believe that’s one of those pesky ravens trying out a new yoga pose
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I’ve been here for most of my entire life. Retiring next month, so i’m exploring my options.
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The Saudis own water rights in se Arizona, growing feed they transport to feed their animals. Sponsoring golf tournaments feeds another massive waste of water. When the time comes, they will probably be glad to sell us back what water is left, for a hefty price. Water here also powers huge electrical generators that serve millions of customers in the sw. When there is not enough water to drive those turbines, what then? Imagine the absence of electrical power to pump water, to pump gasoline, to provide lighting, to run A/C. Then consider what massive domestic immigration will look like as people try to move. I doubt domestic immigrants will be any more welcome than foreign immigrants in those circumstances. Hard times coming.
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I’ve been saying that for years. It started when I first read about Nestles depleting the aquifer that a town in Ontario needed for its citizens. The town council was bamboozled by the Con Ontario at the time. It’s a long story but the uproar forced Nestles to reduce their extraction.
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If you accept the fairly evident premise of climate change then the only question is whether human migration from the deserts of AZ, CA, NV, et al, and the reallocation of water resources will be completely chaotic or somewhat orderly. It will make the Dust Bowl migration pale in comparison.
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the same thing happened in Florida, NESTLE is pumping water from one of our springs…if you want to see how the ‘use’ of water is bring abused., Florida is a place to start…every body of fresh water has been altered in some way…so much water has been pumped out of the ground that salt water is beginning to untrude into the wells, you used to see artesian wells all over…they are gone as so much ground water has been pumped out…there is nothing there.we do get rain in the summer. but the winter is high and dry…
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… is its methods have remained largely unchanged since the Dust Bowl years.
For example, in the San Joaquin Valley (of California) — a desert! — they still use “flood” irrigation. While they grow many different crops there, the biggest “water eater” is almonds; it takes roughly one gallon of water to produce one almond — one fucking nut! (Fun Fact: The bulk of California almonds, as well as its dried fruit, is sold overseas.) This same method of irrigation is also used with other tree fruits and nuts, namely peaches, apricots, cherries, walnuts, etc.
If farmers were made to drip-irrigate their orchards, the loss of water, excepting what the trees naturally “sweat,” would be essentially zero.
And while I’m kvetching, California also needs to cover every major canal in the state with solar panels. The evaporation reduction/energy production benefits would be massive.
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When I heard that fact about almonds I stopped eating them.
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If I could thank you enough for that, I would. We are going about this all wrong with the doomsayers not balanced with strategies and working cooperatively.
Above all, greed is our enemy.
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The Central Valley around Fresno/Bakersfield used to grow cotton (!). I don’t know if they still do; I haven’t traveled 99 South in decades.
I do think there is more “water sense” in Middle California. Orchards (and vinyards) lean more toward drip irrigation. I haven’t seen a flooded field along the 80 corridor in a long time.*
Totes agree about covering those canals with solar panels.
ETA:
*Except the rice fields along the Causeway, but they exist because they are recipients of “flood control” releases from upstream dams. I hate to think what they must look like now. They also provided winter/spring habitat for waterfowl. Even Sandhill Cranes.
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If we were to be presented with a scenario in which Oligarch**-input was minimized and the strategy sessions were conducted whereby reason and public good were prioritized more than profit, we–as humans–might have a chance.
** Oligarchs exist as rulers and uber-rich
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Dreamer!
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There are some interesting wrinkles to it, around the raw materials needed to support the solar panels and the need to accommodate maintenance work on the canals themselves, but a pilot study is starting now. Severe drought might change the value of avoiding evaporation, in a strictly economic cost-benefit analysis
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Those were rice fields you saw flooded near I80. Rice production has been severely limited in the last several (8+?) years.
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So far, the uber-rich and the tyrants have an out and can bulldoze everyone else. That’s why so-called disaster flicks are so popular:
Money Won’t Buy You An Escape
Because the above can pay stooges like FOX and the Republican Party, they can keep up a “debate” over Climate…
Let’s use the democratically elected leaders, along with their Scholars and willing individuals in the Private Sector and tackle these issues which threaten our survival.
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Of course they can.
They’re the job creators! Never mind that they leave a legacy of ashes in their wake.
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This thread partly shows the problem,only 35 comments when something about Trump gets hundreds, or some other inane bullshit gers hundreds of comments also. We just bury our heads in the sand and focus on bull shit and pretend we care. I’m as guilty of it as anyone, it’s scary and seems impossible to confront. As horrific as our nation’s gun violence is, it pales in seriousness compared to the climate crisis, but it’s now and in front of us and immediately emotional, if only we could tap into that to combat climate change and drought. I dont know what to do to help though other than bitch. I feel as powerless as anyone. It’s all driven by greed and money and there’s little money to be made in environmental stewardship versus housing and business development. They easily out spend and drown us out
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TPM seldom posts on the weekend and this article is on the News Feed rather than top of the page. I expect most TPMers haven’t looked for or seen the article.
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If we choose to not address the crisis in a rational manner, the end result of global crisis could result in global nuclear war, shrouding the earth in clouds for years, which might restore the “normal” weather patterns, glaciers, icecaps, etc. and so on. Too bad humans will not be able to appreciate the change.
ETA: I see you thought I was referring to the rice fields when I said I hadn’t seen flooding lately. But the orchards and (bean?) fields along 80 were routinely flooded until sometime in the 70s (??).
Rice fields: Yes, well aware, mi tio! I’m old enough to remember the floods of the winter of 55-56 that covered the Causeway and caused major damage to Marysville and Yuba City, prompting the go-ahead for the (then-controversial) Oroville Dam.
(As you undoubtedly know, the Causeway was built for hiway passage over the normal winter flooding of the Sacramento R. - in case anyone in the City wanted to get to the Capitol.)
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