California Drought pics

Man, that's dry. You're going to have to switch to drinking booze if that keeps up.

Ed

Somebody's gonna be thirsty ... What percentage of full is that , 25%-35% ? Might look half-full , but the top half has about 3 times the capacity of the bottom half ...

A lot like Lake Travis near Austin. The storage lakes are at 36%. The crazy building boom is going to go bust if it doesn't rain. A lot.

Pete Keillor

=========================== I know there is a lot of hand wringing going on, but what

*REAL* steps have been taken? This appears to be the start of another 1,000 year drought cycle that finished off several indian civilizations from Central America up into the American southwest .

Are there any steps being taken to implement drip irrigation for the orchards, or replace open field agriculture with hydroponics? These can cut the water needed by 90 to 95% and increase yield per acre up to 10X. Israel seems to be the leader in this technology. Extensive desalinization is another pallative, but will require massive energy input, and this can't be done overnight.

Anyone projected the effects of massive internal migration/displacement if the American southwest (and much of Mexico) returns to desert conditions? Will camels replace SUVs? Inquiring minds want to know! :-)

They do have some options. First, stock up on deoderant and cologne. It's going to be a smelly summer in many parts of California.

Second, smear yourself with Vaseline to cut down on skin evaporation.

Third, get some salt water soap. If you've ever tried to wash with regular soap in salt water, you know what I mean. The soap turns to something like Crisco. But, if that happens, leave it on. See "Vaseline," above.

Eat more fried food, instead of boiled or steamed.

Kiss your lawn goodbye.

Suck on a cactus.

Move.

----------------------- Scanned the articles and comments.

More "new think" and "double speak," aka "blowing smoke." Part of the problem lies in the way the water district drew up the contracts. They could have specified the water was to be used only for agriculture but did not.

Back to my original question, what is being done to prepare for a drought that historically will last for generations? At the very least are any contingency evacuation and resettlement plans being formulated?

That's about the same thing I saw last October when I went across the bridge over Lake Shasta. 75-100' low, I'd guess.

What I don't understand is why 'they' allow so many ORCHARDS to die while allowing all the idiots growing the water-hungry RICE to thrive. Rice can go a year without being planted/watered. TREES can't. I saw half a dozen 5-100 acre orchards all dead on my last drive through NorCal. It made me sick, then angry when I saw the flooded rice paddies. Where is their sense of honor and value?

That is impossible, Unka, because everyone knows, -man- made all droughts via AGWK. Just ask a Librul.

Sandy Eggo's is putting in beaucoup desal at the Encina Plant. That was close to where I used to live.

50M gal/day, plus look at all the proposals in SoCal. UFR!

The migration I'm still waiting for is the one where the illegals go home.

With floods that predictable, my question is: "Why hasn't anyone built

100+ reservoirs to catch it all every 14-24 years?" Hmm...

The historical/geological record shows these long cycles

. Seems to have been what happened to the Mayans and several other [extinct] peoples. Moved in and prospered during the wet half of the cycle and had to leave when the dry half of the cycle hit, and it lasted for generations. Many southwest residents may may well have to do the same.

FWIW human activity *MAY* be exacerbating/accelerating the conditions causing the drought, but given that these "mega-droughts" have occurred several time in the past, as indicated by the tree rings, clearly it cannot be *THE* cause.

Its dustbowl time again, but this time the Okies are moving back to Oklahoma...

But not nearly enough, as is well evident.

Including over 12 Million illegal aliens.

California is a desert state. Everyone has known that from the start. But now, Nevada and Arizona are claiming their share of the Colorado water, and it's coming to haunt CA. Or at least HelL.A.tians.

I vote for breadbasket, please. I like cheap CA foods and veggies. I can do without the crappy Calrose rice, though. Icky!

"Nearly 60 percent of the world's 12,500 desalination plants are in the Middle East. There, they generate 70 percent of the region's water, according to the Texas Water Development Board." -ibtimes

You could either move to the jungle or get a desalination plant.

============== If anyone is following this thread this may be of interest.

12+ million. Enough is having sufficient water to continue flowing

-during- those 14 years of drought.

A more honest guess is 50M or more.

The Mojave, the Sonoran, the Colorado, and the Great Basin deserts all dwell there.

Larry Jaques on Sat, 21 Mar 2015

06:23:01 -0700 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Part of the problem is that over the last several decades, while the population has been increasing, from immigration and "natural increase" - there has been no co-responding increase in storage capacity. Something about protecting the environment, and stopping all those nasty dam building project. Not saying raising the height of some of the dams would be a cure all, but, increasing the capacity of the dams means that less water has to be sent over the spillway to make way for the spring floods.

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."

I read an article a while back about California fining residents of some towns for watering their lawns, while one of the cities in the affected area, says it will fine those that don't water their lawns. Only in California.... About time for the guys that spray paint dead lawns green to make a comeback.

But another article predicts if the drought holds a few more years, a huge portion of California residents will move elsewhere, devastating the economy.

Jon

Don't recall how many years ago, was a while, but the Sierras had collected a very heavy snow pack. Then spring arrived much sooner and hotter than normal, and the runoff picked up quickly. Folsom dam was dumping water as fast as they could trying to stay ahead of it. It revived interest in finishing the Auburn dam, for a while anyway...

Jon

We've had our dams removed recently (they were damaging the salmon swimming upstream) but now the salmon are damaging themselves in the riffles due to low water levels. I guess our AGWK is all to blame, too.

Hey, maybe it was the sharp rocks in the riffles which hurt the salmon in the first place. Nah, had to be the nasty man-made dams, huh?