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California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]

drought.ca.gov

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Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]

#151

Post by ehnto »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #149
sologoub wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a solved problem - backflow prevention devices will not let water from one user to flow to others, with inspections, etc there is no issue. Want recycled water? Pay for inspections and protective devices. Business users have been doing this for years. A given property has one potable water entry point - the water meter. So no, it’s not one bad apple and all get bad water. Also, there is no regulation here, just…

I can't imagine the cost to install a backflow device on every single lone connection.

They're suggesting the homeowner requests and pays for it I believe.

Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]

#152

Post by TomSwirly »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #44
jillesvangurp wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Either way, Californians should stop pretending water is cheap, plentiful or sourced in a sustainable way. It simply isn't. Instead of pointing fingers at each other, the best way is to price it accordingly. The root problem is that this is not the case and it's too cheap. And it's only cheap because it comes from non renewable sources that are getting scarcer. Everybody feels entitled to the cheap water and then end…

This seems to be a carefully-considered market-based solution to a complex problem, but there are a few details I'm struggling with. Significantly increasing the price of a natural resource would have severe impacts on impoverished communities while having no effect at all on wealthy people and companies; is this intentional? Around 45% of households in California are rentals. Renters are often restricted by their re…

> On further consideration, I realize that if the cost of water exceeds the cost of replacing a toilet, then people working for minimum wage will be properly motivated to find some way to replace their landlord's fixtures with newer models.

I hope you're joking here. This just has to be sarcasm - right?

Replacing your toilet is an investment that pays off over years. How is a minimum wage earner supposed to do that?

Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]

#153

Post by KerrAvon »

QuarterReptile wrote: post #34
systemvoltage wrote: post #11

California is becoming a untenable to live. We had several power outages, roads are awful, had a sewage backup issue that took a month to get resolved, and the price of electricity is through the roof ($0.40/kWH). The idea of the people have here is to regress into a third-world standard of living through the virtue of environmentalism, depopulation, and general attitude against success/ambition/improvement. Providin…

Sounds like you should get out of California for a while. I'm not saying it's not bad, but modern California living means accepting natural disasters and horrible governance in exchange for the weather (and family/community ties.)

“horrible governance” seems pretty strong. I think you get what you pay for. Road signage and access in Washington state is awful; Florida is astonishingly corrupt; Texas’s energy management policies will kill you during weather extremes.

Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]

#154

Post by mrguyorama »

spaetzleesser wrote: post #75
briga wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The situation is a bit more complex than you're making it out to be. Leaving aside the somewhat unique politics of Israel, it is a much smaller and more unified country than the US--the problems in the US are simply orders of magnitude bigger, even if you were to only consider California. If the solutions were in any way "easy" the drought problem would have been solved already. It isn't, and the percentage of the US…

I don't like the excuses that things are harder to solve in the US because it's so big, diverse or whatever. If anything I think it should be easier in the US because it can solve a lot of problems without having to think about what the impact on neighboring countries is. As far as water goes, the US has pretty much all types of climate zones under its control so it could divert water or move agriculture to more favo…

The reason the US can't solve problems is because half the country thinks government is inherently evil, so any problem that requires government to solve in an efficient or beneficial way is dead on arrival.

Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]

#155

Post by frickinLasers »

jeffbee wrote: post #69
orlp wrote: post #2

"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…

Dead wrong. The state water project is not delivering any water to agricultural customers this year. Ag is on a mandatory 100% reduction.

What does this mean? That farmers don't get enough water to wash their hands now? That there will be no crops coming out of California unless they were grown on well water? Where can I look up this reduction rate?

Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]

#156

Post by s1artibartfast »

mdavis6890 wrote: post #115
whiplash451 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. How is this implementable realistically, though? Asking genuinely.

1. Place a moratorium on any new water rights. (So no starting new farms with new claims, etc) 2. Identify all existing water rights holders. Every single farm/lot with some kind of water privileges. I'm sure there are thousands. 3. Determine how much water they used over, say, the last 5 years. This is obviously the hardest part, but it's no harder than many other large government projects. You'd probably have to us…

1-5 already describes the legal process in California that has been used for the last 40 years to adjudicate water conflicts.

Number 6 is the sticking point and why we see so much gnashing of teeth.

Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]

#157

Post by KerrAvon »

systemvoltage wrote: post #11

California is becoming a untenable to live. We had several power outages, roads are awful, had a sewage backup issue that took a month to get resolved, and the price of electricity is through the roof ($0.40/kWH). The idea of the people have here is to regress into a third-world standard of living through the virtue of environmentalism, depopulation, and general attitude against success/ambition/improvement. Providin…

Exactly where are you? I haven’t had this experience in CA recently. I do remember the Enron brownouts that cost Gray Davis the governorship, but that was a long time ago.

And where in the USA would you go that’s so much better? I assume fundamentalist, anti-science red states are off the list. I can see arguments for Colorado if you can stand the dryness.

Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]

#158

Post by mdavis6890 »

stonemetal12 wrote: post #140
hellisothers wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait I’m confused now, what is the relationship of this 0% water to the 80% figure that ag. gets?

Fairly simple, water is a State thing, zero Federal involvement. If it gets declared a disaster then Federal disaster relief will try to help. So 0% of the extra water brought in for disaster relief will go to farmers. They have insurance for that. The 80% figure is farm use of water in the state.

Thank you for that explanation! I was genuinely interested in this.

Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]

#159

Post by thehappypm »

KerrAvon wrote: post #157
systemvoltage wrote: post #11

California is becoming a untenable to live. We had several power outages, roads are awful, had a sewage backup issue that took a month to get resolved, and the price of electricity is through the roof ($0.40/kWH). The idea of the people have here is to regress into a third-world standard of living through the virtue of environmentalism, depopulation, and general attitude against success/ambition/improvement. Providin…

Exactly where are you? I haven’t had this experience in CA recently. I do remember the Enron brownouts that cost Gray Davis the governorship, but that was a long time ago. And where in the USA would you go that’s so much better? I assume fundamentalist, anti-science red states are off the list. I can see arguments for Colorado if you can stand the dryness.

The Northeast has awful weather but we make up for it with a pragmatic liberal vibe, great history and culture, and some pretty great nature.

Re: California Drought Update May 2022 [pdf]

#160

Post by s1artibartfast »

wudangmonk wrote: post #5

What 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?.

>So...what is the whole point of the show in the first place?.

Cities have limited water and can't get more/don't want to buy it from farmers that have it.

Therefore, they need to cut usage or they will run out.

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