quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
The even more ambitious ones want to connect the Great Lakes to the southwest so they can have green lawns and seasonal allergies in the dessert.

That would bring on a war with Canada. They are already (for years) mad about the diversion of water from the Great Lakes by the Chicago Sanitary Canal.

flashguy

I would expect nothing more from Spread Eagle

This is what you can expect from people who thought high speed rail was a good idea.

Edit.

nhtagmember, not referencing you. I must have subconsciously stolen from your post.

California has not built a new reservoir since 1979. The state Water Commission advanced a new reservoir called Sites in December, along with big bucks to upgrade, expand other existing reservoirs. I doubt the new reservoir will survive the legal hurdles it faces from enviros and Indian tribes…something about salmon.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by sigalert:


Officials said Harris will also discuss how water shortages affect farmers, the nation’s food supply and the economy.

I expect her speech will go something like this.

"There's a guy named McDonald and he has a farm and that farm uses water and water is wet and people get food from that farm."

Well that's just mean...I love it,

quote:

I think the majority of diverted water is used to grow food.

They waste millions of gallons on watering things to make products like Almond Milk. It's pretty sad.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
Don't desalinization plants use massive amounts of energy?

Can't this be done with solar energy?

14.1 trillion gallons of drinkable water 1.1 miles from my back door!

How long before that B-29 is on dry land?

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
I think the majority of diverted water is used to grow food. Perhaps they are growing food in the wrong place, but I don't think it's fair to say the water issues are because people want "green grass".

While it certainly isn't a one-cause issue, certain things do strike a casual observer as not right...

Go to a maps program, activate the aerial view, and then search Palm Desert, CA. Count how many golf courses there are in the middle of an honest to goodness desert.

Is it the cause of all water issues? Certainly not... but it seems logical that it is a contributor.

quote:

Originally posted by thumperfbc:
Go to a maps program, activate the aerial view, and then search Palm Desert, CA. Count how many golf courses there are in the middle of an honest to goodness desert.

Is it the cause of all water issues? Certainly not... but it seems logical that it is a contributor.

Right? It’s like the way California whines about air quality, even banning outdoor grills, but has 50,000 cars idling in drive-throughs all day long. Which is it? You care about the air, or you’re just playing games. Same with water.

quote:

Originally posted by thumperfbc:

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
".

Go to a maps program, activate the aerial view, and then search Palm Desert, CA. Count how many golf courses there are in the middle of an honest to goodness desert.

Is it the cause of all water issues? Certainly not... but it seems logical that it is a contributor.

I have family and friends there, in the Rancho Mirage/Palm Desert/Indian Wells/La Quinta/Indio area, some of who live on a golf course.

It's crazy to see a beautiful green grass and tons of beautiful plants/shurbs/trees on one side of the street, and the other side of the street is just desert with nothing really growing on it.

I asked where and how they get their water to justify this and was told they sit on top of a huge aquifier, very deep with huge amounts of water, and it runs down to the Salton Sea. I'm told this unlike most of the rest of Whackyfornia.

Apparently they don't rely on the Colorado River, or much at all, maybe some, the Palm Springs is a Valley of towns running down I-10 and CA HWY 111, consisting of the town of Palm Springs and something like 10 more towns that make up the area of Palm Springs. Each Water Utility entity may do things a little different and get some water amounts from different sources.

Water IS Expensive there, for sure, but they seem to have all they need to do what they want to do without rationing, as I understand it.

I need to do some more research on this.

I have a Niece in the far north San Diego area who was lucky enough to find a couple of acres with a nice older home and their own water well. As long as their well can pump it they are good. Water quality is good. Electricity is NOT cheap, lol. You pay no matter not.
.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Expanding on 1967Goat’s post, don’t think that if you live somewhere besides the southwest, you are immune to the impact of the drought. What is at stake here is affordable food. Agriculture is responsible for 80% of the water usage. When that stops, we all will be paying much more to eat.

Where does that 80% number come from? Yes, ag uses water, but so do houses, and a lot of houses use a lot of water.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by sigalert:


Officials said Harris will also discuss how water shortages affect farmers, the nation’s food supply and the economy.

I expect her speech will go something like this.

"There's a guy named McDonald and he has a farm and that farm uses water and water is wet and people get food from that farm."

You are so good at the gist of her speeches, I'm wondering if her speech writer is in our midst.

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Expanding on 1967Goat’s post, don’t think that if you live somewhere besides the southwest, you are immune to the impact of the drought. What is at stake here is affordable food. Agriculture is responsible for 80% of the water usage. When that stops, we all will be paying much more to eat.

Where does that 80% number come from? Yes, ag uses water, but so do houses, and a lot of houses use a lot of water.

Takes almost 5 gallons of water to grow a SINGLE walnut

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Expanding on 1967Goat’s post, don’t think that if you live somewhere besides the southwest, you are immune to the impact of the drought. What is at stake here is affordable food. Agriculture is responsible for 80% of the water usage. When that stops, we all will be paying much more to eat.

Where does that 80% number come from? Yes, ag uses water, but so do houses, and a lot of houses use a lot of water.

80% is a big round number that is the approximate amount here in Utah. I looked up CA, and the urban number is approximately 10%, while AG runs around 40%, and “environmental” uses the rest. In a shortage, you can bet that California will not allow the Delta Smelt to suffer.

It only reinforces my point. AG water will be restricted first because urban use is not enough to really matter. Just drive up I5 between Lost Hills and Santa Nella, and you will see an ocean of ruined orchards because of water restrictions. This will impact everybody who eats.

https://www.ppic.org/publicati...r-use-in-california/

Here in Colorado back in 2002 I for the first time in my life saw the Arkansas river dry up for two weeks. Reservoirs here were down significantly. Since then we've bounced back nicely. The last few years I've monitored snow pack here in Colorado. This year we are 85 percent of average which is not great, but not that bad. We've had some recent years where we have been well above average. How does this continue to happen down stream from us?

I was farting around on Google Maps and looked at Hite, UT. There is a Marina on the Colorado River with a boat ramp that that must be 800ft long. Unfortunately it ends about 600ft short of the water.

Is California still diverting water for the smeltz in the San Fran bay?

The Midwest is looking better and better with all those big lakes.