Where does LA get its water?!!! (Bell, Brea: dental, cheap, about)

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by wehotex

I didn't question it when I lived here before, but I do now. You've got over 3 million ppl in city of Los Angeles alone, not to mention the surrounding cities, relentless wildfires, extremely hot temps, car washes everywhere, extremely wasteful users, no rationing, etc. Are they recycling toilet water and not telling us?

Yes, they use recycled toilet water in fact to water a lot of landscaping/lawns, etc..

LA doesn't really have extremely hot temps, well the inland valleys/Inland empire can, but the main LA basin, even more than five miles from the beach still gets a little cooled off by breezes. In fact its often cloudier and foggier here than most realize (June gloom anyone?).

wildfires occur throughout the west, I'm not sure how the occurrence of wildfires affect water supply, unless you are talking firefighting water? and they're not relentless either. But they are a part of most ecosystems in the west and wherever you have a distinct wet and dry season.

[Tex?Il?]

As a side note, people think again and again, that LA is a desert, etc., etc.

Well, did you know that one of the most significant cities in the Bay Area gets about the same amount of average precip as LA?? San Jose.

Another surprise, LA gets slightly more average annual precip than Denver, CO. Difference is, nearly all of LAs precip comes between Halloween and Easter. Denver has freak snow and thunderstorms any time of year.

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

Yes, they use recycled toilet water in fact to water a lot of landscaping/lawns, etc..

LA doesn't really have extremely hot temps, well the inland valleys/Inland empire can, but the main LA basin, even more than five miles from the beach still gets a little cooled off by breezes. In fact its often cloudier and foggier here than most realize (June gloom anyone?).

wildfires occur throughout the west, I'm not sure how the occurrence of wildfires affect water supply, unless you are talking firefighting water? and they're not relentless either. But they are a part of most ecosystems in the west and wherever you have a distinct wet and dry season.

Well, I live in one of those "valleys" (woodland Hills) and it has been hot as hell the past couple of days! Oddly, when I was driving down Laurel Cyn yesterday, I felt an immediate coolness when driving on the southside of Mulholland Drive. It felt really good.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by wehotex

Well, I live in one of those "valleys" (woodland Hills) and it has been hot as hell the past couple of days! Oddly, when I was driving down Laurel Cyn yesterday, I felt an immediate coolness when driving on the southside of Mulholland Drive. It felt really good.

Woodland Hills is very literally one of the hottest spots in LA proper. (yes its in LA proper). The whole SF Valley is hot in the summer, and I believe WH might be the hottest.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by OneLess

They could just take water from the pacific ocean...

I guess you missed the discussion above on desalination. It's expensive.

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

Woodland Hills is very literally one of the hottest spots in LA proper. (yes its in LA proper). The whole SF Valley is hot in the summer, and I believe WH might be the hottest.

No kidding. Since the fire station is just up the street from me, it really feels like there are ALWAYS fires occurring.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

As a side note, people think again and again, that LA is a desert, etc., etc.

Well, did you know that one of the most significant cities in the Bay Area gets about the same amount of average precip as LA?? San Jose.

Another surprise, LA gets slightly more average annual precip than Denver, CO. Difference is, nearly all of LAs precip comes between Halloween and Easter. Denver has freak snow and thunderstorms any time of year.

Actually it's a Subtropical-Mediterranean climate, and doesn't get as hot as some of the more northern areas such as Stockton, or even Contra Costa County due to the marine influence. The real problem is
the lack of local water sources, and huge thirst for water with the population, large lawns and swimming pools. With most of the water in Northern CA, and the farming irrigation needs in the Central Valley, there is a growing competition for the resource.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

Actually it's a Subtropical-Mediterranean climate, and doesn't get as hot as some of the more northern areas such as Stockton, or even Contra Costa County due to the marine influence. The real problem is
the lack of local water sources, and huge thirst for water with the population, large lawns and swimming pools. With most of the water in Northern CA, and the farming irrigation needs in the Central Valley, there is a growing competition for the resource.

Spot on. No debate there.

With one minor adjustment - there really aren't as many large lawns or even as many swimming pools as people think. The populated part of LA county is about the densest urban area in the country. Most people live in apartments, and single family homes are mostly on very small lots. And the water thats used for landscaping purposes is often recycled water. You know this, as there are many signs saying not to drink the water on parks, golf courses, cemeteries, etc.

[Chicano3000X]

From our summer sweat, and the tears of dreamers now turned broken shells of their former selves fading away on the streets along with their visions of glamour and fame..

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

As a side note, people think again and again, that LA is a desert, etc., etc.

Well, did you know that one of the most significant cities in the Bay Area gets about the same amount of average precip as LA?? San Jose.

Another surprise, LA gets slightly more average annual precip than Denver, CO. Difference is, nearly all of LAs precip comes between Halloween and Easter. Denver has freak snow and thunderstorms any time of year.

Here in the Bay Area there are even micro deserts along the Western shoreline of the Bay, due to the double whammy of the Santa Cruz Mtns rain shadow and the way air parcels suddenly descend when they start to move off the land and over the Bay. In most of that sector, development hides this due to landscaping. But in tracts that have no landscaping, you can see the true nature of such microclimates. 9 - 11" per year imparts an unmistakeable look.