The Official Drought Thread

[Dwight Schr-ute]

And this picture is the very reason why i am lobbying for improved effectiveness of the re-circulate system on car air conditioners. I can only hold my breath for so long. Stanky!!!

I love the "Pedestrians Prohibited" sign. I'm sure there's tons of disappointment that people can't walk past that.

[bluegoose]

D'oh. Here's a shot of Harris Ranch next to I-5 in the Central Valley:

And this picture is the very reason why i am lobbying for improved effectiveness of the re-circulate system on car air conditioners. I can only hold my breath for so long. Stanky!!!

[Jeff Lebowski]

Please explain.

Lots of multi-billion dollar water development projects funded and maintained by taxpayers. Farmers pay only a small fraction of the true cost of water and many of them have gotten quite wealthy from the subsidies. The rest of us pick up the tab.

Decent explanation here:

http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstrea...ndHuffaker.pdf

BTW, the author of this article is from Star Valley, Wyoming and got his PhD at the University of Chicago in Econ.

[Uncle Ted]

With a drought of this magnitude, there are no easy answers and it is wrong to single out any one thing as a solution/culprit. This is simply uncharted territory beyond anything we have ever seen.

As for conservation, it is nice to install 1 gpf toilets and low-flow shower heads, but about all that will accomplish is to make you feel better about yourself. From an urban perspective, lawns and swimming pools take the most water by far. And 80% of the water used in California goes to agriculture. Water for agriculture in the western US is heavily subsidized by US taxpayers. Farmers don't come anywhere close to paying the real cost (this is especially true in Utah). One way to manage the problem would be to let market dynamics dictate true water costs. You would see a quick adjustment in farming practices and crop choices and food prices. At the very least, the biggest impact we can have is pushing for water delivery and irrigation systems that are as efficient as possible.

I installed one of those 1 gpf toilets and it would take two or three flushes to encourage those german browns I released back into the wild to swim downstream to Houston. It didn't make me feel better about myself. I just tell the kids now if it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down. My wife disagrees.

And btw, encourage your kids to go into water resource engineering. Growth industry.

I keep telling them that but they won't listen.

[Omaha 680]

As for conservation, it is nice to install 1 gpf toilets and low-flow shower heads, but about all that will accomplish is to make you feel better about yourself.

This is how I feel about most of the carbon emissions reduction goals that seem to be the center of discussion for climate change policy.

And btw, encourage your kids to go into water resource engineering. Growth industry.

I specialized in the wrong branch of civil engineering.

On the "bright" side (for me), most of our railroad bridges are over 100 years old.

[cowboy]

Water for agriculture in the western US is heavily subsidized by US taxpayers. Farmers don't come anywhere close to paying the real cost (this is especially true in Utah).

Please explain.

[wuapinmon]

[wuapinmon]

Growth industry.

I'd call it sow-sow.

[Jeff Lebowski]

You make great points. Is restricting almond production the answer?

With a drought of this magnitude, there are no easy answers and it is wrong to single out any one thing as a solution/culprit. This is simply uncharted territory beyond anything we have ever seen.

As for conservation, it is nice to install 1 gpf toilets and low-flow shower heads, but about all that will accomplish is to make you feel better about yourself. From an urban perspective, lawns and swimming pools take the most water by far. And 80% of the water used in California goes to agriculture. Water for agriculture in the western US is heavily subsidized by US taxpayers. Farmers don't come anywhere close to paying the real cost (this is especially true in Utah). One way to manage the problem would be to let market dynamics dictate true water costs. You would see a quick adjustment in farming practices and crop choices and food prices. At the very least, the biggest impact we can have is pushing for water delivery and irrigation systems that are as efficient as possible.

And btw, encourage your kids to go into water resource engineering. Growth industry.

[All-American]

I agree. We should have a church-wide fast and plead with the Lord to provide the necessary precipitation for California to once again flourish. I would enthusiastically participate.

I would participate, but it would be without faith. Have Californians not read the proclamation on the family? Not like we didn't warn you, bozos.

[Donuthole]

Water is needed for these crips and there's a demand for them

Blaming California's problems on gangs is so 1994.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

What I'm curious about is how much almond farmers (or walnuts, pistachios, grapes, peaches, etc) use drip irrigation as opposed to flooding their rows of trees with irrigation water, like I used to see. For all I know, it wouldn't make any difference in water usage.

The point of the charts, beyond showing how much water is used by a couple crops, is probably to pin the blame on the farmers, which is ridiculous. Almonds that are produced in California are the almonds that that the entire country consumes because they don't really produce them anywhere else domestically. The same goes for literally dozens of other fruits, vegetables and nuts. Water is needed for these crips and there's a demand for them and they're not luxury foods.

An argument can be made that meat and dairy production does not have to take place in the southern 2/3 of California. But you can't grow almonds and grapes, at least in large quantities, in Iowa and Nebraska.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I agree. We should have a church-wide fast and plead with the Lord to provide the necessary precipitation for California to once again flourish. I would enthusiastically participate.

Instead of precipitation, tell the members the fast would be for moisture and they'd be on board.

[YOhio]

It seems folks in Cali just need to stop eating food and all their water problems would be over.

I agree. We should have a church-wide fast and plead with the Lord to provide the necessary precipitation for California to once again flourish. I would enthusiastically participate.

[Uncle Ted]

Seems like this Natural News site is the source of that 2,000 gallons claim:

http://www.naturalnews.com/023341_wa...k_organic.html

Here's a purported picture of the author, Mike Adams (aka the Health Ranger):

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The LA Times quotes National Geographic as saying that it only takes 880 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of milk - not the 2,000 gallons that Health Ranger Mike claimed. So, as usual, YOhio is right again.



http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydis...124-story.html

It seems folks in Cali just need to stop eating food and all their water problems would be over.