Is California doomed to be the new Rust Belt?

[davidt1]

Lots you didn't know about the CA drought and what you can do to help (even if you live elsewhere).

This great article tells me lots of things I don't know like:

"Here's what most people don't know: a gallon of milk takes a thousand gallons of water to produce. A single almond requires a gallon of water! A pound of hamburger meat: between 1.5 and 4 thousand gallons. THIS is where most of our water is going. "

Great read.

[DriveNotCommute]

Originally Posted by expatCA

Right, keep electing the left wingers who .... are doing nothing about the problem.

Actually both parties will do nothing as both crave money and power while promising things that appeal to their base and then ... not delivering what is really important. Yep CA leads the way ... again.

The voters for sure.

Doing nothing? Conservation programs have been around for years and emergency water restrictions were cranked up this year. We all complain about how long it takes to get water infrastructure built, including desalination plants, right? Well a couple desal plants are coming online this year: Camarillo just opened theirs and Carlsbad's plant is scheduled to open in November. Santa Barbara is in the process of taking theirs out of mothballs, meaning lots of inspections and cleanup. It is impossible to have done "nothing" for years and yet have two desal plants open this year.

Originally Posted by davidt1

Lots you didn't know about the CA drought and what you can do to help (even if you live elsewhere).

This great article tells me lots of things I don't know like:

"Here's what most people don't know: a gallon of milk takes a thousand gallons of water to produce. A single almond requires a gallon of water! A pound of hamburger meat: between 1.5 and 4 thousand gallons. THIS is where most of our water is going. "

Great read.

+1 Informative

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

Some of these posters sound like they want to implement a Chinese-style population growth restriction on California. I guess they don't think the state has enough abortion clinics.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by mstnghu2

The forum moderators should post a "sticky" in the CA forum that contains all drought-related topics. It's getting old and not to mention annoying.

Or one that warn against reading posts you may find objectionable and recommends avoiding them.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by DriveNotCommute

Doing nothing? Conservation programs have been around for years and emergency water restrictions were cranked up this year. We all complain about how long it takes to get water infrastructure built, including desalination plants, right? Well a couple desal plants are coming online this year: Camarillo just opened theirs and Carlsbad's plant is scheduled to open in November. Santa Barbara is in the process of taking theirs out of mothballs, meaning lots of inspections and cleanup. It is impossible to have done "nothing" for years and yet have two desal plants open this year.


+1 Informative

Uh, and the elected Representatives in Sacramento had what to do with that? Two plants not yet open and ... how much will that actually help? How many are scheduled besieges those two and how much has Sacramento done to encourage and support such????? It looks like 3 Counties are doing something.

[blauskies]

California is nothing like my native state of PA which falls in the "Rust Belt", not even close by a long shot, no rust color streams due to mine runoff, artificial mountains made of ash, largest man made mountain in the world, check it out Glen Burn Colliery Cameron Culm Bank and so on. Things also do not tend to rust in CA like they do in PA either.

[Mattie Jo]

Through studies of tree rings, sediment and other natural evidence, researchers have documented multiple droughts in California that lasted 10 or 20 years in a row during the past 1,000 years --

Already, the 2013-14 rainfall season is shaping up to be the driest in 434 years, based on tree ring data, according to Lynn Ingram, a paleoclimatologist at UC Berkeley.

California drought: Past dry periods have lasted more than 200 years, scientists say - San Jose Mercury News

[Bill the Butcher]

Originally Posted by mstnghu2

All these doomsday predictors don't seem to remember the last major one we had back in the 80's. It eventually was over and there were plenty of years of heavy rainfall after that.

My biggest gripe is that the state isn't investing any money in creating desalination plants. We have this huge body of water called the Pacific Ocean right at our doorsteps and nothing is being done to utilize it. I find it very hard to believe that we don't have technology available in the year 2015 to make it cost-effective.

I am with you in that we need to start thinking about new technology or ideas to increase our water storage capabilities. Forget about a high speed train for now. Let's fix the water problem once and for all. Whether that is several de-sal plants along the coast or a pipeline or new dams whatever.

With comparison to previous droughts in the 70's or 80's, I think the concern would be that the states population and housing and water usage has probably increased dramatically. Plus, agriculture has probably increased as well. The water usage requirements we have now are probably not comparable to what they were in the 80's. And if we continue to build new houses it will just get worse.

[DriveNotCommute]

Originally Posted by expatCA

Uh, and the elected Representatives in Sacramento had what to do with that? Two plants not yet open and ... how much will that actually help? How many are scheduled besieges those two and how much has Sacramento done to encourage and support such????? It looks like 3 Counties are doing something.

Good point, although in your post never specified state vs. local government and so could have been interpreted as being critical of Californians in general.

Carlsbad is funded by private equity and the project itself must have been initiated at the behest of local demand.

Camarillo received a portion of its funds from Prop 84, ie. The Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006. This is State money. It passed at 54%, implying that Californian voters themselves, or some factions of them, were the biggest obstacle to the state taking early action to solve water issues.

Let's not forget that during the economic downturn from 2008, there has been constant pressure for all government functions to enact austerity measures.

California elections, 2006 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Proposition 84