OT Just how bad is the drought? Just curious OT

RANCHO SANTA FE, CALIF. — Drought or no drought, Steve Yuhas resents the idea that it is somehow shameful to be a water hog. If you can pay for it, he argues, you should get your water.

People “should not be forced to live on property with brown lawns, golf on brown courses or apologize for wanting their gardens to be beautiful,” Yuhas fumed recently on social media. “We pay significant property taxes based on where we live,” he added in an interview. “And, no, we’re not all equal when it comes to water.”

Yuhas lives in the ultra-wealthy enclave of Rancho Santa Fe, a bucolic Southern California hamlet of ranches, gated communities and country clubs that guzzles five times more water per capita than the statewide average. In April, after Gov. Jerry Brown (D) called for a 25 percent reduction in water use, consumption in Rancho Santa Fe went up by 9 percent.

C'mon.

The Feds have already pledged 190 million in drought relief and are tacking another 90 million on top of that for the drought in Western states. California takes the biggest chunk.

Jun 17, 2015 - 11:33am PT
Reilly

I don't have a copy of the Carta (whoops, put the Carta befora the Magna) so I cannot say for sure. The date of the law is not apparent either.

Webpages are not, it seems, required by law or eminent domain to provide dates, so this is the best I can do (http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=90.40

Chapter 90.40 RCW
WATER RIGHTS OF UNITED STATES

Complete Chapter


RCW Sections
90.40.010 Eminent domain by the United States.
90.40.020 Right to use water courses.
90.40.030 Notice and certificate, effect of.
90.40.040 Appropriation of water -- Title to beds and shores.
90.40.050 Reservation of needed lands -- Procedure.
90.40.060 Restrictions on sale of state lands within project.
90.40.070 Federal water users' association -- Exemption from fees.
90.40.080 Federal water users' association -- Records by county auditor.
90.40.090 Permit for Grand Coulee project.
90.40.100 Columbia Basin Project -- Water appropriated pursuant to RCW 90.40.030 -- Periodic renewal not required.

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As to the war, I'd say soon.

Property Rights – Background
“Property rights have two basic components: the individual’s rights and those of
society (the collective public). The individual’s rights, as protected in law,
prescribe acquisition, possession, exclusion of trespass, use for private gain, and
transfer of ownership from one private individual to another. But social rights in
property maintain that the individual rights in property were originally
established and enforced for the collective social welfare and that individual
rights always remain subject to the absolute power of the sovereign or the
state.”

An analysis released by independent environmental scientist James Fryer estimates the cost of desalinated seawater in California will be $2,000 to $3,000 or more per acre-foot. Using cost data and production records from existing and proposed desalination plants and adjusting for California water conditions, current energy costs, financing costs, and other variables, the investigation found that there is no evidence to support cost projections by some desalination industry advocates of $800 to $1,000 per acre-foot. The report concludes that conservation measures are much less expensive, with a broad range of well-proven measures that cost well under $1,000 per acre-foot. The report also notes water recycling is a proven option that typically costs between $300 and $1,300 per acre-foot.

Will folks down there drink reclaimed water? Ouch.

Interesting enough it is only about 1200 miles from Lake Superior to Granby Lake in Colorado. From Granby on down the waterways already exist.

How long is that oil pipeline they're trying to build?

Fusion power would provide more energy for a given weight of fuel than any fuel-consuming energy source currently in use,[178] and the fuel itself (primarily deuterium) exists abundantly in the Earth's ocean: about 1 in 6500 hydrogen atoms in seawater is deuterium.[179] Although this may seem a low proportion (about 0.015%), because nuclear fusion reactions are so much more energetic than chemical combustion and seawater is easier to access and more plentiful than fossil fuels, fusion could potentially supply the world's energy needs for millions of years.[180][181]

‘The cost for a 300-foot well will not exceed $6500. Then, for a one-horsepower pump, pipe, control box, pressure tank, and motor, it’s another $3500. Then you might want a storage tank. And the cost of running power from your house to the well will vary.’”