California's 4+ Year Drought

[Deleted]

I don't see how you think this equates to us having a better standard of living and/or the people being richer.

[Deleted]

And republican policies caused climate change!

Aren't politics grand?

Yeah, I forgot. We can just get rid of all the gasoline! That will definitely save California, a state you pretty much have no choice but to own a car!

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It's pretty interesting reading about how the various rivers in the area are utilized. The Colorado is totally tapped, the end of the river is actually dry (it was briefly refilled in 2014 or 2013). The Sacramento supplies half the freshwater in the state and has potential to supply more (currently only half diverted) and there's massive appetite for it with conservationists fighting against it.

To me the interesting part is people always try to make it seem like they can solve these problems with a win-win for both sides - the recent Sacramento tunnel project that was stopped had some people arguing that it would somehow help fish in the area. The truth that no one wants to face is there's limited supply and we have to decide what we want - a nice freshwater bay with a thriving ecosystem or else a dry or salt water bay with the freshwater diverted to support another 20 million inhabitants. My guess is that over time we'll gradually move to divert more and more.

The democrats will vote to divert more water and then raise taxes to save the fishies (aka put more money in their pockets).

[NewOrleansTrolley]

This shouldn't be a surprise. And there's no need to blame climate change. The midwest and Cali have a pretty clear history on droughts. Blaming stuff for all this stuff is like blaming somebody on the sun rising or the tide going up and down.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/11/2...ry-not-really/

BBC also wrote an article back in February.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-31434030

It stinks. But it's the fact of life of living in Cali and the midwest. I hope we can create / innovate around this.

[NewOrleansTrolley]

Really we just need a system of canals that brings water from flooding areas in the East out west. Problem solved.

Heck, even ask nicely and borrow from Oregon. Doesn't it rain there everyday?

[Deleted]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeriscaping

Personally I think "natural" or xeriscaped yards look far better than a square of green grass, particularly if local plant life is used. There are a ton of xeriscaped yards out here in Oregon (my front yard is xeriscaped) and they're much easier to maintain than traditional yards imo.


Xeriscaped yard in AZ.

It looks kinda sorta neat i guess but other than that it´s a total 100% waste of space

[Deleted]

Maybe you should invest in better water table management or actual water recycling systems?

[Sledfang]

I don't see how you think this equates to us having a better standard of living and/or the people being richer.

It does equate favorably for the well-educated middle class. Having a huge economy and relatively low-mid population is a boon. Even with wealth inequality, the equity and proximity still considerably boosts standard of living for the region overall.

[Kruncholyo]

Maybe you should invest in better water table management or actual water recycling systems?

They are recycling grey water... in Texas.


In California the unchecked excess of the money class (lawyers, entertainment industry, and now the tech companies) has created a strip of overpopulated land along the coast that sucks water from Hetch Hetchy and the Colorado River and other places.
The enviros won't let rationality win: http://www.city-journal.org/2015/cjc0402vdh.html

...Brown and other Democratic leaders will never concede that their own opposition in the 1970s (when California had about half its present population) to the completion of state and federal water projects, along with their more recent allowance of massive water diversions for fish and river enhancement, left no margin for error in a state now home to 40 million people....

[Sledfang]

In California the unchecked excess of the money class (lawyers, entertainment industry, and now the tech companies) has created a strip of overpopulated land along the coast that sucks water from Hetch Hetchy and the Colorado River and other places.
The enviros won't let rationality win: http://www.city-journal.org/2015/cjc0402vdh.html

The funny part about Hetch Hetchy is that a lot San Franciscons still want to tear it down. 1/4th of their own water. Its arguably the most pristine source in the state.

[Kruncholyo]

Bwahahaha:
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/201...ew-water-park/

$35 million water park just began construction by the City of Dublin, California. Gotta get those government contracts to big campaign contributors who employ union workers and lawyers who are also big campaign contributors...

[Septik]

they coulda just packed all the snow from PEI this year onto train cars and hauled it down to lake folsom (i think thats the big source down there) and no one woulda minded.

[Celista]

Maybe you should invest in better water table management or actual water recycling systems?

I think desalinization tech is the way to go, along with grey water systems, especially due to the fact that the majority of the state's population is along a coastline. But we shouldn't need to desalinate water used for things like toilets...not sure why the state hasn't looked into freshwater savings by making the switch. I'm assuming the cost would be too great, with current water systems in place.