CALIFORNIA: Manage water for today, new study says

Sacramento Bee ^ | 2/24/11 | Matt Weiser

[SmithL]

A new report released Wednesday on California's well-recognized water management problems might be most noteworthy for what it does not include.

The report by the Public Policy Institute of California, "Managing California's Water," does not suggest deep water conservation on farms.

It also does not presume that all of the state's native fishes can be saved. Or that all its aquatic habitats should be restored to some pre-settlement ideal.

Rather, the report's theme is "reconciliation," which the authors define as managing California's water resources to benefit the environment and the economy of today.

"We have to keep in mind, we don't have a natural system left in California," said Peter Moyle, one of the co-authors and a fisheries professor at UC Davis. "We need to build a system that works as well for people as it does for fish."

The authors propose a shift from managing water and habitats based on the needs of a single endangered species to one that preserves whole ecosystems. They go so far as to suggest this may mean sacrificing some species for a greater good.

[SmithL]

"We need to build a system that works as well for people as it does for fish."

BINGO!

[GonzoGOP]

The biggest problem for California is not going to be water for fish, but water for people. Much of the infrastructure that brings water to LA was built between 1908 and 1940. Even the newest parts are a couple of decades old. It is getting very long in the tooth and hundred year old systems exposed to constant use in an earthquake zone take a lot of maintenance. It also has to be guarded. And California is broke. It would only take a few years of deferred maintenance or one terrorist attack and they aren't going to be able to flush.

[1st I.D Vet]

The Dem’s in Central CA’s farming district caught hell during this govt induced water crisis.

Mass defections from Dems to the Conservative position by the Hispanic community prompted politicians to rethink their positions.

In Orange Grove unemployment peaked near 40% due to many of the farms receiving no water.

The tide is turning...

remember, liberalism can only thrive while some body elses money is being used.

Perhaps this economic crisis was the one thing which could have been its poison pill...

[RC2]

One of these days they are going to put meters on all the wells in the state. They’ve already talked about it in our area. If they do that, they are going to have to pay me the $20,000 it took to put in my well. Then they will have to do all the repairs that normally occur with wells. It’s not the water they want, it’s the money they will charge for the water that they want. There are many crops that don’t do well on drip systems. They only grow with flood irrigation.

[US_MilitaryRules]

That is why we have the most dems in office ever. Kalifonia is toast.

[utherdoul]

why not just charge market price to farmers? Wouldn’t that solve more problems than it would cause?

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

I saw an incredible special on waste water reclamation being peformed as an experimental procedure in Lost. This is to make the water potable for drinking. I can’t believe how they are able to do this and I am betting it is cheaper than desalination.

There are always technological solutions of you have the conviction to find them.

That said, water is going to be as big a battle as energy in California, until the water shortages get so bad that normal people vote to build more water reservoirs and emasculate the environmental wackjobs suing to oppose them.