Snow study shows California faces historic drought

water restiant plants

I don't know if there is an answer. I guess people will just have to start eating their lawns for nourishment.

So true. Nor can we continue to look to people we place on pedestals and make saviors to bail us out either. There have been far too many years wasted with people disassociating themselves from their part in seeking accountability and in distracting themselves with frivolous BS to the point of the destruction of all that is truly important for our survival.

The last two hundred years has seen the industrial revolution and incredible population growth. It also has been one of the wettest 200 years in recorded history. Now that rainfall and climate is transitioning to more historic levels we have found ourselves to be in a completely unsustainable situation. War, famine and massive population die off are very likely our future. We cant keep depending on technology to bail us out.

Growing up in the Central Valley I remember some pretty bad droughts which caused horrible dust storms. Once when I was young, I remember riding home like mad on my bike as a wave of dust roared behind me...not fun :/

Well shit...

More over use of natural supplies - book excerpt

The mighty Colorado once running swiftly from the Rocky Mountains now rarely arrives at the Gulf of California. No longer could those in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, or California count on its lifeblood. The Yellow River in China, home to over 1.3 billion of the world’s population, since before recorded time regularly rose in the mighty Himalayan glaciers travelling 4,000 kilometers for its annual meeting with the Yellow Sea. Since 1985 the river often never arrives. The Yangtze River rises in the mountains of Qinghai Province on the Tibetan plateau and flows 6,300 kilometers to the East China Sea, opening at Shanghai. The Yangtze river basin accounts for 40 percent of China’s freshwater resources, more than 70 percent of the country’s rice production, 50 percent of its grain production, more than 70 percent of fishery production, and 40 percent of China’s GDP (source: Claudia Delpero, communications manager with the World Wildlife Fund’s European Policy office). The Yangtze, Mekong, Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Indus are the life blood for many more billions of people.

www.strategicbookpublishing.com/ZEROGreenhouseEmissions.html

And more

The canary had indeed started to die of thirst over only the last half-century as competition had resulted in a tripling of demand for water. The drilling of millions of wells for irrigation to supplement nature’s supplies brought another manmade economic driver, for food exports, for growing GDP. The agricultural revolution had preceded its industrial counterpart, but was now competing for its share of the emptying cup. Falling water tables in China are affecting harvests of grain (China is the world’s largest grain producer), while competing internally with its developing industrial hubs its agriculture is loosing out. In 2001 a groundwater survey of the water table under the North China Plain that produces over 50 percent of the country’s wheat and over 30 percent of its corn was falling faster than earlier reports had shown. The water table was dropping nearly 3 meters annually and in some towns in the province falling twice as fast. Yields and production volumes were continuing to fall where irrigation was needed, including rice harvests falling from the 1997 production of 140 million tonnes to 127 million tonnes in 2005. Its growing urban populations as well as its industrial development had been competing for water and was now in conflict, going in opposite direction with no signs of a slow down.
Similarly in India, the southern state of Tamil Nadu, fast becoming an aspirer to industrial development and home to more than 62 million people, faced drying wells with 95 percent of those in the farming community suffering. The International Water Management Institute suggested that “When the balloon bursts, untold anarchy will be the lot of rural India.” Would this be their water domino?
In neighboring Pakistan, whose population grows by 3 million per year, water tables are falling, with similar problems to that faced by India. And the water balloon wasn’t any stronger in the developed countries’ agricultural bread basket.
Australia was gripped by droughts and crumbling agricultural infrastructure. The Murray Darling river system was in crisis, so much so that irrigation for agriculture would not be allocated in 2007. With the drought in Queensland so severe, and with water restrictions for its citizens, the government reduced supplies to coal-fired power stations.

Another excerpt from the book.

When will “Peak Water” hit, or has it already peaked while going mostly unnoticed?
Fossil water reserves built up in ancient underground aquifers will run dry, we are being told. In fifteen of some of the world’s most populous nations, it is already underway. In the United States the vast Ogallala aquifer was being overexploited. Under the North China Plain and in Saudi Arabia, unsustainable depletion was well underway. Overpumping of aquifers was happening in Iran, Israel and Jordan, India and Pakistan, Mexico, Morocco and Spain, Tunisia and Syria, in the Yemen and South Korea.
When would the water refugees start to migrate? When would the citizens of the cities’ toilets and showers run dry? Which water domino would fall first? Was this lifeblood supply of water to be stopped for agriculture and irrigation, allowing it to wilt and die? Would our tap be turned off for the industrial model we had built our economic lives around? Would we feed ourselves or the machines of industry?

Bob Williamson

I wish I knew the answer. The problems are tied so firmly to the economic well-being of the residents of these areas that some of my ideas -- like creating building codes that require greywater irrigation and water cisterns, living roofs and native-only plant species with plenty of permeable area surrounding buildings -- might be too much money for cities in these circumstances to tolerate. Other ideas that cross my mind -- like tearing down deserted, foreclosed housing and replacing it with permeable native landscaping, along with regulations that restrict rebuilding on such sites -- would certainly hurt the economy. But they are feasible ideas, and if implemented at the smallest-possible community level might begin to make some positive change.

One thing I am intuitively opposed to, though I don't know the scientific impact of it, is rerouting water from any natural feature to feed a geographically dispersed population. I know, I know... but for our having done that for hundreds of years we wouldn't have modern agriculture, and I probably wouldn't live where I do... but if wishes were horses...

Or it could starting raining. A lot. That would at least give us a little more time.

Facts from my book on water used in energy generation.

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in the United States reports that coal-fired plants use approximately 3,400 liters of cooling water per megawatt hour
Nuclear reactors’ need a water cooling supply of 3,776 liters of freshwater per megawatt hour.
natural gas–powered plants supply any relief, when they too need 2,730 liters per megawatt
hour

And by the way everyone. To smelt just 1 tonne of aluminum consumes 1,716 toones of water!!!!!!!!!! Every single can (15 grams) has consumed ---just to smelt it ---25 3/4 litres of drinking water. Industry in the US and here subsidises this unsustainable water use by Industry.

Lots more in the book Guys.
We must stop the $700 billion paid out in subsidies annually!!!

BAN THE CAN too whlie we are at it!!!!

Hey guys,

I know many of you feel strongly about this issue, which can lead to some heated discussions. Disagreement and debates are great, but let's please keep it focused on the topic and not the people discussing it. If you see a comment that you feel is a violation of community standards, please flag it rather than responding in kind.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

Danielle
Online Community Team

100 Ways To Conserve Water

Every little bit helps when you are in a drought.

This is also why solar energy is the way to go. It uses no water in its production of energy. Unless of course you use concentrated solar energy instead of photovoltaic, but compared to nuclear and coal it is no where close to the volumes of water wasted for those sources.

When I was in the US (Georgia & Florida) I was surprised that there was no rain water harvesting going on. Nobody seemed at all concerned as to the amount of water they were using. Here in Australia I live off the main water pipeline route. That means we have no water supplied as they do in the City and suburbs.

So when we built our home 30 years ago we had to put in tanks to capture and harvest the rain. It's the only supply we have. We haven't had one drop of water supplied to us from the main water lines in 30 years. We live in one of the driest places on the planet. We are self sufficient for water. We grow all our own vegetables - have over 1 acre of lush gardens and have 6 people living in the house. We have water storage of 50,000 gallons. Not a drop of rain that falls on the roof is lost.

We globally need to start thinking seriously about rain harvesting. Climate change will bring extreame weather variability - we won't know when and if the rains will come. We need to be ready to collect it when Mother Nature is good enough to supply it.

Get some tanks in everyone. There is always a sustainable alternative when you have no other choice.

Bob Williamson

Many many years ago, a group of people decided to build homes on a very fertile area of the state which they call Orange County. So they subdivided the land for houses, sold them, and moved the farms to the desert where they had to import top soil, water, and use chemical fertilizers, many of the farms morphed into large corporate agri/farms for the most part. Then, the descendants of "the group of people" decided to build golf courses in the middle of the desert too (not against golf mind you, its good to see people outside) which, in desert environments, require a lot of imported water and chemical fertilizers.

With that said, there are some great people holding the base in California for organic farming and sustainable living - supplying fantastic fresh food, sustainably grown (including minimum use of water), and local. We experience both sides of the coin here.

I was walking in Venice, Ca. the other day and came across a typical venice bungalow whose front yard is a demonstration of creating not only an edible landscape, but also optimum water conservation. I looked the company up on the web and they offer a fantastic service as well as teach urbanites how to convert their ground or balcony space into organic edible gardens and landscapes (something positive and useful) instead of green lawns consuming large amounts of water. They also have an organic seed exchange for locals (re: monsanto antidote)
www.heartbeetgardening.com

Julia Russell opens her Eco-home in Los Feliz two Sundays a month. She can show you how to save a lot of water.
http://www.ecohome.org/pages/index.html

"Eco-Home™ is an on-going living research center that demonstrates ecological living in an urban environment. The Eco-Home™is a restored and retrofitted California style bungalow, circa 1911 that shows us how simple but wise property improvements can make your home warm, friendly yet environmentally sound and healthy. This historic home incorporates solar hot water heating, photovoltaic panels, ultra low flow water systems and other energy and water conservation measures. This "pioneering" home has hosted over 15,000 guests since opening it's doors to the public in 1988."

Many of us, would if we could but don't quite have enough dosh at this timing, convert our water systems so we could re-use our used water for gardening (grey water), create catchment systems for rain water, and replant trees to help with our water flows as well. How useful would that cash flow given to Wall Street, Bankers and the industrial military complex to convert the masses into a sustainable living complex.

Tree people in Los Angeles do a great job of urban forestation and water conservation (Andy Lipkis is one of my heroes). as well as teaching and community outreach.
http://www.treepeople.org/

Geoff Lawton, master teacher of permaculture demonstrates how to grow food in a desert environment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohI6vnWZmk

And, the way we build our buildings will make a huge difference to how we use our resources.

For example, this competition from a few years ago, called Building A Sustainable World: Architects, designers, city planners, engineers respond to the call of creating off-grid communities and addressing climate change.
http://riba-usa.org/Competitions/index.htm

There are some great architects and designers who understand how to build with wisdom and can reverse the negative impact on our environment by the way they build.

I am a gardener and love the winter in Southern California because of the rain, and yes, it is getting dryer. We have our ups and downs or cycles, but so far, we are very short on rainfall this season, hoping for some more soon.

I just got back from Tenn./Mississippi area they've had non stop rain since thanks giving (that's what helped TVA create our latest Superfund site)

the seasons are shifting
winter is in spring
summer in the fall

and yet fossil addicts still want more proof !!!

Its amazing how economic hardships and dustbowls go hand in hand...

I have lived in Southern Utah for about 7 years now and we've seen many years with only half normal snowpack. With rapidly growing communities (well it was growing fast) and a dwindling water supply the state is now considering a multi billion dollar pipeline project to pipe water over from Lake Powell, which is already under huge strain from the drought reaching nearly 90 ft below the high mark.

Personally I think the answer is to slow developement and work on some innovative water conservation policies, like paying people to re-landscape homes with native plants and little to no real grass. It doesn't look pretty, but it does save alot of water and looks nice enough. They also need to get contractors to adopt water conservation landscaping when developing new lots.

As it is right now, if we don't hit about a decade of wet weather, we will be sucking the bottom of our aquifers dry possibly by 2016. That's a pretty bleak forcast, and with little alternatives and water "wars" going on I don't know how soon a remedy will be agreed on.

Las Vegas recently got the rights to a large aquifer north of Vegas and west from where I live, a few valleys over. There are people who say that this already dry land will completely dry up, possibly killing off any and all plant life that has managed to survive on the small amount of moisture available now. If the plants all die out, we will see "dust bowl" conditions with vast amounts of topsoil being stripped from the land and carried east. Most likely if this happens it will leave in it's place a large desert complete with sand dunes... oh and that aquifer they're tapping, considering the size and thirst of Vegas, they'll be lucky to make it last 15 years... then what?

FYI: I've attended several presentations by the water masters of this end of the state as well as opponents to the pipeline project. They came to my university as part of our engineering seminar class. Very interesting, yet very depressing. It makes me want to move somewhere greener before they start hitting us with outrageous water taxes and restrictions. Oregon and/or Washington is looking pretty nice right about now....

I agree, and also planting crops that are less water intensive. It is better than simply deserting your land.

This month's Sunset Magazine has a cool article about tearing out your lawn and landscaping with low-water plants. I think it is a great idea, plus it is cost effective and ends up looking nicer than a big patch of grass... People also need to be required to water their lawns at night so the water does not evaporate right off the blades of grass as the sun beats down... It's not smart.

Also observe the rule: If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down!

Climate Change?

Oh, you mean that natural thing that's due to the Sun.

There is only one logical course of action... Kill the Sun, save the planet.

Is it morally possible at this point for people on the whole to see the true urgency of this water crisis on a worldwide basis? Or are we too set in our ways on the whole to want to change? I tend to believe only a true catastrophe will change people, and not even then. Look at Hurricane Katrina. I would hope to be proven wrong, but as I read these articles showing how much worse this is all getting as people move into this area to build golf courses in the desert, I truly begin to wonder if humans simply have the capacity anymore to connect the dots.

Everyone should be required to use their sink water for their toilet and do everything as naturally as possible. No more waste, recycle, etc.