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California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]
101–110 of 234 posts
Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
If everybody doesn’t treat climate change as a problem that they’re both the cause of and solution to, we’re never going to touch the 99%. You think these corporations are growing almonds in the desert and raising cows because nobody buys them?
We’ve had fifty years of behavior change messaging. It’s time to take a different approach.
Societal change (down to the individual level) is the only thing that's going to work. People will have to change how they live and make different decisions. Full stop. There's no magic solution waiting to be discovered.
Whether the change comes voluntarily or through war, famine, and misery for future generations the likes of which we can't imagine is up to those of us alive today.
Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]
#103The best plan for CA to get their water under control is: 1. Fix agriculture water rights to numerical limits, somewhat higher than what is already being used. This will cap water usage and move away from an all-you-can-drink model, but not penalize existing farmers. 2. Buy back those water rights from farmers using a reverse-auction, allowing the farmers who generate the least value from their water to sell it back…
Interesting. How is this implementable realistically, though? Asking genuinely.
Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]
#104Thirsty folks from California and the Southwest want more water to be piped in to feed their water intensive crops and lawns in the desert. I'm sure that'll go down well in outlying regions. Maybe changes in meteorological patterns and population levels hitting critical mass without the attendant infrastructure are bad for water levels. Aquifers are depleted. Rainfall is reduced. There's no more snowmelt to bank on as that savings account has been drained. Wildfires, drought, sinkholes, and rising sea levels will displace significant numbers of people. Agriculture will shift north and east. I think California peaked a few years ago.
Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]
#105What is the tactic here? we know the cause is agriculture and blaming grass lawns and car washing can easily be disproven by a quick superficial google search. Pitting people against each other by being water snitches may work unless any actual restrictions are placed. As soon as any restrictions are placed, the whole show gets exposed. So...what is the whole point of the show in the first place?.
> we know the cause is agriculture and blaming grass lawns and car washing can easily be disproven Agriculture is where your food comes from. Unless you're eating your lawn? 40% of the water going to food production is precisely where it should go. Mass starvation is bad.
It's frankly insulting that people still push this line of thought. No, we will not starve to death if California stops growing almonds and pistachios. We will it run out of livestock feed if we stop growing alfalfa and other hay grass in California that is then exported overseas.
Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]
#106"Californians are being asked to reduce their water use by 15 percent over 2020 levels to protect water reserves and help maintain critical flows for fish and wildlife wherever possible." And by that they surely mean agriculture, right? Right? The industry responsible for 80% of the water usage in California? They surely couldn't just be asking urban consumers to reduce? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/2…
> Climatologist Bill Patzert estimates that more than 80% of the region's rainfall ends up diverted from urban areas in Southern California into the Pacific . “All those trillions of gallons of rain, which sound so sweet, really end up in the ocean,” he said. [0] > Statewide, average water use is roughly 50% environmental, 40% agricultural, and 10% urban, although the percentage of water use by sector varies dramatic…
> > Climatologist Bill Patzert estimates that more than 80% of the region's rainfall ends up diverted from urban areas in Southern California into the Pacific . “All those trillions of gallons of rain, which sound so sweet, really end up in the ocean,” he said. [0]
You don't need to be a climatologist to figure this one out, just being a resident there you figure out very soon how flash flood areas are possible (specifically in SoCal) since every square inch is paved the rain water, when it actually falls, is destined to cause damage and/or make it's way to the gutter system: often overwhelming the drains depending on the area. It doesn't seep into the Earth to replenish the aquifers because everything is paved relative to just undeveloped land.
This is an entirely absurd missed opportunity to build the infrastructure for water reclamation, and while we're at it the Australian model to extract the waste water and reclaim it and create fertilizer for plants from human waste should be explored as well. The money is there, and a need for jobs is, too.
Even if CA were only to spend 50% of the ~$90 Billion it would still be able to do a great deal to ensure it's longterm future by investing in this critical infrastructure.
* There used to be a running bet of what celebrities mansion in Malibu would end up sinking into the Pacific when i was a kid in the 90s as it was so common back then. It was a Schadenfreude based bet with more amusement than just playing the lotto apparently. Incidentally enough, those homes were soon replaced with another the following year(s) anyway more often anyway.
Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]
#107"Californians are being asked to reduce their water use by 15 percent over 2020 levels to protect water reserves and help maintain critical flows for fish and wildlife wherever possible." And by that they surely mean agriculture, right? Right? The industry responsible for 80% of the water usage in California? They surely couldn't just be asking urban consumers to reduce? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/2…
> Climatologist Bill Patzert estimates that more than 80% of the region's rainfall ends up diverted from urban areas in Southern California into the Pacific . “All those trillions of gallons of rain, which sound so sweet, really end up in the ocean,” he said. [0] > Statewide, average water use is roughly 50% environmental, 40% agricultural, and 10% urban, although the percentage of water use by sector varies dramatic…
"50% environmental" - This term is very deceptive. It's basically water that can't be used anyway, and clouds the fact that really agriculture uses 80-90% of the actually available water. It artificially grows the denominator.
Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
The point is that if you add up ALL the swimming pools in California, it totals ~0 water. Not even a rounding error. Farmers measure water use in MILLIONS of ACRE FEET. There is even an acronym for it: MAF. There are rice paddies surrounding the capital city of Sacramento. Why do we keep asking residents to sacrifice for even trivial pleasurers like swimming, when it makes no difference at all?
No political will to force ag and industrial water users to curtail usage to sustainable (less than aquifer replenishment rate) levels.
Farmers have been curtailed to zero. [0] Now what ?
[0]: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/23/rain-califor...
Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]
#109The best plan for CA to get their water under control is: 1. Fix agriculture water rights to numerical limits, somewhat higher than what is already being used. This will cap water usage and move away from an all-you-can-drink model, but not penalize existing farmers. 2. Buy back those water rights from farmers using a reverse-auction, allowing the farmers who generate the least value from their water to sell it back…
3. Allow Purple pipe for a majority of uses
4. Minimize amount of people with wells which is depleting the aquifer (the really big problem)
5. Minimize growth in SoCal & Desert communities
Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, this is a big factor. Water is too cheap - similar to carbon. Both need to be priced higher soon or we’re toast.
Since when has raising the price of anything changed anyone’s behavior? Oh you mean change the behavior of the poor, not the rich. Gotcha.
Well there is a direct correlation between gas prices and the purchase of fuel efficient vehicles.
But please, so tell me how people don’t react to prices!