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But it would help the issue. The idea is to reduce non-essential water use, regardless of source.
> "regardless of source." Why? Misery loves company?
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pretty sure water in water bottles only 'expire' because of the plastic leaching into the water over time. "Unpackaged" water has been sitting in the earth for thousands of years, as evidenced by this article, and is perfectly safe to drink.
I think your humor detector needs tuning.
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> "regardless of source." Why? Misery loves company?
No, because California already imports water from all over the place. Water shortage isn't a problem unique to California. It's only a matter of time before the rest of the country starts to feel the same pressure that Californians are feeling. Reducing water use now will give us time.
Using this seasonally supplied water today won't mean that we have less in the future. Not unless we are hoarding it all, but our reservoirs are only so big anyway, if they were filled to the brim, and that water weren't being used, it'd just be dumped down the overflow and would find its way to the ocean... which is coincidentally where it ends up anyway when I divert it for a nice long shower.
I'm not going to cut back on my excessively long showers just because Californians won't cut back on the damn tree nuts. I'll gladly do my part and cut down on Californian nuts though.
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No, because California already imports water from all over the place. Water shortage isn't a problem unique to California. It's only a matter of time before the rest of the country starts to feel the same pressure that Californians are feeling. Reducing water use now will give us time.
My water supply is provided seasonally from melting snow and rainfall. I highly doubt much of that water is trucked the thousand or so miles to California. Using this seasonally supplied water today won't mean that we have less in the future. Not unless we are hoarding it all, but our reservoirs are only so big anyway, if they were filled to the brim, and that water weren't being used, it'd just be dumped down the ov…
One solution to producing water is desalination. You can effectively get unlimited amount of water, but you pay for it in energy. A quick Google search finds that there's a desalination plant under construction in Carlsbad, California.
There's also the problem of what to do with the high salinity waste water that is generated from the process. Simply dumping it back into the ocean can cause environmental problems.
One solution to producing water is desalination. You can effectively get unlimited amount of water, but you pay for it in energy. A quick Google search finds that there's a desalination plant under construction in Carlsbad, California.
Wonder what it would be like 30 years from now with all the water problems.
One solution to producing water is desalination. You can effectively get unlimited amount of water, but you pay for it in energy. A quick Google search finds that there's a desalination plant under construction in Carlsbad, California.
There's also the problem of what to do with the high salinity waste water that is generated from the process. Simply dumping it back into the ocean can cause environmental problems.
Let's say we take the amount of water mentioned in a link in another comment, and desalinate 54 million cubic feet of clean water per day in a single plant. That is 204 400 cubic meters per day. It is a huge amount, but we're talking about operating this plant at depth of 1 km. 204 400 cubic meters is 0.0002 cubic kilometers. The California Current flows at around 0.25 m/s which means that the cubic kilometer of water around the desalination plant will be completely exchanged almost once per hour, 21.6 times in a day.
I would say that the salt that you take from desalinated water is an entirely insignificant problem when just left in the ocean, even locally. It's a drop in the ocean. Most likely the saltiness of water will vary a lot more due to other reasons (e.g. how much water evaporates locally).
Other aspects of access to more water in places like California are probably a much more relevant environmental problem. That water is mostly going to be used as irrigation water in agriculture. This will flush a huge amount of earth particles to the ocean. Literally, it will eventually wash away the agricultural land, unless it is used sparingly. When doing that, it puts additional earth material in streams and rivers.
And then there are the issues of fertilizers, pesticides etc for the ever increased volume of agricultural production.
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Palm Desert and portions of Southern California get their water from a local aquifer and the Colorado River, unlike the Central Valley and most of the state, and therefore are not directly affected by the drought in the same way as the rest of the state. Visible urban water usage like lawn watering is a small fraction of the water usage in California, and even if every lawn stopped getting watered it wouldn't come cl…
But it would help the issue. The idea is to reduce non-essential water use, regardless of source.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
My water supply is provided seasonally from melting snow and rainfall. I highly doubt much of that water is trucked the thousand or so miles to California. Using this seasonally supplied water today won't mean that we have less in the future. Not unless we are hoarding it all, but our reservoirs are only so big anyway, if they were filled to the brim, and that water weren't being used, it'd just be dumped down the ov…
Water is a global resource. If your water isn't exported right now doesn't mean it won't be in the future. A huge amount of the US is dependent on groundwater reservoirs. When those reservoirs run out, they'll need to import water from places that don't depend on groundwater or (more likely) move. You may be able to take long showers now, but if we as a nation (or even species) are going to get through the long term…
Of course, water can be bottled or put into containers or tanks and this water can then be transported across the world. People are shipping branded water bottles back and forth, and it is often stupid (Can you spell "Evian" backwards?), but not entirely different from all the other material flows in our global economy.
Still, in any amounts relevant for agriculture, water is a local or a regional resource.