Posted on 03/26/2007 6:28:55 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday promoted a $6 billion plan for increased water storage and protecting fresh water supplies, calling for two new dams and better management of the delta.
"Our state's population is increasing rapidly. We also have earthquakes and major storms that could really destroy our levee system," the governor said, speaking against the backdrop of Friant Dam at Millerton Lake, in the Sierra foothills east of Fresno.
Two-thirds of Californians depend on the Sierra Nevada snowmelt for drinking water while Central Valley growers use it to irrigate their fields. Schwarzenegger said the state's expected growth - to 55 million people by 2050 - requires it to create more water storage.
In addition, officials must plan for the effects of global warming, which is expected to reduce the Sierra snow pack and lead to earlier run off. Rising sea levels also could increase salinity in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, jeopardizing fresh water supplies.
Schwarzenegger introduced his water projects in January during his State of the State address, proposing $4.5 billion for reservoirs and groundwater storage, $1 billion to manage the delta, $250 million for restoration of several rivers and $200 million for water conservation.
The governor faces building two new dams, one above the existing Friant Dam and Millerton Lake and another in the northern Sacramento Valley.
Environmentalists have criticized Schwarzenegger's plans. They say California could find more cost-effective ways to meet its water needs, particularly through conservation.
It really be interesting to see how the west deals with water issues in the next 50 years. Already a lot of areas are struggling to meet the demand and you can be sure that the population will continue to grow out there and make municipal water problems worse.
Don't worry, we can solve this problem thru conservation.
Oh boy....not more dams....a major contributor to global warming when all the gas from rotting vegetation bubbles up....don't Arnie get briedef on this stuff....?
sticky fingers....sorry
Dams will kill the wildlife and destroy the ecosystem!
This is madness!
Arrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhh!
I've been seeing these "predictions" for forty years. Who the hell makes them and why should we regard them as set in stone? It may be the only way we can pay for Arnold's stupid bonds, but that hardly constitutes justification for paving every farm in the state.
Shaking head in amazement. The Eco-Freaks want us to tear down several dams out here in the West, now here's Ahnie wanting to build more for them to demand we tear down.
That's just methane --- only 21 times more potent of a Greenhouse gas than CO2.
What Arnie really has to worry about is his reliance on Dihydrogen Monoxide inherent in this plan. That stuff can be deadly but I doubt the Austrian Hummer driver has ever heard of it even though several of his in-laws had serious and very deadly encounters with it.
But what about the salmon, the snail darters and the endangered liberals?
The LAO included some info in a report a few months back.
IIRC, it said that the California population, if you did not include immigrants, was actually declining.
Only if that conservation is aimed at agriculture...which uses nearly 90 percent of all water used in the west. If you're talking municipal conservation, that's literally a drop in the bucket -- the water, and water waste, is in agriculture.
Actually, I was being sarcastic.
This is isn't madness, this IS SPARTA!
One could only wish.
Does this topic have to get inserted into every news story there is? It was even featured in Sports Illustrated!
Just trying to sex it up a bit, no doubt, GW sells ;-)
I heard about SI going Gore.. tsk tsk
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