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I have trouble getting behind desalination for California. Surely we have not exhausted all our options in collection and storage?

by pbreit 11y ago

ars 11y ago
California could also copy the very low water waste, and the greywater recycling for agriculture.
OrwellianChild 11y ago
It will likely take efforts on many fronts to resolve SoCal's water issues. Charging for agricultural water use, enforcing drip-irrigation, improving reclamation/recycling, etc. What are your objections to desalination?
killface 11y ago
You exhausted those a decade ago. Now other states are shipping water to Cali, and those states are starting to have their own issues.
- PhantomGremlin 11y ago
  Reasonable options haven't been exhausted until California stops producing crops like rice.[1] Our ideal climate, ample water supply and innovative farming techniques result in some of the highest rice yields in the world, while at the same time providing rice of the highest quality. That was written a few years ago. Growing rice in a desert is hardly an "ideal climate", and the recent drought has certainly changed the perception of an "ample water supply". Same thing with other water intensive crops like almonds. TV was recently reiterating the trope that a single almond takes 1 gallon of water. That seems way high, but I haven't searched further. [1] http://web.archive.org/web/20060210141916/http://calrice.org/e7b_cas_rice_growing_region.htm http://web.archive.org/web/20060210141916/http://calrice.org...
- pbreit 11y ago
  Well, my understanding is that more fresh water runs into the ocean than what we entirely consume already.
revelation 11y ago
I had the same reaction. Water access for Israel is a question of security, while a drought in California is just the ugly underbelly of needless excess and unsustainable policy rearing its head.
bsder 11y ago
This biggest issue in California is getting agricultural uses down and splitting off consumer use. Desalinization works pretty well in California for getting water to people. Not so much for agriculture. We need to start letting the agricultural water price rise to where it needs to be in order to get the agribusinesses to start growing less water intensive crops. Note that one of the things that Israel did was digging up water-using orchards.

I have trouble getting behind desalination for California. Surely we have not exhausted all our options in collection and storage?

by pbreit 11y ago

I have trouble getting behind desalination for California. Surely we have not exhausted all our options in collection and storage?

ars 11y ago

California could also copy the very low water waste, and the greywater recycling for agriculture.

OrwellianChild 11y ago

It will likely take efforts on many fronts to resolve SoCal's water issues. Charging for agricultural water use, enforcing drip-irrigation, improving reclamation/recycling, etc. What are your objections to desalination?

killface 11y ago

You exhausted those a decade ago. Now other states are shipping water to Cali, and those states are starting to have their own issues.

PhantomGremlin 11y ago
Reasonable options haven't been exhausted until California stops producing crops like rice.[1] Our ideal climate, ample water supply and innovative farming techniques result in some of the highest rice yields in the world, while at the same time providing rice of the highest quality. That was written a few years ago. Growing rice in a desert is hardly an "ideal climate", and the recent drought has certainly changed the perception of an "ample water supply". Same thing with other water intensive crops like almonds. TV was recently reiterating the trope that a single almond takes 1 gallon of water. That seems way high, but I haven't searched further. [1] http://web.archive.org/web/20060210141916/http://calrice.org/e7b_cas_rice_growing_region.htm http://web.archive.org/web/20060210141916/http://calrice.org...
pbreit 11y ago
Well, my understanding is that more fresh water runs into the ocean than what we entirely consume already.

revelation 11y ago

I had the same reaction. Water access for Israel is a question of security, while a drought in California is just the ugly underbelly of needless excess and unsustainable policy rearing its head.

bsder 11y ago

This biggest issue in California is getting agricultural uses down and splitting off consumer use. Desalinization works pretty well in California for getting water to people. Not so much for agriculture. We need to start letting the agricultural water price rise to where it needs to be in order to get the agribusinesses to start growing less water intensive crops. Note that one of the things that Israel did was digging up water-using orchards.