California water crisis

[Kadarin]

Only people from out of state call it 'Cali'. That's always slightly bothered me. Just like people calling San Francisco 'Frisco'. It's prefered to say California just like it's better to say the full name San Francisco or for short 'The City'.

And never, ever call it "San Fran". Ever.

 

[AViking]

wtf. every person i know from cali calls it cali.

I have lived in California for 35 years. NOBODY calls it Cali. NOBODY.

Cali is a city in Colombia.

 

[Jaskalas]

Not a desert yet, but it soon will be thanks to climate change.

A thousand-year tree-ring study shows that deep droughts come with the territory.

The wettest recorded period for the Colorado River Basin, was the past hundred years.

 

[Texashiker]

Don't ranch in a desert.

Are you an idiot, or do you just play one on the internet?

Various cultures have been "ranching" in aired regions for thousands of years. What has changed is government regulations.

If people and livestock needed water, just dig a well. In a lot of states people are not allowed to dig a well or even catch rain water. Government controls the water. As such, people and livestock are suffering.

Then there is this whole building cities in aired regions issue.

But then again it is not just aired regions that are having issues. Cities from California to Georgia are facing water problems. A few years ago Houston issued a water rationing order. Its not like Houston is an aired region.

The truth is, population density and growth of urban regions is outpacing water supplies.

If you will excuse me, I am just going to go pump some water from a stream on my property to water my garden. Unlike states like California, Texans own the water on and under our property.

 

[K1052]

Are you an idiot, or do you just play one on the internet?

Various cultures have been "ranching" in aired regions for thousands of years. What has changed is government regulations.

If people and livestock needed water, just dig a well. In a lot of states people are not allowed to dig a well or even catch rain water. Government controls the water. As such, people and livestock are suffering.

Then there is this whole building cities in aired regions issue.

But then again it is not just aired regions that are having issues. Cities from California to Georgia are facing water problems. A few years ago Houston issued a water rationing order. Its not like Houston is an aired region.

The truth is, population density and growth of urban regions is outpacing water supplies.

If you will excuse me, I am just going to go pump some water from a stream on my property to water my garden. Unlike states like California, Texans own the water on and under our property.

And its a total mystery why Texas aquifer levels dropping at unprecedented rates.

Enjoy the fun when the ag users, oil/ng industry, and private citizens engage in a circular firing squad over water availability in the near future.

 

[DrPizza]

And its a total mystery why Texas aquifer levels dropping at unprecedented rates.

Enjoy the fun when the ag users, oil/ng industry, and private citizens engage in a circular firing squad over water availability in the near future.

No such problems over here in NY, and we own the water that's under our property. I have a stream that flows through my property - I can legally put up a dam if I so choose - up to 10 feet high, and can hold up to, I think, 2 acres of water - without a permit. Over 10 feet high, or more than 2 acres, I need a permit along with an engineer's dam design.

 

[BladeVenom]

Lady Gaga wastes 365,000 gallons of water for a video. http://archive.firstcoastnews.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=3472386997001

 

[Victorian Gray]

Lady Gaga wastes 365,000 gallons of water for a video. http://archive.firstcoastnews.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=3472386997001

That works out to roughly the daily water usage of 1000 California households. Wow, what a difference it would have made if they hadn't filled the pool.

It was a bit of a dumb move but i suspect that there is more serious wastage to worry about.

 

[Murloc]

Are you an idiot, or do you just play one on the internet?

Various cultures have been "ranching" in aired regions for thousands of years. What has changed is government regulations.

If people and livestock needed water, just dig a well. In a lot of states people are not allowed to dig a well or even catch rain water. Government controls the water. As such, people and livestock are suffering.

Then there is this whole building cities in aired regions issue.

But then again it is not just aired regions that are having issues. Cities from California to Georgia are facing water problems. A few years ago Houston issued a water rationing order. Its not like Houston is an aired region.

The truth is, population density and growth of urban regions is outpacing water supplies.

If you will excuse me, I am just going to go pump some water from a stream on my property to water my garden. Unlike states like California, Texans own the water on and under our property.

aired means exposed to air.
Maybe you mean arid.

Anyway everybody owning the water under their property can promote wasteful use and deplete the water table for everybody. Certain aquifers in arid regions will take thousands of years to be restored and are going towards depletion if consumption is kept up.

There have always been agricultural societies in arid regions, but it's only in the last century that so many people began eating so much meat, consumption and intensive agriculture and water extraction have grown a lot.

I've never seen a nice yard full of grass in old west movies. The giant suburbs of nowadays in the same locations have grass lawns. This boom happened only after WW2 if I'm not wrong. In the centuries before, there was none of this stuff. No swimming pools either, and people didn't eat meat so much (cow meat takes a lot of water to make compared to vegetables). All of this creates a long-term unsustainable strain, and the past doesn't allow to make any previsions due to the unprecedented consumption rates.

 

[Texashiker]

And its a total mystery why Texas aquifer levels dropping at unprecedented rates.

A lot of it goes back to over-utilization of resources.

How much food does Texas produce? A lot. You think those steaks just magically appear in the grocery store?

Do you have any idea how much water fracking uses?

Would you like to go hungry and see the price of gas go up? Then stop complaining about Texas using its resources.

Before aquifers are depleted Texas is ahead of the curve. A new reservoir is going to be built to hopefully supply Dallas with all the water it needs.

Austin and San Antonino are different story.

The problem with California, they build cities in a desert and then take water rights away from land owners.

aired means exposed to air.
Maybe you mean arid.

Anyway everybody owning the water under their property can promote wasteful use and deplete the water table for everybody. Certain aquifers in arid regions will take thousands of years to be restored and are going towards depletion if consumption is kept up.

There have always been agricultural societies in arid regions, but it's only in the last century that so many people began eating so much meat, consumption and intensive agriculture and water extraction have grown a lot.

Yes, sorry I meant arid.

States like california are building cities in places that were not intended to support that much life.

 

[OutHouse]

Do you have any idea how much water fracking uses?

2-9 million per well with about 2 million in waste that comes out of the well that has to be disposed of.

 

[PlanetJosh]

Thank god my family moved out of a house with a front and back lawn and loads of plants and a few trees. In case there's another water rationing period in San Diego I won't have to worry about me watering or not watering the grass and plants because here in this condominium neighborhood it's the landscape contractor's duty.

So it's on their shoulders and the higher ups of the homeowners association who hired the landscapers. We pay fees to the association per month to get the watering done along with the other landscape stuff.

 

[K1052]

A lot of it goes back to over-utilization of resources.

How much food does Texas produce? A lot. You think those steaks just magically appear in the grocery store?

Do you have any idea how much water fracking uses?

Would you like to go hungry and see the price of gas go up? Then stop complaining about Texas using its resources.

Before aquifers are depleted Texas is ahead of the curve. A new reservoir is going to be built to hopefully supply Dallas with all the water it needs.

Austin and San Antonino are different story.

The problem with California, they build cities in a desert and then take water rights away from land owners.

The reservoir you're talking about won't be operational for at least a decade, even if there are no legal challenges (and there will be). Another year or two of drought and the shit is really going to hit the fan down there. Everyone being able to sink wells wherever and pump will not be a positive in the long run.

 

[K1052]

No such problems over here in NY, and we own the water that's under our property. I have a stream that flows through my property - I can legally put up a dam if I so choose - up to 10 feet high, and can hold up to, I think, 2 acres of water - without a permit. Over 10 feet high, or more than 2 acres, I need a permit along with an engineer's dam design.

Water rights in the west are a pretty different animal than in the (usually) comparatively much wetter east.

 

[AreaCode707]

Are you an idiot, or do you just play one on the internet?

Various cultures have been "ranching" in aired regions for thousands of years. What has changed is government regulations.

If people and livestock needed water, just dig a well. In a lot of states people are not allowed to dig a well or even catch rain water. Government controls the water. As such, people and livestock are suffering.

Then there is this whole building cities in aired regions issue.

But then again it is not just aired regions that are having issues. Cities from California to Georgia are facing water problems. A few years ago Houston issued a water rationing order. Its not like Houston is an aired region.

The truth is, population density and growth of urban regions is outpacing water supplies.

If you will excuse me, I am just going to go pump some water from a stream on my property to water my garden. Unlike states like California, Texans own the water on and under our property.

Regarding rainwater, we're only allowed to catch rainfall on roof and "sheet water" from the hills - which means, we can capture rainwater that falls on our property, but not from any crease or crevasse, anything that runs (think any stream down to the tiniest trickle.) Water belongs to the state, not us, and we only have water by the grace of the state. That becomes a big problem when the state decides to withhold that water from us, like now.