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Seven States Running Out of Water

Dittohead not! said:
That would be a far better project than the train to nowhere that Sacramento seems determined to build.

The State of California uses more water than Mother Nature delivers even during wet years. Sooner or later, we'll run out.

And, even if you hate California for its politics, imagine how much you'll spend for fruit, nuts, dairy, and produce after the valley farmland starts to dry up.
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Well, that's probably the biggest effect. I think the main point in the short run.
If the drought continues another 6 months/1 year, I think we're going to see Unprecedented price hikes.
Across the board big increases in food prices... maybe doubles and triples on some Produce items.
That would be shocking and a hardship for some/many.
 
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mbig said:
Maybe we'll finally get the controversial Keystone Pipeline, but carrying... Water... South from Canada/Great lakes!
They've already floated a shorter one from the rainy Northwest to dry California.
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I've said for years that pipelines shouod be built, originating in floid prone areas destined for drought prone areas.
 
lizzie said:
I am in Texas, and it's been bad for several years now, especially last summer and now. I live about 15 miles from a lake, and when I drive over the bridge going into town for the past few months, there are sand bars visible everywhere. It's pitiful. It's not the worst drought Texas had had, but it's the worst I've seen since I lived here.
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Here in the Houston area it was bad for several years, but thankfully, we are out of drought now. Charlie Fenn, who I used to play bass for in a Country and Western band, was right in the middle of the Dyer Mills wildfire, which broke out near the site of the Texas Renaissance Festival. The flames came right to his door, but his house was spared. His sister's house, next door, burned down. Today I play for Edison Freeman. During the wildfires, he was featured on channel 13 in an interview, in which he said he was not going to evacuate, and that wild horses couldn't drag him from his home. A little later, the cameras showed DPS escorting him off his property, after they got a court order to force him out. Thankfully, his home was spared too. Our band did a number of benefits to raise money to help people rebuild. All the rain in Southeast Texas this year finally ended the drought, and Lake Conroe, which was turning into a giant mud puddle at one time, is now full again.

I have a running joke with Wolff DeLong, who was Gene Kelton's bass player before Gene was killed in an accident. Wolff does rain dances, and some say it was his rain dance that ended the Dyer Mills wildfire. So whenever it floods in Houston, I send him a PM on Facebook, telling him he can stop any time now. LOL.
 
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mbig said:
Please spare me the faux-macho "you're an alarmist" claim.
No one is going to go thirsty anytime soon, but this is a serious issue already affecting food prices nationwide.
Summer, oft the driest season is approaching in many places, it could get worse. It could go on for years more in some of these areas too.
This also is a big issue in the arid states viability.
Texas is booming with plenty of oil but little water.

Seven states running out of water
Alexander E.M. Hess and Thomas C. Frohlich
USA Today via 24/7 Wall St.
6:30 a.m. EDT June 1, 2014
Seven states running out of water
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There are rivers that no longer make it to the ocean, the water is used up. In some places it's a huge concern. California even tried buying a river from Canada at one point.
 
Dittohead not! said:
That would be a far better project than the train to nowhere that Sacramento seems determined to build.

The State of California uses more water than Mother Nature delivers even during wet years. Sooner or later, we'll run out.
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SoCal ran out of water over a century ago and has been damming, diverting and pumping ever since. Much of the farmland would never have been farmland without a lot of intervention.
 
apdst said:
I've said for years that pipelines shouod be built, originating in floid prone areas destined for drought prone areas.
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They've been doing that for a long, long time. Some of the pumps in CA are just monstruous... millions of gallons a minute up and over mountains - like making a large river flow uphill.
 
Taylor said:
They've been doing that for a long, long time. Some of the pumps in CA are just monstruous... millions of gallons a minute up and over mountains - like making a large river flow uphill.
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I'm talking about across the country.
 
radioman said:
It's just a matter of facing reality.
Reliance on nature isn't working right now.
Given the specter of droughts and increasing demand, technology can save us....I hope.
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but only if enough of those green painted pieces of paper are allocated to the effort.
 
I remember growing up in California everytime there was a drought there would be TV ads asking everybody to save water so we kids wouldnt flush the toilet. Our parents weren't very happy about that. ;)
 
Taylor said:
SoCal ran out of water over a century ago and has been damming, diverting and pumping ever since. Much of the farmland would never have been farmland without a lot of intervention.
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That's true. In fact the whole 400 by 50 mile Central Valley would be of little use without irrigation water. That's a lot of food production, and a lot of it is in jeopardy due to lack of water.
 
Captain America said:
Wow... Eight posts already and no one has blamed Obama, the democrats or the liberals for the water shortage.
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The funny thing about this statement is that the President, liberals and Democrats actually believe they CAN control the weather... some of us are more skeptical.
 
mbig said:
Please spare me the faux-macho "you're an alarmist" claim.
No one is going to go thirsty anytime soon, but this is a serious issue already affecting food prices nationwide.
Summer, oft the driest season is approaching in many places, it could get worse. It could go on for years more in some of these areas too.
This also is a big issue in the arid states viability.
Texas is booming with plenty of oil but little water.

Seven states running out of water
Alexander E.M. Hess and Thomas C. Frohlich
USA Today via 24/7 Wall St.
6:30 a.m. EDT June 1, 2014
Seven states running out of water
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This really isn't overly surprising. Weather is cyclical. Ever read the novel Grapes of Wrath? Ever here about the depression and the dust bowl that was the American midwest?

Only thing changing now is that charlatans and snake oil salesmen like Al Gore want to convince you and the gullible in government that they can change the weather patterns and it will only cost you every living convenience and the wealth you worked hard for and built up in support of yourself and your family.
 
One thing we can control is population. Each person consumes X water. Cut the population, cut the consumption. As in, stop having 8 children.
 
Captain America said:
Wow... Eight posts already and no one has blamed Obama, the democrats or the liberals for the water shortage.
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That's because it's my fault.

My ex-wife trained me well... It's always my fault.
 
We have had worse droughts in the past with less population. This is a cyclical thing, and at some future time it will be even worse. more population and irrigated farm land.
 
mbig said:
Please spare me the faux-macho "you're an alarmist" claim.
No one is going to go thirsty anytime soon, but this is a serious issue already affecting food prices nationwide.
Summer, oft the driest season is approaching in many places, it could get worse. It could go on for years more in some of these areas too.
This also is a big issue in the arid states viability.
Texas is booming with plenty of oil but little water.

Seven states running out of water
Alexander E.M. Hess and Thomas C. Frohlich
USA Today via 24/7 Wall St.
6:30 a.m. EDT June 1, 2014
Seven states running out of water
Click to expand...

I think we are going to see an increase in state and federal funds allocated to water desalination R&D as well as an increased emphasis on loan guarantees, matching funds, and similar funding instruments to get more facilities produced. As this occurs I wouldn't be surprised if you see renewed interest in niche nuclear and other sustainable/cheap electricity generators to power the plants. Countries like the United States have the resources to meet the water challenges and come out on the other side without too much difficulty. It's other countries I'm worried about. At least for the time being.

Because while I think cheap desalination is the next big game changer in global development I think the time gap between the necessary advances in material sciences and power generation that will allow it to become more easily commercialized may be rather large (10-15 years) plus the time needed to roll it out. I fear many places will suffer greatly in that time span.
 
The government should not subsidize desalination. The users should pay what it costs.
 
Ben K. said:
The desalinated stuff tastes awful.
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Depends on the plant, source, country, etc. A significant amount of the time it's psychological and if you blindfold someone and give them a few cups of iced water from regular tap or desalinated they can't properly identify it.
 
Sherman123 said:
Depends on the plant, source, country, etc. A significant amount of the time it's psychological and if you blindfold someone and give them a few cups of iced water from regular tap or desalinated they can't properly identify it.
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You must have never drinken good water.
 
Once again, don't need desalinization. Besides by the time you build just one very expensive plant the droughts will be over until the next cycle. Just go to waterless toilets. Heck, you'll even save on sewerage.
 
Very relevant to this conversation. The Carlsbad desalination plant in San Diego is set to open soon. The plant will provide San Diego County with 50 million gallons of water every day but will likely see residents water costs rise $5-$8 per month. Additionally the plant cost $1 billion which was funded by a private bond scheme made possible by the counties decision to sign a 30 year contract for the water. It has been hoped that the success of this plant will spur more than a dozen projects that are waiting in the wings along the California coast to spring into development. The failure of this plant however would have a massive chilling effect on the other proposed projects.

Completion of them would significantly alleviate California's drought concerns but would likely see a major spike in water cost.

Cities are preparing for predicted, widespread water shortages. - CNN.com
 
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