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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Apr 15, 2015 - 10:50am PT
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Serious is the right word.
I get quite frustrated by the powers that be, that seem to treat the situation as just another tough day at the office.
One thing that was missed in the discussion about how much water is used to produce various foods: Actually, the water is NOT used. Unlike gasoline, which is gone once you've used it, the water is NOT gone.
Water is 100% conserved. It may have been transformed into vapor or wastewater. Something I never see addressed, when they talk about a gallon of water to produce a single almond: where did the water go?
The reason I mention this, is that I think it is a general lack of understanding about the cycle of water that creates much misinformation and confusion.
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STEEVEE
Social climber
HUMBOLDT, CA
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Apr 15, 2015 - 11:20am PT
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Water is 100% conserved. It may have been transformed into vapor or wastewater. Something I never see addressed, when they talk about a gallon of water to produce a single almond: where did the water go? Technically this is true, but remember that water for California agriculture that comes from ground water is being used faster than it is being replenished, That water evaporates into the atmosphere and disappears from California only to reappear in some other part of the globe.
Less than 3% of the worlds water is fresh water and less than that is safe for drinking due to pollution.
I'm just saying that the biggest dent in water usage can be made in how, where and what we farm. Edit:...since 80% of California's water is used in ag.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Apr 15, 2015 - 11:38am PT
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DMT: not true in LA
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STEEVEE
Social climber
HUMBOLDT, CA
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Apr 15, 2015 - 11:38am PT
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DMT, I believe we both recognize the problem and that the drought is serious and will require multiple solutions and limiting or even halting housing growth needs to be one of them.
I have a feeling that what's waiting for us in the future in California will be a global issue.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa
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Apr 15, 2015 - 11:53am PT
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Thanks for the fault info guys. I know about the San Andreas fault (who doesn't?) but didn't know what lay under the ocean. As for the warm water down the east coast of Japan, it is still a mystery why there was no mention of it in English at least, the summer before the quake and tsunami. It was so obviously unusual to have water that far north that was warmer than the subtropical waters off Okinawa.
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BLR
Trad climber
Lower Eastside
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Apr 15, 2015 - 03:23pm PT
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We published a piece this morning by the photographer and Sierra snow surveyor, John Dittli: The Winter of His Disbelief.
"In a normal year, we’d expect to measure the equivalent of 10 inches of SWE at North Lake, but not only was the course free of snow, the meadow grasses were beginning to sprout, and the dismal reality of the bleak snowpack started setting in: North Lake 2015: 0” snow, 0” water."
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Apr 15, 2015 - 03:39pm PT
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Water for avocados and walnuts....shut down the cotton growers.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Apr 15, 2015 - 07:18pm PT
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That guy hiking with skis over his shoulders has nice buns...! rj
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Apr 15, 2015 - 07:34pm PT
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One thing that was missed in the discussion about how much water is used to produce various foods: Actually, the water is NOT used. Unlike gasoline, which is gone once you've used it, the water is NOT gone.
In the case of most groundwater aquifers, the water IS gone.
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Ricky D
Trad climber
Sierra Westside
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Apr 15, 2015 - 08:52pm PT
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Given the traditional course of local Governments of being mostly ineffectual in dealing with a crisis and the American Golden Rule whereby those with the gold maketh the rules - I think what will happen is that those well-funded entities who can afford the cost of water will continue to use it while those who cannot afford this luxury will cease to be.
This scenario is already beginning to play itself out in the Wine Country down here in the Santa Ynez and Santa Rita Hills appellations of Northern Santa Barbara County.
The big money Corporate vineyards and the bigger money private ones are dropping wells deeper and deeper on literally a daily basis. The local well outfit is recognizable by their trademark red rigs - you see them all over the properties of the Billionaire owners.
For years, the "normal' well depth averaged 400 feet in the Valley. The current wave of wells are running 800-1000 feet with some outfits going down to as much as 1500 in depth!
Already, downstream aquifer users with the traditional 400 footers are sucking air in over half their Ag wells - does not bode well for them in the coming months.
Same scenario is playing out just north of here in the Paso Robles/Edna Valley areas - not only are the "mom-and-pop" vineyards literally having the water sucked out from under their feet - but private home wells have gone dry out on the eastern Highway 46 corridor.
Again, well-funded vineyards with millions to invest are out-spending the lesser growers in the race for that last drop.
Water has become a tangible asset and apparently no longer a "right". As with any asset of limited supply - the goods goes to those who can pay the price and damn to the rest.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Apr 15, 2015 - 09:03pm PT
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Nestle is buying up water rights left and right just like LADWP did way back...Soon we'll be drinking our neighbors urine or if you live near irwindale , Miller Light...
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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Apr 15, 2015 - 09:33pm PT
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As of April 15th 2015 it is really bad . . . from the West coast to the mountain ranges of Colorado, no one is spared. We will see what happens with the monsoonal patterns of summer and fall . . . the real deal will be the winter of 2015-16 and beyond.
Water wars in the West have been a constant element.
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Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
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Apr 16, 2015 - 05:46am PT
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"Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over" - Mark Twain, a man who knew the West.
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STEEVEE
Social climber
HUMBOLDT, CA
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Apr 16, 2015 - 09:29am PT
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...I get my water from my dealer
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Apr 16, 2015 - 03:29pm PT
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Does anyone have a chart that shows water consumption per calorie of food generated, for different types of foods?
I'd like to see how bad almonds really are vs. alternatives, including grass rangeland for dairy cows to get cow milk (vs. almond milk).
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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Apr 16, 2015 - 04:11pm PT
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Well, I'd bet almonds are better than cattle and pigs. Might be closer with chickens.
But I'd imagine that purely as a protein source soy probably uses way less water.
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SuperTopo on the Web
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It's so bad we're told we need to save our urine so we can brush our teeth.
Let us know!