CA: Gov. Brown orders mandatory water restrictions (25% reduction statewide)

[longtimelurker]

It's never a good idea to cite mondoweiss for anything, least of all domestic issues. Their record is terrible.

Thanks for the heads up.  After some investigation, I've determined for myself that mondoweiss is a thinly-veiled anti-Semitic site.  The article on the Resnicks is a hit piece on a Jewish couple.  I have removed the original link to the article.

[longtimelurker]

pistachios and almonds are desert plants to begin with, right?  how can they need so much water?

These plants grow in oases, which occur in areas where winds converge and blow away much or all of the sand so the water table is at the surface, or just below the surface.  As such, they usually occur in geomorphic depressions.  More on the geology of oases here:  http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/423497/oasis

[longtimelurker]

50% of Los Angeles' water usage goes to landscaping. Just imagine how much water could be saved if the landscape looked like Las Vegas or Phoenix.

Another thing: Drive through the central valley and you'll see miles and miles of orchards. We're going to have to eventually eliminate stuff like growing almond tree orchards if we want to be serious about water usage.

Banning fracking will also help. 70 million gallons of water were used for fracking in the state last year. Brown's reasoning is that the gas will have to be imported from out of state via fossil fuel intensive methods if we didn't drill for it here, but the bottom line is we might have to do that if water is such a scarcity.

It can be done. But even California is too resistant to huge and rapid lifestyle changes like that. We'll see.

Currently, Los Angeles is offering incentives for homeowners to change grass-covered lawns to more desert-friendly landscaping. That said, there's only so much can be done targeting residential buildings. The vast majority of water use in California is used by agricultural interests, and they're really the ones who will bear the brunt of the squeeze.

Too many farms, not enough water for them.

Even farming itself isn't a problem, but rather the crops that are grown. You can't continue watering Almond, Cashew and Pistachio trees year round in a desert that receives 5 inches of rain and the average high is around 100 degrees for 3 months of the year.

Major exaggerations here, Sbane.  Annual rainfall in the central valley varies from a low of 8" in Bakersfield to 18" in Sacramento to 33" in Redding.  That alone would be enough for dry land farming.  But the central valley prior to development often flooded and was full of vast marshes and oak groves.  So they get far more water by being surrounded by mountains.

CA needs bigger reservoirs.  Or we can dismantle the state and buy almonds from abroad.

Everywhere in the world has benefitted by adapting the environment to retain water.  Because thats what life does.  It retains water.

The west side of the valley does have areas that receive about 5 inches of rain a year.

California average annual precipitation 1961-2000.  Most of the southern half of the valley gets between 5 and 10 inches per year.  Most of the area gets less than the 8"/year than Bakersfield does, they're just not metropolitan areas.

http://www.socalvelo.com/maps/ca_precipation.gif

[longtimelurker]

So...none of the 40-60 inches of precip across the Sierra Nevadas ever runs down into the valley.? We're not in Kansas anymore.  Significant amounts of water flow into the land rather than falling from the sky.  To insist they farm as if the 5" that falls is all they get is probably why you always sucked at SimCity.

They need new reservoirs and they need to expand others to hold more during wet years.  Im surprised the who,e valley isn't covered in greenhouses with hydroponics like Spain.  But then...Spains produce is terrible and flavorless.

Snow?  WHAT SNOW?  It hasn't snowed in the Sierras for several years!

http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/cmb/images/snow/2014/jan/CA_snowpack.png


http://www.weather.com/climate-weather/drought/news/california-sierra-snowpack-record-low-april-2015

Enough with this cargo cult mentality: "if we build reservoirs, they'll magically fill with water!"

California is in a severe, historical drought.  Droughts are caused by lack of precipitation.  Can I make this any more clear???