AlterNet: When Will Los Angeles Run Out of Water? Sooner Than You Think.

[marmar]

When Will Los Angeles Run Out of Water? Sooner Than You Think.

By Scott Thill, AlterNet. Posted October 4, 2008.

L.A. has two options: Pray for rain, or suck off Northern California's supply. Guess which one it's going to try first?




Somewhere in sands of the desert

A shape with lion body and the head of a man

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.

-- William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming""



Los Angeles has been sleeping far too long. But the question is not when will it wake, but rather what it will do once it does wake and realize the water is gone.

"We are way better than Third-World countries with no water supply," explains California Department of Water Resources drought coordinator Wendy Martin, "but it will take a significant change to keep ours."

Martin is speaking of California at large, but the science is in and the climate crisis isn't hard to figure out. Water isn't a renewable resource, so that makes Los Angeles the state's parched yet still bloated problem.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the state's water reserves are nearly finished, which leaves California with two options: Pray for rain, or suck off Northern California's supply. Guess which one it's going to try first?

If you guessed both, you're right. Indeed, California will revive a decades-old plan for a statewide water bank that will flow water to where it is needed most. Right now that means it flows from Northern California farmers and others to agencies in Southern California, whose citizens have lately been engaging in Option Two rather than studying up on reality -- specifically, the geographical and environmental kind. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/water/101193/when_will_los_angeles_run_out_of_water_sooner_than_you_think./

[Taverner]

1. And to think they then resell NorCal water to AZ, NV and NM

[NickB79]

2. The eventual exodus from the western states will be enormous.

Now, where to put tens of millions of environmental refugees?

[shireen]

3. one solution.

Hydroponics.

It's time for the ag industry to use water wisely. The technology is available, for conventional and organic cultivation. It can be implemented to maintain the same rate of food production, and the efficient use of land will open up free space for native vegetation to make a comeback. But such a major change in the ag infrastructure needs some upfront major investments in changing the way they grow crops.

Oh wait ... investment ... that means money ... CA has no money ... Arnold wants a federal bailout too.

Damn! So much for that idea,

[Bobbieo]

4. Any way CA can tap into the glacial meltdown - desalting, etc???

[kayakjohnny]

5. Well, there is permaculture which has been shown to work well in certain parts of the world.

I don't see why it isn't getting more exposure here. One guy I heard of a few years back seems to be one of the pioneers. I found this originally on Ted.com, a group devoted to solving exactly theses kinds of problems.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S6kTlz6Mk4&feature=related

[kayakjohnny]

6. Of course, it doesn't solve the lack of water problem, but it makes greater use of existing water.

[Festivito]

7. Desalination anyone? /nt

[NNadir]

8. One of the amusing things if one follows the link is the ad for the "hybrid Escalade."

This suggests a solution.

Just hook up the faucets to the tailpipe of Governor Hydrogen Hummer's 7 billion dollar hydrogen hummer and all your problems are solved.

As for the "desalination" stuff, mostly it's a daydream for people poorly equipped to understand the laws of thermodynamics.

Of course, with a brazillion solar roofs, one can do anything.

[IDemo]

9. An LA Board of Supervisors individual wanted to tap the Snake River two decades ago

I guess that will be back on the table.

[newfie11]

10. Why not build desalination plants

Little Podunk Freeport Texas had one back in 1965.

[tinrobot]

13. Because environmental groups are fining lawsuits to stop them.

Two environmental groups are suing the California Coastal Commission, challenging its approval of a proposed ocean-water desalination plant in Carlsbad.

The lawsuit was due to be filed in San Diego Superior Court yesterday, said Marco Gonzalez, an attorney who prepared it on behalf of the Surfrider Foundation and Planning and Conservation League.

The 12-page complaint alleges that the desalination project would harm marine life in Agua Hedionda Lagoon, which would be the plant's water source. It also alleges that the commission did not make the findings necessary to approve the project.

Connecticut-based Poseidon Resources Inc. proposes a 500-million-gallon-a-day plant on the grounds of the Encina Power Station, at the foot of Cannon Road in Carlsbad.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20080115-9999-1m15desal.html

[eppur_se_muova]

11. For the Nth time, I'll plug "Cadillac Desert" ...

Either Marc Reisert's book, or the documentary film made from it ... if you live in LA, SoCal, or just the SW USA, it's worth reading/watching to find out how thin a thread your water supply is hanging by.

("... by how thin ..." for anal retentives)

[End Of The Road]

12. I'll second that. It's a great read. nt