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Those definitely look dramatic, but huge amounts of CA water come from aquifers which aren’t being refilled, and these reservoirs are wider at the top than the
by olliej 4y ago
Those definitely look dramatic, but huge amounts of CA water come from aquifers which aren’t being refilled, and these reservoirs are wider at the top than the bottom, so the height increase of the water may oversell how much of the reservoir volume has been filled.
- KennyBlanken 4y agoIt's also important to note that underground aquifers that are drained compact/settle, and when they do so, that aquifer will never regain that capacity. The huge draw-downs caused by industry and especially agriculture trying to grow things in areas that don't have nearly the water to support such crops, is doing irreparable harm to the planet. Shrinking aquifers dramatically reduces that area's resiliency to drought.
- throwaway1777 4y agoYeah but this problem is solvable with technology. We don’t need to rely on underground aquifers like we used to.
- dendrite9 4y agoWhat technology can store large volumes of water and provide it as cheaply as using existing aquifers and drilling wells for access?
- olliej 4y agoblockchain! /s :D
- throwaway1777 4y agoDams and reservoirs
- stevenwoo 4y agoAbout 1/3 of Santa Clara county's water comes from underground aquifers. Most of the reservoirs in Santa Clara county are recharge reservoirs - simply to allow water to percolate down to refill the underwater aquifers, there are many small ponds scattered around the county to assist in this effort. There are parts of the other states (Texas,Kansas off top of my head) that rely on underground aquifers for a much higher percentage of their water.
- uoaei 4y agoThis kind of blind techno-utopianism is exactly how we got into this predicament.
- tdehnel 4y agoNot Utopianism. Technology simply solves problems which are inevitable. It’s problems and solutions forever my friend.
- uoaei 4y agoDeciding "we will find a solution before it's too late" is optimism. Operating with that as a default assumption is utopianism. I am surprised I have to spell this out, HN doesn't seem to represent the levels of rigor I have come to expect.
- tdehnel 4y agoWhat a condescending thing to say. I am surprised I have to explain good faith discussion to you, something I assumed was part of our culture here. The thing I believe you're missing is that new knowledge gained by solving one problem also solves many other future problems. But because some problems are so big (massive suffering and extinction), and there are infinitely many of them, the only game in town is to make progress as quickly as possible. Otherwise we're just waiting around to be obliterated. Anyhow, maybe you will find this point of view enlightening. If you have 30 minutes it just might broaden your perspective. I would welcome your thoughts in response: https://youtu.be/01C3a4fL1m0 https://youtu.be/01C3a4fL1m0