The Drought and Water Use in California
 

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...407-story.html

Shit just got real out here. 135 water districts will have to cut use by 35%.

Pretty crazy stuff. There is talk leaking out that some sort of action is going to happen here too. I say start with the golf courses.

Cut by ~1/3?

That's pretty Draconian, no?

Time to ban the hissing of summer lawns.

We've been talking about turf removal with the water district for the last year. They'll pay up to $3.00 per sq. ft. to rip it out and replace with decomposed granite and xeriscaping.

We dug up the grass in the backyard last month. Next, we will be digging out the grass from our front yard. At this rate, California should simply outlaw grass as a ground cover.

Phoenix should have done it long ago.

Are many people doing it ?

The Drought and Water Use in California
 

We are putting in some decorative stamped concrete in our backyard. Not covering the whole yard but reducing the amount of lawn space by extending sidewalk and patios.

Agriculture uses 80% of California's water, yet is not subject to the new restrictions (or so I read). It seems to me that restricting lawn-watering and car-washing is only going to get California so far.

That is true but agriculture is big business in California. The valley supplies the fruits and veggies that feed a good portion of the United States. No doubt the farm corporations wielded the political leverage needed to make sure they get the water they need.

On the other hand, I see more WASTED water happening with private individuals. People who water lawns to excess and the water runs off onto sidewalks, people who think their car has to be washed every week end, etc.

This should be an effective means to get the predominant water users to implement methods that require less water.

It is. We need to re-think the whole ag business here. Growing water-intensive crops like almonds in the driest parts of the state isn't sustainable on any basis, far less during a mega-drought.

John

I think you may be confusing incidents of water waste with amount of water wasted.

John

An aquifer is in the process of being sucked dry in west Texas to grow cotton.

Same here. A lot of cotton's grown in the San Joaquin Valley.

Same in Arizona, southwest of Phoenix.

Between California and Arizona, the Colorado River peters out before it gets to the Gulf of California.

Stupid.

http://www.livingwilderness.com/lake...iver-delta.jpg

To draw nationwide attention to the water crisis we could start a boycott cotton movement, but it's just too darn comfy!

Was a time we sucked down the aquafers to produce a paid-for surplus, which was then dumped. Gotta love the forsight of special interest lobbyists.

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Thanks to satellite technology, we can see something we never could see before: the ground shrinking/subsiding over huge areas as we pump the water out from underneath it.

This whole issue strikes me as a golden opportunity for a brand new kind of denier.

John

Science gives us the power to use this water, and equally valuable soil, to fuel our vehicles. :eek: :)

Give Egypt the monopoly on that. They are closer to China anyway. :)

I envied Lake Erie and Lake Michigan area residents as I was flying back to CA yesterday from the East coast. And for over ten days, never did have to worry about length of a shower.

Lagunitas Brewing Co., a very good micro-brewer here in Petaluma, just opened their second facility. It's in Chicago, about 2,000 miles from their only other facility.

I thought they did it primarily to gain a presence in markets outside California but it turns out they did it for water. (Beer is ~80% water.)

From what I've read, California is nowhere near as advanced in terms of the use of drip irrigation as is Israel, for example. California still widely uses sprinklers and flood irrigation rather than the greatly more efficient drip irrigation methods.

http://time.com/3063/california-drought-5-way-to-bust/

More info....

http://m.kcra.com/news/no-more-nice-...sters/32258002

At some point the water being saved will need to go to the central valley. The farms cannot & will not continue to drill & spend giant $ in energy when they can lease land in AZ. or elsewhere. Also, the water @ those depths sucks & will continue to worsen. Salty water + drought = dust.

I'm going out to visit my bro in Visalia in June, we'll no doubt discuss this along with the other stuff.

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Good Grief :(
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/201...ew-water-park/

Meanwhile in Tempe, Arizona. :rolleyes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S75tiLqIydw

Whistling past the graveyard.

The Democrat stronghold in the Valley Of The Sun. :p

Democrats in Arizona? :eek: There's hope for you yet DJ. :)

In prison.;)

bobabode, I meant no venom toward Ca. I posted the story because of the timing & thought some people might have a problem with it because of the water rationing.
All water parks here will need to be looked at & possibly closed if/when we start rationing water IMO.

Fire season comes extra early to the Southland.

http://www.latimes.com/local/califor...417-story.html

California Farmers Worry Senior Water Rights Cuts In Drought Could Be Devastating - http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2015/...e-devastating/

Just out there last week, looked very brown. Pumping down further beyond replenishment is just increasing the aquafer debt, serious budgeting is inescapable at this point regardless of politics or entitlement.

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Tracy's not far from here (Bay Area), close enough so that people are moving there from San Francisco to get away from the high cost of housing. Tracy has a future after agriculture. The Imperial Valley is another matter and they're really being hit hard by the drought.

Terrible mess out there in California.

Weren't some of Californias most populated areas desert just less than 100 years ago?
It seems inevitable that population growth will eventually outstrip water resources regardless of what anyone does.

If it hasn't already.