Western drought spells killer grocery bills

Market Watch ^ | February 7, 2014 | Myra P. Saefong

[hinckley buzzard]

Maybe they can breathe a little easier. According to the latest weather, there is a "Pineapple Express" headed toward California, an "atmospheric river" loaded with rainwater. It may hit a little north of the CV but the reservoirs, canals and pipe lines etc will be getting a good charge.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

We got about a 1/4” of snow in the DC area. Pretty but nothing to write home about. Maybe some more snow on the way this week. Think I’ll go into the Car wash business.

Is any of the rain in California actually sinking into the ground or is it just running off? Doesn’t the drought areas have catch-basins to hold the run-off?

Does anyone in the California government even know what a “Catch Basin” is? Or am I being too optimist?

Call Herbert Hoover. There’s a dam waiting to be built in California.

[morphing libertarian]

new water source in north san diego county

Here’s some info on desalinization

http://www.pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/desalination_report3.pdf

Carlsbad Cal is building a plant which is slated to open in 2016, 16 years after the proposal was approved by the city. Administrative hearings and court processes in which environmental groups got several bites of the apple trying to shoot it down.

It will suppjy up to 10% of the county’s water.

What happens to the salt?

The desalination plant typically uses three kilograms of seawater to produce 1 kilogram of fresh water. The extracted salt dissolves in the excess sea water used in the process to form so-called brine. The brine is returned to the sea where it is diluted again in its natural medium.

Can salt be recovered?

The usual desalination processes do not provide for such recovery. Whereas they concentrate seawater 1.5 times, recovery of salt would require seawater to be concentrated ten times. Under such conditions the first crystals would appear in the brine. This would require a lot of energy and cannot be justified on an economic standpoint. Today whenever a large surface area is available close to a sunny seashore, salt pans, which make use of solar energy, are still the best method of salt production.

[morphing libertarian]

FYI #103

Yes it is more expensive, but what’s the alternative?

[Mike Darancette]

Yes it is more expensive, but what’s the alternative?

There probably is none.

[editor-surveyor]

Nearly all of our rain is soaking in, because the rain has been moderate and steady.

The Mediots tell us “we’re in danger of flooding” out of one side of their mouth, and “this rain is really not doing any good to relieve the drought” out of the other side.
.

Be very afraid!