstandings about water and agriculture. There is a thing called the ETAW. There is water diverted, water applied, water evaporated, water transpired through leaves, water runoff back to the streams, water deep percolated and finally, water actually consumed by the plant which makes its way into someone or something (livestock’s) stomach. The aim of irrigation efficiency is to: (1) minimize loss to evaporation and leakage from diversions to point of application by use of pipes or gunnited ditches; (2) reduce evaporation by wheel line sprinkler, pivot, drip or flood - whichever is most appropriate for soil and wind; and (3) eliminate runoff/percolation by diverting only the minimum needed. The big issue here is the mass amount of “environmental water” that is released to run to the sea, the refusal to construct new dams and storage facilities and the movement to remove existing dams like the four on the Klamath.
Lake Mead, Americas largest reservoir, writes Jay Famigliett
Dear Jay,
In case you have not looked at a map lately, I would point to a formation in the upper Midwest, called the Great Lakes - the largest body of fresh water in the world and serves as a reservoir for states and cities dotted along the coast lines; Lake Mead holds only a fraction of the fresh water as compared to the Great Lakes - 35 km3 vs 4920 km3
We all know the train $$ is a slush fund to aid illegals and other liberal agendas
Maybe this will break CA’s monopoly on fresh fruits and veggies. Big Veggie is not pleased.
I’m sure there is enough water for the Delta Smelt though. /semi-sarc. All the greenies get to feel real good about tearing out so many dams for waterway restoration.
There’s some interesting figures and photos of water usage due to marijuana cultivation in California at this link: http://bofdata.fire.ca.gov/board_business/binder_materials/2013/october_2013/marijuana_symposium/sbauer_impactsfrommarijuanacultivationboardofforestry.pdf
In short, at the rate things are going, most of California's agriculture could end up being centered around the Imperial Valley.
Comparing California today to the Dusy Bowl is a disingenuous reach. The current crisis is being systematically exacerbated by enemies of water management for human use. Resisting development of reservoirs and diverting water stores to a fish population heighten the effects of poor planning.
People came to California over the last century thinking it’s climate state was eternal. Historically, over the last 100,000 years, California has waxed and waned between “good” weather and droughts - some lasting 200 years. The current state of affairs, weather wise in California, is not news to the land there.
What is NEW to the land there is:
(1) a massive agriculture industry that is O.K. IF/WHEN the weather/climate stays good, and excessive on water consumption when it’s not [the massive subsidence of the land in the central valley due to how much water is pumped out of the ground there is not new to this period of drought, it has been going on for decades, ever since agriculture became such a big industry there];
and (2) too many concentrations of too many people in the water-poorest parts of the state. If the state were divided in two, the more-water-abundant north, would be charging through the nose for the over-populated water-poor south to get any water from it.
Agriculture also would take some big hits. It is not sustainable at its present levels under present conditions. That’s just the facts, not a judgement on farms or farmers. And to simply grow it huge again “when times get better” would simply mean a repeat of many water crisis again when a drought returns. Better that the industry shrink now, to something more sustainable, and leave it that. Then there will be more left, underground and in reservoirs to tide everyone over when droughts return.
When California DOES get rain, does anybody notice how much runoff goes directly out to the ocean (the LA “River” comes to mind)
Need to build more dams, not tear them down.
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