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klk
Trad climber
cali
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nita,
there's an assessment team going in but no reports yet.
the tuco incident feed on fb tends to update quicker than official outlets, but you also get the usual rumorbait
https://www.facebook.com/groups/incidentfeed/
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Like I've been saying, summer's the new rain season where I live.
http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20140804/1-dead-thousands-stranded-in-southern-california-storm
Those mountains are where I get my water. Not the Sierra or the Colorado River.
I measured rain four times in July, which is four more rains than we saw in January and February put together. And August if off to a rainy start.
Last year, it rained so much during the summer, none of the streams in the local mountains that normally run dry in summer did.
Global warming causing more monsoon activity? Bring it on!
You guys can have your drought. I won't be participating.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Global warming causing more monsoon activity? Bring it on! Global Warming bringing on what may become the deepest drought ever up here. The hoped for early El Nino has not and likely will not come to pass.
Global Warming giveth there and taketh away here. Either way will cause significant economic and social disruption.
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Ricky D
Trad climber
Sierra Westside
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Long Term Investment Tip - with all the Preppers saving can goods...I'm hoarding CAN OPENERS!
Want to eat?
You're gonna need to talk to me.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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hey there say, monolith, kunlun_shan, and klk...
thanks for the links...
nita:
oh my, as to the dam, doesn't sound good... :(
thanks all, for all the sharing...
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Aug 13, 2014 - 12:00pm PT
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Wow! I got the green light to wash my driveway. With water.
http://www.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2014/08/13/sf-public-utilities-commission-passes-emergency-drought-restrictions
"No more hosing off ornamental landscapes, turf patches, or driveways; removal of human and animal waste is still okay, per the PUC's "health and safety" exemption."
Thanks to my goat's habit of pissing and shitting all over my driveway, I'm in the clear.
I have a long driveway, too. Like 1,000' long.
This *drought* isn't so bad after all. I think I can live with it.
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Moof
Big Wall climber
Orygun
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Aug 14, 2014 - 11:43am PT
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I'm curious as to the legitimacy of that chart, it looks like the result of someone with a vegan agenda who is not necessarily aggregating data in good faith.
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jstan
climber
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Aug 18, 2014 - 03:01pm PT
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I just walked my area in Joshua Tree. In the last eight months fully half of the cholla has died and the other half is not far behind. Whether we get rains this winter or not we have reached an ecosystem turning point here at 3500 feet. Because of the minerals released by uplift of the mountain south of JT, we have enjoyed unusual diversity in plant life. Hard to say what the future will bring.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Aug 18, 2014 - 03:53pm PT
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moof, the water footprint for beef is really big, especially compared with pork. but that number in the chart is also potentially misleading. generally, pastured beef uses a lot less water than feedlot beef, although the devil is in the details.
in california, feedlot beef eats a lot of corn, and most of that is actually grown back in the midwest where drought isn't a problem. and since much of california hill country evolved as part of a grazing as well as a fire regime, there are arguments to be made for the suitability of certain kinds of grazing and watered pasture.
and jstan-- yeah, one of my favorite places in jtree, up around the queen mt contour, has basically suffered a complete dyoff of grass meadow and pine. that elevation was probably the lower edge of that ecozone even in the early 20th century. all those transitional areas in the high desert and sierra foothills are getting hit especially hard. in most places, the increased temp seems to be as much a problem as the precip.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Aug 19, 2014 - 03:21pm PT
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khanom, it's not so much what they drink--
water footprint calculations turn mostly on the water required to raise feed for stock, although folks get down to including estimates of evaporative loss from water tanks and so on. beef takes lots of water in cali because alfalfa is an irrigated crop in the west (one of the largest).
with backyard chickens you're right, there's probably not much "green water" involved--my friend dumpster dives at the grocery stores for old fruit and veggies and also lets her chickens scratch. none of that water is actually a cost, as she doesn't water her yard. the only real water involved is what little store-bought poultry feed she gives them on occasion.
yeah, the context matters a lot--
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bergbryce
climber
East Bay, CA
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Aug 19, 2014 - 03:37pm PT
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pardon my farmly ignorance, but what does it mean to let chickens scratch?
related to the drought, has anyone read the reports of the massive el nino fizzling? Not that that means a whole lot. The statistics related to a large el nino don't point directly to a heavy winter.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Aug 19, 2014 - 04:22pm PT
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sorry, "scratch" is what chickens do on their own for food, "scratching" in the grass for grubs and insects and the various kinds of plant stuff that they eat on their own.
chickens are a bit like hogs, where on small farms you can feed them table scraps and then let them root up the rest on their own. but they need some kind of surveillance to keep them out of the garden veggies and to keep the predators off. most folks with backyard chickens have them in a pen during the night to keep out the weasels and coons and etc. but often let them out in the day.
that's not really doable on a big poultry ranch.
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Aug 20, 2014 - 07:50am PT
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How many gallons of water is required to raise one Delta Smelt?
Unlike cattle or chickens, nobody eats Delta Smelt.
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Aug 20, 2014 - 08:03am PT
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Too much work. I just use the leaf-blower instead.
How much water is required to produce 1/4 gallon of gasoline and a tablespoon of 2-cycle oil?
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Aug 20, 2014 - 09:17am PT
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we've known for a long time that water is over-allocated-- paul taylor was fighting the problem way back in the fifties, and norris hundley documented the problem in the great thirst.
here's the most recent uc davis study, which updates the measurements:
https://watershed.ucdavis.edu/files/biblio/WaterRights_UCDavis_study.pdf
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bergbryce
climber
East Bay, CA
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Aug 20, 2014 - 09:44am PT
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I wonder if there is ANY chance of a modern "reset" of water laws in California? Everyone knows they are about the most antiquated relics of laws on the books and could really use a modernization. These would include looking at groundwater and surface water with realistic values and an eye to the future. Allocations could be ranked on features like value to society (I.e job production and effects on local economies) and how efficiently water is used instead of antiquated, inaccurate allocations of the past. There are certainly those who stand to lose.
This is a California sized problem that needs addressing rather than kicking the can down the road a little bit more. The entire west needs such an overhaul and California could set the pattern.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Aug 20, 2014 - 09:46am PT
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bergbryce, it's a little early in the morning to be smoking the Kumbaya spliff,
isn't it? Rational non-partisan legislative action in Sacramento? Strike
the spliff comment, you must be on crack!
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bergbryce
climber
East Bay, CA
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Aug 20, 2014 - 10:04am PT
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Don't Australians call coffee crack??
But I'm not in Australia this morning.
Wishful thinking I know but this problem isn't going to get any better.
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