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Considering the environmental impact of diverting whole watersheds to Southern California and the the power requirements of pumping it over mountain ranges, thi

by cwp 11y ago

Considering the environmental impact of diverting whole watersheds to Southern California and the the power requirements of pumping it over mountain ranges, this seems like a great way to end the drought. The only reason it hasn't been done before is that SoCal has successfully externalized the cost of water. So, yes, it costs more to the residents of San Diego, but it's not a bad option when you consider all the people and wildlife that could be using the Colorado river. And by the way, the "irresponsible usage of water" by the people of California is largely growing food for the rest of the continent. You may live near the great lakes, but you undoubtedly consume water from California. It's just packaged inside fruit and vegetables.

xigency 11y ago
The network effects of the whole water system of California are definitely something I hadn't taken into account, and I think local water storage / production is the way to go. And certainly a number of foods could be produced elsewhere in the country or imported. If I ate a lot of almonds I might feel indebted but really I eat a whole lot more of foods that aren't plums, grapes, lettuce, artichokes, etc. Talking about the agriculture aspect always takes me by surprise because the state represents a large percentage of the country's population but a smaller percent of its land area. Given that most areas of the country could be used for producing something, its not as if all food production could be removed from the state. And I also think about Japan, because, even though it has a smaller land area, the climate allows the country to produce enormous amounts in agriculture, mainly rice, but other products, too. So obviously it depends on the land. It's also something where, the farmland in Japan is beautiful, while the farms on the West Coast don't really seem to be (subjective). It's also really amazing to see this article slip off the frontpage, and I noticed this with attitudes while I was in the state, but it just seems like people don't care. So maybe it has something to do with people's attitudes, too. Dealing with big issues takes a bigger attention span.
- mentat 11y ago
  California is the 3rd largest state by area, not sure how that's "small".
  - xigency 11y ago
    It represents 12% of the population but only 4% of the land, not all of which is arable or habitable.
  - sib 11y ago
    I think that grandparent meant that CA represents a "smaller" fraction of the area of the US (~4.3%) than it does of the population (~12.1%).

by cwp 11y ago

xigency 11y ago

The network effects of the whole water system of California are definitely something I hadn't taken into account, and I think local water storage / production is the way to go. And certainly a number of foods could be produced elsewhere in the country or imported. If I ate a lot of almonds I might feel indebted but really I eat a whole lot more of foods that aren't plums, grapes, lettuce, artichokes, etc. Talking about the agriculture aspect always takes me by surprise because the state represents a large percentage of the country's population but a smaller percent of its land area. Given that most areas of the country could be used for producing something, its not as if all food production could be removed from the state. And I also think about Japan, because, even though it has a smaller land area, the climate allows the country to produce enormous amounts in agriculture, mainly rice, but other products, too. So obviously it depends on the land. It's also something where, the farmland in Japan is beautiful, while the farms on the West Coast don't really seem to be (subjective). It's also really amazing to see this article slip off the frontpage, and I noticed this with attitudes while I was in the state, but it just seems like people don't care. So maybe it has something to do with people's attitudes, too. Dealing with big issues takes a bigger attention span.

mentat 11y ago
California is the 3rd largest state by area, not sure how that's "small".
- xigency 11y ago
  It represents 12% of the population but only 4% of the land, not all of which is arable or habitable.
- sib 11y ago
  I think that grandparent meant that CA represents a "smaller" fraction of the area of the US (~4.3%) than it does of the population (~12.1%).