California Water Drought

[Luxman]

Where I live, we pay about 2 cents per cubic foot for tap water, that's equivalent to about 30 small water bottles at $1 each.

To reduce water abuse, the government should calculate the average amount of water used per home, then anyone who goes over the average, pays $100 per cubic foot. And the cost per cubic foot goes up on a rising scale as more is used.
That will reduce water abuse drastically, and most people will have plenty of water.


http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...1-golf-courses-is-sucking-california-dry.html

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/08/bottled-water-california-drought

http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_25859513/nations-largest-ocean-desalination-plant-goes-up-near

 

[Supafly]

I like Bill Maher's take on this

- - - Updated - - -

I like Bill Maher's take on this

 

[Jagger69]

The availability of clean, fresh water is one of the greatest challenges facing civilization as we forge ahead into the 21st century. In the USA, some states (California, Texas, Florida) are literally being sucked dry by a lethal combination of uncontrolled population growth and reduced rainfall amounts.

 

[knowone]

The availability of clean, fresh water is one of the greatest challenges facing civilization as we forge ahead into the 21st century. In the USA, some states (California, Texas, Florida) are literally being sucked dry by a lethal combination of uncontrolled population growth and reduced rainfall amounts.

No! At least in California water use by homes & business is only about 20%. It's 'Big Agra" that's using so much water, and yet California grows enough food to feed about 20% of the world. What we need (and I said it a decade ago) is a world class desalinization plant. If the US had in 2009 (as part of the economy recovery) committed to one in Cal, one in in Gulf and one on the East Coast, the Economy would have recovered much faster and the country's future would look a lot more stable.

 

[BCT]

China is taking all of our fresh water from the Great Lakes as a form of payment for our debt.

 

[D-rock]

There are a lot of bad things about the state I live in, but one of the good ones is that it's one of the most non-frozen freshwater rich places on the planet. Maybe someday that will become a huge advantage for us.

 

[cronus100]

An excellent political scientist once said that the wars of the future will not be fought over which is better democracy or dictatorship, which country has the most land or the most resources, the number 1 source of conflict in the World of the Future would be the search and provision of fresh drinking water.
And with so many droughts with prolonged periods where there has not been enough rainfall over the winter to keep water levels high to meet demand during the summer months, it looks like that commentor knew what was on the way

 

[Straight Shooter]

I took a half hour shower today and I left the water on while brushing my teeth and shaving....no fucks were given. The advantage of living in the Great Lakes region

 

[Jagger69]

No! At least in California water use by homes & business is only about 20%. It's 'Big Agra" that's using so much water, and yet California grows enough food to feed about 20% of the world. What we need (and I said it a decade ago) is a world class desalinization plant. If the US had in 2009 (as part of the economy recovery) committed to one in Cal, one in in Gulf and one on the East Coast, the Economy would have recovered much faster and the country's future would look a lot more stable.

OK...well, touche' then. Point is....mankind and the continued advance of our civilization is using more water than Mother Nature is willing to provide. There are some desal plants in operation (not sure what you mean by "world class"....output capability I would suppose) in the USA and a good number planned for operation in California. Problem is, as we are in most alternative technologies, we're way behind the curve on this and it would indeed take a massive effort of nationwide proportions to make up for where we are headed with the water shortfall we are and will continue to experience as time goes forward. California is in serious trouble for the foreseeable future and the other two states I mentioned aren't far behind.

 

[Mr. Daystar]

Seems to me, instead of sending huge amounts of cash over seas, we should invest that money into building several water purification facilities along our salt water coast lines, and start producing fresh water. If they can get water out of the ocean in Saudi Arabia, we can do it here.

 

[D-rock]

It's harsh, but I think people have to question the wisdom of having such large populations and agriculture in what amounts to a desert. Sure the recent extreme drought has exacerbated the problem to where it's at now, but anybody with decent forethought could see things like this coming. It's better to work with nature than to try and force something that isn't there, especially when the technology isn't there correct the problems.

 

[Jagger69]

-edit-

Sorry.

 

[Luxman]

The third link I posted above is about the new desalination plant near San Diego California, it will be up and running next year.
It is the biggest desal. plant in the western hemisphere, and there are at least 10 more planned for the California coast.
When fresh water and fossil fuels run out, ocean water can be turned into clean water to drink, and the hydrogen and oxygen in H2O can be used as fuel to make electricity.
There is so many alternative sources of energy, but the oil cartels have monopolized the energy industries and have bought politicians, to force us to use fossil fuels.
Most of the fresh water sources are drying up, partly because of water bottlers corporations like Nestle, who suck dry every natural source of fresh water they tap, then move on to the next source, selling their bottled water for over 1000 times more than they pay for it.

It's the 10% of the population who are assholes that cause 80% of the worlds problems.

Here's the link again:
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_25859513/nations-largest-ocean-desalination-plant-goes-up-near

 

[D-rock]

and the hydrogen and oxygen in H2O can be used as fuel to make electricity.

The problem similar to what you were saying is that is we still haven't developed large scale renewable and clean ways to do that. It takes energy to perform electrolysis, and if that energy comes from fossil fuels it starts to defeat the whole purpose of doing it in the first place.

 

[Jagger69]

The problem similar to what you were saying is that is we still haven't developed large scale renewable and clean ways to do that. It takes energy to perform electrolysis, and if that energy comes from fossil fuels it starts to defeat the whole purpose of doing it in the first place.

:goodpost:

Exactly. Again, we are way behind the curve from a technology standpoint to make this a significant reality anytime soon. The power brokers are just too deeply invested in fossil fuels to embrace this paradigm shift before it's too late I fear.

 

[Rey C.]

Seems to me, instead of sending huge amounts of cash over seas, we should invest that money into building several water purification facilities along our salt water coast lines, and start producing fresh water. If they can get water out of the ocean in Saudi Arabia, we can do it here.

I'm 100% with you on that! Instead of dreaming up new monkey chasing/whack-a-mole games that people can play on their dumb smartphones, maybe those clever boys & girls in Silicon Valley could be convinced to work on more R&D projects in the area of water desalination. I hear California is a coastal state. And I hear that the Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean in the world. Seems like there's plenty of water real close to California. Pitiful!

I know that people here are sick and tired of me mentioning Ancient Rome every other breath. But roughly 2,000 years ago, the Romans began building an aqueduct system, so that every Roman citizen would have access to a steady, ready supply of fresh water. Maybe if we didn't ignore technology and waste resources, all while forgetting that NO civilization has survived for very long if infrastructure wasn't a priority, this wouldn't even be an issue. But to expect us to figure out what was already figured out 2,000 years ago, is probably asking too much.

Say, what time is the game on this weekend? And how long does it take Papa John's to get a pizza to my house? That's what I want to know! Burp!

 

[bobjustbob]

They're building this pipeline from Canada all the way down to Texas for water to be refined, aren't they?

 

[Ace Boobtoucher]

There wouldn't be a problem if Moonbeam wasn't the govenor and people were more worried about other people instead of some insignificant fucking fish.

 

[ChefChiTown]

The availability of clean, fresh water is one of the greatest challenges facing civilization as we forge ahead into the 21st century. In the USA, some states (California, Texas, Florida) are literally being sucked dry by a lethal combination of uncontrolled population growth and reduced rainfall amounts.

This is where I lose faith in people.

We, as a society, have accomplished many great feats. History has proven that mankind is an amazing, incredibly talented and extremely intelligent species. Yet, even though we live on a planet which is covered over 70% with water and we still can't figure out how to provide clean drinking water to the entire planet. We have water treatment plants all over the place, but we can't figure out how to use that technology to provide clean drinking water to everybody on Earth.

 

[Luxman]

90% of man made problems are caused by greed.