California Drought

RedNeckGeek · Feb 24, 2017

dragoneggs said:
I'm not disputing your claim but some facts to back up your argument would go a long way in combating the prejudice.

Try clicking the "elephant in the room" link...

turnkey4099 · Feb 24, 2017

bcp said:
There is no water shortage, there is a people excess.

Bruce

That pretty well nails it!

Egon · Feb 24, 2017

RedNeckGeek said:
It's ridiculous to even hint that the water problems in CA are linked to population. Yes, cities are growing because the climate is still good and the systems can still be gamed if you need support. But the elephant in the room is that the majority of water gets flushed out to sea to keep the snail darter happy and the SF delta at the right salinity, and what goes to the cities is just a drop in the bucket. Then throw in the healthy dose of what agriculture needs to feed the world, and you'll have a much clearer picture of the impossible balancing act that's being attempted.

The bigotry and prejudice being displayed in this thread is shameful. :thumbdown:

Of course you have sourced all the volume of water sources and compared them to the final discharge flow of the water courses into the sea??

Colorado might be one River to do a comparison on!

houstonscott · Feb 24, 2017

turnkey4099 said:
That pretty well nails it!

Yup, 10 million Californians should be drinking, showering, and flushing somewhere else.

California · Feb 24, 2017

Egon said:
Of course you have sourced all the volume of water sources and compared them to the final discharge flow of the water courses into the sea??

Huh?

Since all the usable water in California goes through dams the volume is known pretty precisely.

The only undammed rivers are minor ones up on the north coast, where there's no practical route up over the Coast Range to the urban or ag users hundreds of miles away who need more. (I think there is one tunnel that does send water over to the Central Valley).

Then downstream in the San Francisco Bay and adjacent inland delta, water quality is closely monitored because the volume arriving is barely adequate to keep salinity low (so the farmlands there aren't destroyed by salinity) and to save what's left of natural aquatic life. The 'trash' small fish are the basis, feedstock, for the larger bass, salmon, etc that are declining drastically.

Winter floodwater in wet years goes to the ocean unused but the rest of the time water volume and quality throughout the state are precisely managed.

downsizingnow48 · Feb 24, 2017

Like RNG says, over half of California water use is for environmental purposes, that is, north coast rivers flowing to the sea.

Of the water that is used by people, about 80% is used in agriculture, which provides about 2% of the gross state product. The remaining 20% is for urban places where the other 98% of the gross state product is generated.

Although agriculture is a small part of the state economy, California still produces more food than any other state, much of it fruits, nuts, vegetables. Basically that is exporting water to the rest the country in the form of produce.

The same is true of alfalfa, much of which is exported to China at a higher price than US beef producers can pay. Google "California alfalfa", some interesting facts there.

The one page publication below provides basic facts and links to more detailed information based on a 2010 study which I believe is the most recent comprehensive survey.

Water Use in California (PPIC Publication)

prichard · Feb 24, 2017

I would have thought ag would be a higher revenue number. Any idea what the % of California ag is compared to the rest of the country?

RobertN · Feb 24, 2017

I noticed in some pictures there is a large bridge; kind of reminds me of Rainbow Bridge in Folsom Ca.

Wonder what happened to that bridge? It looks like it is right there at the dam. Is it in the lake, like the old Salmon Falls bridge at Folsom Lake?

I see there was another smaller bridge that was moved too.