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> So a big reason for the lack of desalination is a lack of demand. Yes, some places are experiencing a lack of water but those are the exception to the norm.

> So a big reason for the lack of desalination is a lack of demand. Yes, some places are experiencing a lack of water but those are the exception to the norm. With yet another year of drought in SoCal and heavy fires as a result of dryer weather in Norcal seem to suggest otherwise: I don't think it's a lack of demand at all. Carlsbad actually built their desalination (Poseidon) plant when I still lived in CA permanently and the cost was the biggest hurdle, as was waste management, as they sold the water to neighboring areas at a premium in order to recover the costs in a public-private undertaking. Carlsbad is one of the more affluent cities in San Diego County so they had the money during the bubble economy boom before the crash. Another one is/has been scheduled to be rolled out in Huntington Beach apparently [0]. I definitely think desalination should be explored, tested, and refined especially as the CO river source is/has been closed and CA needs to take advantage of the massive resource it has in addition to reducing consumption while figuring out the waste issue with desalination. And nothing could accelerate it faster than CA's massive need for fresh water. A Day Zero situation is something that should be avoided at all costs and in incredibly myopic in what is essentially the 5th largest economy in the World. Personally speaking, I always figured it would be perto-states trying to diversify that would be the biggest financial backers of these facilities, as well as massive solar farms, as the automotive World moved further way from fossil fuel and OPEC goes to ever greater money losing schemes to prop up the price of oil. Especially in a World with evermore cheap and hot fiat being thrown at stupid things like Airbnb and Doordash IPOs. 0: https://angeles.sierraclub.org/news/blog/2020/07/stop_the_poseidon_desalination_plant_in_huntington_beach https://angeles.sierraclub.org/news/blog/2020/07/stop_the_po...

EricE 6y ago
If we stopped growing Almonds in the CA desert there would be more water for domestic uses. Agricultural water rates are ridiculously cheap for the value of the water - hence absolutely brain dead schemes such as growing almonds in an otherwise desert!
- Melting_Harps 6y ago
  > If we stopped growing Almonds in the CA desert there would be more water for domestic uses. Are you seriously advocating that CA, a histrionically Agriculture based State, remove one of its nearly exclusive cash crops to curtail water depletion? Not only is that absurd, but it negates just how quickly that leads to food insecurity. I agree we should divert tax liability for farmers to improve their irrigation systems to reduce consumption and mandate water table depletion instead of letting FAANG and other multinational corps not pay taxes, but this argument doesn't take into account that all the Valley used to be Ag land long before it was ever used planned to be used for every tech corp that wanted to cash-in on a useless app no one cares about. Ag isn't really the problem, the massive influx of people that came here from somewhere else claiming Agriculture is not a critical part of OUR unique Californian Culture, Cuisine and Identity is the issue, and they often do so in order they can have massive pools and manicured lawns and support other useless and wasteful habits. They're the same imbeciles that claim they can come here and remove access to beaches because they bought beach front property and feel they are entitled to everything that surrounds it, which is entirely against Californian Law (as well as beach/surf culture) as beaches are a public good. > Agricultural water rates are ridiculously cheap for the value of the water - hence absolutely brain dead schemes such as growing almonds in an otherwise desert! The central valley remains and has one of the most fertile soils in all of N. America for centuries for a reason, so while almond cultivation in the World certainly suffers from centralization, inefficient pollination irrigation systems, they are correctable with the right incentives and it is most definitely 'worth it' if you understand just how much California feeds not just the US but the rest of the World from that part alone. And honestly, if you have ever been to massive golf courses and school and University campuses with manicured lawns (Pepperdine in Malibu is insane!) you'll see that excessive water is far more prevalent in areas that don't create any value besides aesthetic landscaping and leisure for the few because they have the fiat to buy what ever it takes to have acres of manicured lawns during fires and droughts and since COVID no one is even on campus to 'appreciate' it all. You'd have to be an immense fool to think that not addressing those issues is critical before you remove established cash crops that actually feed people in order to curtail water depletion. Desalination at least solves some issues we could and should address in regards to refilling aquifers and water tables and protect our Cultural heritage, which a big part of it happens to be Agriculture.

EricE 6y ago

If we stopped growing Almonds in the CA desert there would be more water for domestic uses. Agricultural water rates are ridiculously cheap for the value of the water - hence absolutely brain dead schemes such as growing almonds in an otherwise desert!

Melting_Harps 6y ago
> If we stopped growing Almonds in the CA desert there would be more water for domestic uses. Are you seriously advocating that CA, a histrionically Agriculture based State, remove one of its nearly exclusive cash crops to curtail water depletion? Not only is that absurd, but it negates just how quickly that leads to food insecurity. I agree we should divert tax liability for farmers to improve their irrigation systems to reduce consumption and mandate water table depletion instead of letting FAANG and other multinational corps not pay taxes, but this argument doesn't take into account that all the Valley used to be Ag land long before it was ever used planned to be used for every tech corp that wanted to cash-in on a useless app no one cares about. Ag isn't really the problem, the massive influx of people that came here from somewhere else claiming Agriculture is not a critical part of OUR unique Californian Culture, Cuisine and Identity is the issue, and they often do so in order they can have massive pools and manicured lawns and support other useless and wasteful habits. They're the same imbeciles that claim they can come here and remove access to beaches because they bought beach front property and feel they are entitled to everything that surrounds it, which is entirely against Californian Law (as well as beach/surf culture) as beaches are a public good. > Agricultural water rates are ridiculously cheap for the value of the water - hence absolutely brain dead schemes such as growing almonds in an otherwise desert! The central valley remains and has one of the most fertile soils in all of N. America for centuries for a reason, so while almond cultivation in the World certainly suffers from centralization, inefficient pollination irrigation systems, they are correctable with the right incentives and it is most definitely 'worth it' if you understand just how much California feeds not just the US but the rest of the World from that part alone. And honestly, if you have ever been to massive golf courses and school and University campuses with manicured lawns (Pepperdine in Malibu is insane!) you'll see that excessive water is far more prevalent in areas that don't create any value besides aesthetic landscaping and leisure for the few because they have the fiat to buy what ever it takes to have acres of manicured lawns during fires and droughts and since COVID no one is even on campus to 'appreciate' it all. You'd have to be an immense fool to think that not addressing those issues is critical before you remove established cash crops that actually feed people in order to curtail water depletion. Desalination at least solves some issues we could and should address in regards to refilling aquifers and water tables and protect our Cultural heritage, which a big part of it happens to be Agriculture.