California Water Restrictions

[NW-Bound]

But I thought a lot of these farmer had water rights, something they acquired decades ago in some cases.

So there could be some resentment because the farmers are guaranteed a certain amount of water or they're allowed to overpay the aquifers.

And they use way more than residential and they get to harvest some very lucrative crops.

Not these farmers in the Westlands District. As I mentioned, these orchards did not exist back in the early 80s. The US Bureau of Reclamation was in charge of drawing water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to distribute. The water was provided to the Westlands District under the term of "last in / first out". And so, these farmers were cut off first.

Perhaps these orchards should not be started in the first place. But like anything else in life, when things were going great and they had some rainy years, people did not believe that the good time would end at some point.

Just like our bull stock market till now...

 

[NW-Bound]

If wikipedia is right, my recollection about Marble Canyon was correct. I'm surprised at how aggressive BuRec was in the post-WWII era. Different time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Canyon_Dam

Thanks for sharing this. I did not know about this plan. A 38-mile tunnel to provide twice the power of Hoover Dam. Wow.

One appealing aspect of a Marble Canyon damsite was the potential to develop the Grand Canyon's hydroelectric potential without building a dam or reservoir in Grand Canyon National Park, by diverting about 90% of the Colorado River's waters at Marble Canyon into a 38-mile (61 km) tunnel, 36 feet (11 m) in diameter and capable of carrying about 14,000 cubic feet per second (400 m3/s), to a site in the western part of the canyon in what was then Kaibab National Forest. The plan would provide about 1,300 feet (400 m) of hydraulic head for power generation. The power plant would produce about 6.5 billion kilowatt hours (KWh) per year – almost twice that of Hoover Dam...

 

[NW-Bound]

Firewood galore.

No wood burning allowed! Air pollution.

Anyway, no more pistachio, walnut, almonds. Or I should say inexpensive nuts. These will be more expensive. The riff-raff will just have to happy with peanuts.

 

[NW-Bound]

As I just found out, the loss of the orchards in the Westlands District was not that big a deal.

An article published in 2021 said:

California’s continued expansion of almond acreage could be ending. In 1995, it had 418,000 acres of almonds compared to 1.3 million today.

As the drought continues, a decline in plantings is being seen and, with water scarcity a problem for many farmers, some have started taking out their trees.

Just last year, almond growers pulled out an estimated 44,303 acres, according to estimates by Land IQ. And, if California experiences another dry winter and spring, acreage removal could grow.

Here's the world production of almonds, in tons.

1 USA 2,002,742
2 Spain 202,339
3 Iran 147,863
4 Morocco 112,681

 

[Koolau]

Yup, the Delta is hooked to the Pacific which is rising due to polar melt. When it rains, the Delta is more "fresh" than when it doesn't. We already have summertime rock dams set up and then torn down (with boat launch ramps installed both sides because it is illegal to block a navigable waterway) every year. Keep the salinity down.

Can't irrigate crops with salt water.

But for the most part it is tidal and varies accordingly. Before the gold rush it was a swamp. It was diked and drained like the Netherlands and there were many "levy failures" as these were just earth and rock canals, some even man made for irrigation like Grant Line Canal which is straight as an arrow unlike nature.

Even Colorado river water has salinity that can be problematic as irrigation water (probably drinking as well.) Natural salinity increases as water moves down the series of dams and reservoirs. I learned all this when working in the cotton fields. You could actually see a small skiff of minerals on the surface of soil that had been irrigated. IIRC the soil prep was actually changed to ameliorate the salts issue in the field.

https://www.coloradoriverdistrict.org/water-quality/salinity/

 

[Turbo29]

This is just crazy: Newest Arizona city already facing major water problem before it's even built


---

APACHE JUNCTION, Ariz. — There's a city twice the size of Tucson out in the desert south of Apache Junction. It houses 900,000 people in thousands upon thousands of homes.

But it just hasn't been built yet.

The area is 276 square miles of empty desert called Superstition Vistas. It stretches from the southern border of Apache Junction, down the edge of San Tan Valley, all the way down to Florence, then across to the US 60 and beyond.

It follows the edge of the Tonto National Forest and wraps around Gold Canyon, and then back to Apache Junction.

And for all that area, with all those people estimated to live there upon completion, there's not enough water.

Not yet.

---

 

[NW-Bound]

^^^ If you build it, the water will come.

Same as the optimistic CA growers. If you grow it, the water will come.

 

[Koolau]

Seems there would be no excuse not to incorporate every known water-saving strategy as they build the city. Gray water recovery, 1/2 flush toilets, grassless landscaping, catchment systems, etc., etc. YMMV

 

[explanade]

As I just found out, the loss of the orchards in the Westlands District was not that big a deal.

An article published in 2021 said:




Here's the world production of almonds, in tons.

1 USA 2,002,742
2 Spain 202,339
3 Iran 147,863
4 Morocco 112,681

So almonds could get more expensive if CA really has to cut back on orchards.

I don't eat as much almonds as I used to. Switched to cashews and then macadamia nuts.

 

[euro]

So almonds could get more expensive if CA really has to cut back on orchards.

I don't eat as much almonds as I used to. Switched to cashews and then macadamia nuts.

I'm a big macadamia eater too, but even with water issues in CA, it will be a long time indeed before almonds are as expensive as macadamias.......

 

[ls99]

No wood burning allowed! Air pollution.

Anyway, no more pistachio, walnut, almonds. Or I should say inexpensive nuts. These will be more expensive. The riff-raff will just have to happy with peanuts.

OK, so fuel for solid fuel power palnts.
If thre aren't any, there should be.
It really belongs in another thread, but Denmark burns tons of trash for power and heat.
https://www.treehugger.com/waste-energy-denmark-present-and-future-4859030

 

[W2R]

Where I am (Bay Area), the water bill is about $75/month. Of that, it's about $57 service charge, and $18 consumption charge. [...]
I'd actually be curious to measure how many gallons each of our activities consumes. The bill claims 50 per day, which seems like a lot, but then says average for similar sized places is 250, so maybe not?

I got my water bill today, and thought of your post. We have LOTS of water here naturally, but still have a water bill. I got the minimum bill, as always, and they said I used 1000 gallons (no need to water landscaping here). So that would average 33 gal/day, although I imagine that it's usually just an estimate.

For each month, the charges are:

$4.36 water consumption
$3.50 sewerage usage
$18.67 garbage service
$2.10 mosquito control
$1.65 Lafreniere Park (maintenance and upkeep for a nice park)
$1.00 LADHH (Dept of Health) safe water fee

$31.28 TOTAL monthly

This is a lot higher than it used to be, because they took advantage of all the talk about inflation and raised the prices very recently.

 

[Turbo29]

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. -- A California coastal panel on Wednesday rejected a long-standing proposal to build a $1.4 billion seawater desalination plant to turn Pacific Ocean water into drinking water as the state grapples with persistent drought that is expected to worsen in coming years with climate change.


Agency unanimously rejects California desalination project

 

[ls99]

And I was complaining about my water bill. $65 per quarter here in SW PA. Includes 3000 gallons, I rarely use more than 2000. Guess compared to west coast it is a great deal.

 

[aja8888]

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. -- A California coastal panel on Wednesday rejected a long-standing proposal to build a $1.4 billion seawater desalination plant to turn Pacific Ocean water into drinking water as the state grapples with persistent drought that is expected to worsen in coming years with climate change.


Agency unanimously rejects California desalination project

“I am a plankton — please do not kill me!”

I love it!

 

[Koolau]

“I am a plankton — please do not kill me!”

I love it!

This is why I have despaired of ever "fixing" global warming (or whatever we're calling it this week.) All the possible solutions are being rejected by one group or another. YMMV

 

[explanade]

Removing plankton could kill marine life.

 

[Koolau]

Removing plankton could kill marine life.

How much plankton does a desalination plant "remove" from a whole ocean? Every boat I see on NautiStyles has its own desalination plant. I know these are small units, but there are a whole lot of them. Our humpback population is increasing, so I'm thinking there's plenty of plankton out there but I'm no marine biologist.

Not a big fan of desalination as it's expensive and energy intensive. Maybe better/cheaper to divert some irrigation water or maybe subsidize replacement of old toilets for modern 1/2 type (I don't like subsidies, but it's possibly cheaper than $1.4 billion for similar water results.) YMMV

 

[aja8888]

Removing plankton could kill marine life.

Plankton is fish food. Whales consume very large quantities of it.

 

[NW-Bound]

I think plankton is harmed by the excess salinity that is produced when water is removed and salt is pumped back to the ocean.

Perhaps a further-out and deeper discharge pipe would help? Or will that hurt some monsters of the deep?

 

[boont]

I think the key word here is "prairie". I don't live on a prairie.

 

[skipro33]

Just got my most recent water bill here in Northern California foothills. Bill states it is for 56 days. Consumed 6300 cubic feet of water, equal to 47,124 gallons. 841.5 gallons per day. It's just me and my wife. The bill is for $214 for an average of $3.82 per day. A $66 flat rate for just having the meter hook-up, the remaining in water charges over 3 tiers of varying rates.
It sounds excessive.
The two months prior I was charged $58. Remember, there's a flat $66 per month before using even a drop of water. They said it was for 61 days. I used -600 cubic feet of water, -4488 gallons at -73.57 gallons a day. I wonder how the meter ran backwards! Ha!
Obviously, the water company has issues with the accuracy of the meter.
Welcome to California!

On average for the year, I pay around $60 a month for water. Seems fine to me. I couldn't install a well and pay for the electricity to pump it the 300+ feet I'm told a well would need to be for that price. BTW, electric bill from PG$E says I pay 34 cents a kw hour for electricity. I wonder how that compares across the rest of the USA.

 

[Koolau]

Plankton is fish food. Whales consume very large quantities of it.

That's a given. We learned that in 9th grade science class IIRC.

Do you have any data on how much whale food is destroyed by desalination plants? I've never even heard of that until today and no one has mentioned the extent of the "problem." If it IS an issue, there are probably simple solutions. By the way, how much whale feeding goes on just off Huntington Beach? IIRC there is good whale watching in that area, but most whale sightings are not when they are feeding. It's when they are calving and feeding their young - and they don't eat until returning to their feeding grounds several thousand miles away. I know that most humpbacks feed in Alaskan waters and then calve/feed in Hawaii and central America. Having said all this, I'm no expert on whales and especially not on plankton so YMMV.

 

[GenXguy]

This topic is a front page story on CNN this morning.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/15/us/california-water-usage-increase-drought-climate/index.html

California is in a water crisis, yet usage is way up. Officials are focused on the wrong problem, advocates say

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

I think this person is focusing on the wrong liquid based on her name. [emoji38]

Amanda Starbuck, research director with Food & Water Watch

On a more serious note, do we really want to curtail ag water which results in food being grown?
That just doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.
Also, I love almonds and almond milk. I grew up with an almond orchard in my backyard. It is now office buildings.