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California's dry season is turning into a permanent state of being

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Re: California's dry season is turning into a permanent state of being

#31

Post by akiselev »

TchoBeer wrote: post #21
eplanit wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Our reservoirs are empty. Why would another reservoir help up?" A serious question? More water in reserve = more water in reserve. If you fill 4 glasses with water now, and then then EBMUD turns the water off for the rest of the day due to a broken main (I know EBMUD really well), you'll have 4 more glasses of water to drink than you would have, otherwise. Simple math, really.

Building more reservoirs doesn't mean there's more water in reserve, it just means there's more space to store water.

The water cycle covers the entire state so as long as you don't set up in a desert or a hundred miles from the nearest waterway, chances are the reservoir can be filled up on a regular basis.

We're storing a teeny tiny fraction of all the water that goes through the system.

Re: California's dry season is turning into a permanent state of being

#32

Post by agilob »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #3

I don’t live in California but my state is experiencing the same. I love to garden, but summer has just become the dry season here, so it is pointless. You can irrigate, but the vapor-pressure deficit (VPD) when it is 100 degrees and 20% humidity makes plant growth almost impossible for anything but cacti. I think I’ll just have to move. https://www.dimluxlighting.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Le...

>20% humidity makes plant growth almost impossible for anything but cacti

Have you considered planting trees around your fence?

Re: California's dry season is turning into a permanent state of being

#33

Post by scatters »

telesilla wrote: post #18

Anyone worrying about what you can regarding climate change, it's nice to stop driving etc but the big issue is fossil fuel consumption. That's in the hands of big money. How that changes is another story but they've been clever to put the blame on domestic, urban consumers when we're a tiny minority of the polluters. Knowing that should help those keen to help out know better where to look. In the meantime, no or li…

Driving uses fossil fuels, unless you're in an electric car - and even then, depending on electricity mix.

Re: California's dry season is turning into a permanent state of being

#34

Post by akiselev »

joelbluminator wrote: post #9
hh3k0 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would love having some neighbours from California in my summer house… Well, you're in luck. It won't just be Californians, though. You'll have new neighbors pouring in from all over the world, cramming up in the liveable spaces that'll be left. It's gonna be cozy. And who knows, maybe you'll even have to spare a room or two of your house for them? Just as Germans had to when the refugees from the former eastern t…

Doesn't sound likely. You will be able to settle tens of millions of refugees in Greenland, Siberia etc. Former frozen wasteland will become habitable. I don't think Europe or the U.S will volunteer to absorb tens of millions of refugees if there are other solutions.

> Former frozen wasteland will become habitable

That former frozen wasteland will become one huge swamp. It'll take a whole lot of work to make it habitable by modern standards. That's assuming it doesn't just dry out and start a decade long peat fire that suffocates the area.

Re: California's dry season is turning into a permanent state of being

#35

Post by seanmcdirmid »

MiscIdeaMaker99 wrote: post #26

I wonder how long it'll take before California starts to see a decrease in population due to scarcity of water.

10% of water in California is used for urban needs, it’s more likely agriculture will get hit by water shortages first than population growth. But then again, the permitting process is already limited to an extent by available water resources, it’s part of the infrastructure needed to build.

Re: California's dry season is turning into a permanent state of being

#36

Post by akiselev »

CraneWorm wrote: post #23
eplanit wrote: post #11

These droughts were anticipated, but here in California preparing for climate change means preaching at others, and setting up a carbon exchange. Not a single new reservoir has been built since 1979. It's impossible to take California seriously about much of anything, but especially not regarding the environment: "In 1979, California’s population was a little more than 23 million. Today, it is more than 39 million. Y…

> They're really just stupid out here. I don't think this is a fair statement and rather it seems like you want just to put a label on the whole state to avoid having to research into why didn't California build more reservoirs; frankly, to me it makes you look like a troll.

On the one hand, it's the same reason we stopped building freeways: federal funding dried up - they own almost all the dams because they own almost all the land. On the other hand, as a Californian, I couldn't agree more with the GP.

Re: California's dry season is turning into a permanent state of being

#37

Post by eplanit »

aesh2Xa1 wrote: post #20
eplanit wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Our reservoirs are empty. Why would another reservoir help up?" A serious question? More water in reserve = more water in reserve. If you fill 4 glasses with water now, and then then EBMUD turns the water off for the rest of the day due to a broken main (I know EBMUD really well), you'll have 4 more glasses of water to drink than you would have, otherwise. Simple math, really.

OP's point is that you have two glasses now, which are empty. Another two to make four and you'll have four empty glasses. You need to address the reason why they're empty. You said you know the system well, so do you mind explaining?

So 100% of reservoir loss is due to evaporation? In the analogy, filling the glasses before EBMUD turns the water off is like filling a reservoir during (even brief) rainy seasons.

Re: California's dry season is turning into a permanent state of being

#38

Post by newsyyswen »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #3

I don’t live in California but my state is experiencing the same. I love to garden, but summer has just become the dry season here, so it is pointless. You can irrigate, but the vapor-pressure deficit (VPD) when it is 100 degrees and 20% humidity makes plant growth almost impossible for anything but cacti. I think I’ll just have to move. https://www.dimluxlighting.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Le...

Have you considered drip irrigation? It was designed with desert agriculture in mind. Shade can also make a big difference.

Re: California's dry season is turning into a permanent state of being

#39

Post by JKCalhoun »

jeffbee wrote: post #24
eplanit wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Our reservoirs are empty. Why would another reservoir help up?" A serious question? More water in reserve = more water in reserve. If you fill 4 glasses with water now, and then then EBMUD turns the water off for the rest of the day due to a broken main (I know EBMUD really well), you'll have 4 more glasses of water to drink than you would have, otherwise. Simple math, really.

It only seems simple if you're the kind of imbecile they put on the staff at the National Review. California has several reservoirs that aren't fed by gravity runoff, but by pumping ("off stream" reservoirs). All of the newly proposed reservoirs are of this type, such as the Sites Reservoir. To fill these you need excess water elsewhere. We don't have excess water elsewhere, thus we could not fill them. This isn't a…

I'm guessing that your comment is being downvoted simply for the first sentence. The rest of your comment is factual.

Re: California's dry season is turning into a permanent state of being

#40

Post by ericbarrett »

eplanit wrote: post #11

These droughts were anticipated, but here in California preparing for climate change means preaching at others, and setting up a carbon exchange. Not a single new reservoir has been built since 1979. It's impossible to take California seriously about much of anything, but especially not regarding the environment: "In 1979, California’s population was a little more than 23 million. Today, it is more than 39 million. Y…

I will never take any complaint about residential water use in California seriously while there are flooded rice paddies in Sacramento: https://localwiki.org/davis/Rice_Paddies
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