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California, with its long coastline and big brain and capital pools, could transform itself into a fresh water sheikdom.
by antidoh 14y ago
California, with its long coastline and big brain and capital pools, could transform itself into a fresh water sheikdom.
- arethuza 14y agoYour comment about California having a "long coastline" got me wondering how it compares to other places. It turns out that even if you measure the length of the coastline quite generously (i.e. tidal shoreline) the length of the California coast is 3,427 miles. That sounds pretty impressive until you compare it with places with more crinkly coastlines - Norway has ~13,000 miles of coastline and even tiny little Scotland has 6,158 miles. However, I suspect that there won't be much call for de-salination in Norway or here in Scotland (where it has been raining for most of the last week).
- antidoh 14y agoI think approximate linear distance is closer to a practical measurement than crinkly measurements. Consider a semi-circular bay. You may have more access (water/land interface) points, but all the pipes have to go out "far enough" to the same ocean. I suppose a really large bay might not have this problem, but then it looks much less crinkly, and more linear, than a small bay.
- josefresco 14y agoYou don't even need to leave the US to find a state with a longer coastline. Maine's comes in at 4,568 miles
- jonknee 14y agoThat's a bit deceptive though because that figure for Maine includes all the islands and what not. Maine isn't very big, there's no way it has that much actual coastline.
- excuse-me 14y agoI'm not sure that length of coastline is actually the limiting factor. It's not like a state with a mere 3000km coastline would have difficulty fitting the pipes in
- rwhitman 14y agoDesalination plants are already operating in many coastal areas of CA. The problem is that, like the article mentions, seawater desalination is very expensive and much less efficient than bringing water down from the sierras, so its generally used as a last resort.
- redwood 14y agoFunny thing about this comment is your ability to do desal is pretty equivalent if you have 1 mile of coastline or a thousand :) One great thing about the ocean: if you pull out some water, you don't have to wait long for it to be replenished!
- bgilroy26 14y agoThe length of the coastline helps with delivery. If you have 1 mile of coastline, you have to transport your water everywhere else that you would like for it to be.
- antidoh 14y agoGood point. It might be more useful to have access to deserts and other region without much rain or clouds. California has both.