Drought-hit California cuts off water

[Still Waters]

Amid severe drought conditions, California officials announced Friday they won't send any water from the state's vast reservoir system to local agencies beginning this spring, an unprecedented move that affects drinking water supplies for 25 million people and irrigation for 1 million acres of farmland.

http://www.foxnews.c...s-amid-drought/

[rashore]

I feel bad for Ca in some ways, but I also kind of don't. Forced the land to be green where it kind of isn't meant to be. Waste a lot of water on recreation and pretty landscaping.

For example, golf courses. HUGE water user, just for recreation- and Ca is one of the top 3 states in the nation for amount of golf courses.

[Wickian]

I remember going on field trips 14-15 years ago when I was in middle school to reservoirs they were building where they educated us about a drought we were in.

[Euphorbia]

I feel bad for Ca in some ways, but I also kind of don't. Forced the land to be green where it kind of isn't meant to be. Waste a lot of water on recreation and pretty landscaping.

For example, golf courses. HUGE water user, just for recreation- and Ca is one of the top 3 states in the nation for amount of golf courses.

Your kidding right?

Which states don't have golf courses, don't water lawns, don't have "pretty landscaping"? You're being way to simplistic.

We have the largest population of any state in the nation. About one in every 8 to 9 people in this country lives in California. It only makes sense that we would use the most water.

You make it sound like there's a golf course on every corner like there are churches.

The real question is.......what is our water use per capita compared to other states, and remember, we produce one heck of a lot of food here that feeds many other states.....which requires water.....

Edited February 1, 2014 by Euphorbia

[Beany]

Where i live the water dispute is between wine grape growers who have and are planting 1000s of acres of vineyards, which use a lot of water, and residential use.

Edited February 1, 2014 by Beany

[Wickian]

Where i live the water dispute is between wine grape growers who have and are planting 1000s of acres of vineyards, which use a lot of water, and residential use.

I used to know someone who grew Avacado's for a living. Whenever they have to ration water he ended up stumping large percentages of his trees just so they wouldn't die.

[freetoroam]

Your kidding right?

Which states don't have golf courses, don't water lawns, don't have "pretty landscaping"? You're being way to simplistic.

We have the largest population of any state in the nation. About one in every 8 to 9 people in this country lives in California. It only makes sense that we would use the most water.

You make it sound like there's a golf course on every corner like there are churches.

The real question is.......what is our water use per capita compared to other states, and remember, we produce one heck of a lot of food here that feeds many other states.....which requires water.....

I get what you are saying, but I kind of agree with rashore on this one. Water is precious, especially clean water. So if the golf course has to go with out because it has been built where mother nature does not irrigate, then so be it.

When you see those living in areas where they have no water, its easy to say "move", but then when you see golf courses being built in areas where there is no water but pipes supply what is needed around there, it does make you wonder where the worlds priorities are..........the 19th hole?

[Euphorbia]

I get what you are saying, but I kind of agree with rashore on this one. Water is precious, especially clean water. So if the golf course has to go with out because it has been built where mother nature does not irrigate, then so be it.

When you see those living in areas where they have no water, its easy to say "move", but then when you see golf courses being built in areas where there is no water but pipes supply what is needed around there, it does make you wonder where the worlds priorities are..........the 19th hole?

I'm no fan of golf but the water golf courses use is a tiny, tiny fraction of total water use. Could everyone here cut their usage.....absolutely, but golf courses are not the problem......lack of rain and the fact that we have almost 40 million people here, along with all of the farming of fruits, vegetables, and nut orchards is the problem. Maybe we should quit feeding those from other states?

We're all going to have to conserve water until the drought is over......and maybe work on developing desalination plants. We have about 840 miles of coast here.

[freetoroam]

I'm no fan of golf but the water golf courses use is a tiny, tiny fraction of total water use. Could everyone here cut their usage.....absolutely, but golf courses are not the problem......lack of rain and the fact that we have almost 40 million people here, along with all of the farming of fruits, vegetables, and nut orchards is the problem. Maybe we should quit feeding those from other states?

We're all going to have to conserve water until the drought is over......and maybe work on developing desalination plants. We have about 840 miles of coast here.

You`ve hit the nail on the head with the people bit....and they keep on breeding.

[Wickian]

We're all going to have to conserve water until the drought is over......and maybe work on developing desalination plants. We have about 840 miles of coast here.

I am flabbergasted that CA hasn't built legions of these given how much of it is basically desert... Actually I think real deserts get more rain than where I used to live, I could count on two hand how many times a year it "rained"(if you call heavy sprinkling raining).

[g00dfella]

I feel bad for Ca in some ways, but I also kind of don't. Forced the land to be green where it kind of isn't meant to be. Waste a lot of water on recreation and pretty landscaping.

For example, golf courses. HUGE water user, just for recreation- and Ca is one of the top 3 states in the nation for amount of golf courses.

It's also 3rd largest in size, so it goes to reason with the weather an all. Article makes it seem much worse than it is...I've lived here my whole life, been to Texas a few times, it much worse what they have to deal with there.

[Indiogene]

In my corner of CA (the real dry part, the desert), monsoon rains in Aug. or Sep. dumped 3 inches of rain over the eastern Coachella Valley and some neighborhoods are flooded. Our ground water should been replenished by now, but the massive development and residential sprawl has dwindled the acquifer's ability to supply water for a hundred years. I can tell most of CA, esp. the northern and central parts are bone-dry for over 2 years. We need rain...for the sake of our agricultural economic base and to substain living in a place where water supplies are limited and much of the state's geography is dry or arid.

[Doug1029]

I'm no fan of golf but the water golf courses use is a tiny, tiny fraction of total water use. Could everyone here cut their usage.....absolutely,

This is by no means the worst drought to hit southwestern US. Since the Medieval Warm Period there have been between three and six worse ones, depending on exactly where you're talking about. That we're now in another bad one and aren't ready for it says more about lack of planning than it does about water use.

In most places, water for household use gets taken first from agriculture, then from industry (which includes golf courses).

Another thought: we never have charged what water is worth. The price is now around $7.00 per acre-foot. The rest is pipes, water plants and so on.

And still another thought: most trees drink up about an acre-foot of water per year for each ten square feet per acre of basal area. And most stands are badly over-stocked and in need of thinning, yet cities are running-scared of letting anyone with a chainsaw near their watersheds. A reduction of 40 square feet of basal area on 1000 acres is 40,000 acre-feet per year, or 80 million gallons a year. The cost of doing that would be about $250,000 and the effect would last eight-to-ten years. Do the math.

Doug

[Likely Guy]

You`ve hit the nail on the head with the people bit....and they keep on breeding.

And they keep dying. Cemeteries are another great waste of irrigation.

[Likely Guy]

And still another thought: most trees drink up about an acre-foot of water per year for each ten square feet per acre of basal area. And most stands are badly over-stocked and in need of thinning, yet cities are running-scared of letting anyone with a chainsaw near their watersheds. A reduction of 40 square feet of basal area on 1000 acres is 40,000 acre-feet per year, or 80 million gallons a year. The cost of doing that would be about $250,000 and the effect would last eight-to-ten years. Do the math.

Doug

The math makes sense. The damage due to erosion doesn't.

Edit: Those roots soak up a lot of water that we cannot effectively collect.

Edited February 2, 2014 by Likely Guy

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

Do you know what we did in Queensland in the middle of a decade long drought?

We had brown lawns, brown golf courses, developed "grey water systems" to water what we could (including food supplies) and just got on with surviving. We still fed a fair chunk of the nation. We still had drinking water, even in the boondoggles (aka some of the driest parts of the planet).

[freetoroam]

And they keep dying. Cemeteries are another great waste of irrigation.

WHAT? they still need to serve tea while you wait.

[Indiogene]

...or make the restaurants stop serving glasses of free water. California had a drought in the mid 70s so severe the habit of glasses of water while you wait for the waiter was temporarily halted. I recall CA had droughts in the late 80s-early 90s and in the mid 2000s when PSAs on TV and radio urged us to conserve water a lot more than we're used to. I recall some years in CA were "wet" due to the El Nino phenomena...c'mon El Nino, show up when we need you.

[+susieice]

I'm all for El Nino coming back!! It seems the whole west coast is dry while we in the east are getting snow where there shouldn't be snow. Being in the northeast, I'm more than willing to share. We're getting snowfalls 3X's a week since December and it's continuing into February. I'm more inclined to contribute this to climate change this time. It just seems weird to me that this phenomena is affect both coastlines from border to border. No snow from Washington down and freezing temps and snow from Maine to Florida.

[Myles]

Much of California reminds me of New Orleans. Populated due to artificial means. New Orleans is way too low and relies on continuously running pumps. They've also recently began work on a $800 million dollar pumping station mostly for emergency situations.

California has many regions that are green due to constant pumping of water. I've read where water pumping is the single largest consumer of energy in California.

Just saying that when you rely on what is not naturally there, it's just a matter of time before you get burnt.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

I'd rather not go back to El Nino, I like to be able to take longer then 4 minute showers and not be punished with higher rates for going over my rationed water supplies again.