OT – Water restriction

[an]

Who’s going to cut their water usage by 25%? What are your thoughts on this issue?

Why not just raise the price of water (including farmers). Wouldn’t that a natural way to get people to conserve? I also heard an interesting fact that farms in CA use about 70% of the water and 50% of the remaining 30% are used for landscaping. Maybe we should just ban farming in CA all together. Wouldn’t that solve the drought issue over night?

I personally just cut over 25% of my water use last night. I dropped my sprinkler watering time to only 5 minutes a week. A year ago, I converted to Buffalo grass, which is drought tolerant. So, my yard will still be green, yet, I’m using a fraction of what I used to use when it was the typical Tall Fescue.

[livinincali]

[quote=AN]Maybe we should just ban farming in CA all together. Wouldn’t that solve the drought issue over night?
[/quote]

Give up $45 billion in annual farm revenue and the taxes that generates.

I guess we don’t need any of these ingredients anymore as CA is the bulk producer of the US production for these things.

A small list but not inclusive of everything.

99% of the artichokes
98% of the garlic
95% broccoli
94% celery
85% lettuce
85% spinach
96% tomatoes
99% almonds
88% avocados
96% olives
etc.

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/California/Publications/California_Ag_Statistics/Reports/2012cas-all.pdf

[FlyerInHi]

Very good points, AN… but farmers have historic legal superior water rights. We should pass legislation to undo that.

I feel a little guilty because I have a very nice tropical rain showerhead without water flow restrictor.

As far a food, we can import what we need. Give the business to Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil. the water is better used in tech research and manufacturing.

Adam Smith said something like that.. Don’t try to make Porto in England.

Or maybe buy water from Canada. Build a water pipeline.

[an]

Apple alone produced ~$55B in revenue in ONE QUARTER. So, yeah, $45B is a drop in a bucket. Especially when it consumes 70% of our water.

It’s not that we don’t need those ingredients, but to use 70% of our water for those ingredients? Wouldn’t it be better served to grow those ingredients in other areas that don’t have water issues? Maybe, instead of banning, we’ll let the free market work it out. Charge farmer the same rate as everyone else.

[an]

[quote=FlyerInHi]Or maybe buy water from Canada. Build a water pipeline.[/quote]I’ve read an article recently about a pipeline from Alaska to CA. The cost is way too high. It’s cheaper to desalinate and brown water. Maybe we can do brown water system for the farms and leave the fresh water for people. If we spend $20B and build 20 desalination plants like the one in Carlsbad, I think we’ll have our supply taken care of. But I think we should charge farmers for the same rate as the rest of us for those water as well.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=AN][quote=FlyerInHi]Or maybe buy water from Canada. Build a water pipeline.[/quote]I’ve read an article recently about a pipeline from Alaska to CA. The cost is way too high. It’s cheaper to desalinate and brown water. Maybe we can do brown water system for the farms and leave the fresh water for people. If we spend $20B and build 20 desalination plants like the one in Carlsbad, I think we’ll have our supply taken care of. But I think we should charge farmers for the same rate as the rest of us for those water as well.[/quote]

I don’t know about you, AN, but I don’t want to pay $5-$20 lb for produce. I feel fortunate to have the access we do to relatively cheap produce. Folks who live in the nation’s midsection aren’t so lucky.

[FlyerInHi]

You don’t have to produce locally to have low price.
Produce from Mexico is just as good.

I drink one fresh coconut per day (don’t want canned) during the LA port strike, coconuts from Thailand doubled in price or were hard to find. Otherwise you can buy a case of a dozen for about $10. Cheaper than the cans

[an]

[quote=bearishgurl]I don’t know about you, AN, but I don’t want to pay $5-$20 lb for produce. I feel fortunate to have the access we do to relatively cheap produce. Folks who live in the nation’s midsection aren’t so lucky.[/quote]
What make you think it’ll be $5-20? Also, you’ll be paying a lot more for the same amount of water than the price increase in produce.

[FlyerInHi]

The per unit price of water will skyrocket. Water agencies have bills, employees and pensions to pay.

[The-Shoveler]

I saw an article on Geo engineering where they proposed taking medium sized boats (maybe 40 foot)
And putting high pressure pumps and spray ocean water a few thousand feet in the air a few hundred miles off the coast of California.

I say give that a try.
(although we may get permanent June gloom)

A billion dollars should be enough for say a few hundred of these boats for a several year (trial).

[an]

[quote=The-Shoveler]I saw an article on Geo engineering where they proposed taking medium sized boats (maybe 40 foot)
And putting high pressure pumps and spray ocean water a few thousand feet in the air a few hundred miles off the coast of California.

I say give that a try.
(although we may get permanent June gloom)

A billion dollars should be enough for say a few hundred of these boats for a several year (trial).[/quote]
At this point, I think any option is better than rationing. We should think outside the box. Instead of trying to ration our water, why not spend money to try various different options to see which would work best and cheapest.

[flyer]

Realizing the writing was pretty much on the wall concerning water in CA, we changed the landscaping on all of our properties a few years ago.

Hopefully, Mother Nature and/or some innovative measures will help us out soon, or, we’re all going to have some major–and expensive–challenges in the future.

[Coronita]

[quote=AN][quote=The-Shoveler]I saw an article on Geo engineering where they proposed taking medium sized boats (maybe 40 foot)
And putting high pressure pumps and spray ocean water a few thousand feet in the air a few hundred miles off the coast of California.

I say give that a try.
(although we may get permanent June gloom)

A billion dollars should be enough for say a few hundred of these boats for a several year (trial).[/quote]
At this point, I think any option is better than rationing. We should think outside the box. Instead of trying to ration our water, why not spend money to try various different options to see which would work best and cheapest.[/quote]

It would be good if there were better reclaimed water systems… That or people can start peeing on their own lawn. Rich in nitrogen, I’m told…

Run acres of solar to generate electricity to desalinate ocean water.

[Coronita]

In CA expect to see 1 gallon of drinking water to eventually be the same if not more than 1 gallon of gas.

[spdrun]

FlyerInHi, you talk about produce from Mexico, but what’s their water situation? I doubt that weather conditions just magically stop at national borders, but I might be wrong.

http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-05-26/mexicans-are-dealing-same-drought-their-northern-neighbors-less-water

[Author]

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