California Drought 2014

[Talon87]

Times like this I'm glad to live in an agricultural state, though Indiana's focus is mostly on corn and soy so we're still going to feel the pinch too.

[Loki]

Meanwhile, it won't stop snowing in NYC.

[Rangeet]

What are the options to fix this and prevent it from happening again? THe only thing I can think of is desalination, and that's VERY expensive.

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by Rangeetsuper

What are the options to fix this and prevent it from happening again? THe only thing I can think of is desalination, and that's VERY expensive.

Global water shortages are a different beast altogether, but as far as the continental United States is concerned, a water re-routing system of the future™ would solve most of our problems. We're such a large country that there's almost never a time where one region is experiencing a drought while another isn't experiencing heavy precipitation and possible flooding. Case in point. Indiana's precipitation since January 1, 2014 has been above average and largely unwanted. We've had no fewer than three snowstorms that deposited 3" of snow. I'm having a hard time finding the total precipitation for the city of Lafayette since the new year began, but if you take my word for it on that minimum estimate (which is very safe considering one of the three times we got 6" ...), that means that Indiana has gotten at least nine inches of snow in roughly eight weeks, or about an inch of precipitation (on average) every week. Imagine if we could reroute at least half of that to California. Imagine if our neighbor states could do the same. We have more precipitation than we know what to do with. We don't want it. At least not all of it. It's too much. It's causing flood conditions here. Meanwhile California is parched. They desperately want water. If only we had some sort of futuristic kickass water system, we could solve everyone's problems easy peasy. Sadly, we do not. ^^;

[Doppleganger]

Originally Posted by Rangeetsuper

What are the options to fix this and prevent it from happening again? THe only thing I can think of is desalination, and that's VERY expensive.

Beyond climate change, the only options are to reduce the number of people using water in the state (i.e., reduce population) or reduce demand for water-intensive foods and processes.

Strawberries, broccoli, grapes, tomatoes, and lettuce all have the highest water content of any vegetable or fruit, which is why they're listed on Talon's sheet. If you export those items out of the state, you are reducing the local amount of water available in California. Fruits/vegetables consumed by California natives have their water filtered back into the local ecosystem, not the same if we're shipping our foods to different parts of the country.

California is, obviously, at the mercy of the elements and the increasing dryness since the first El Nino during Y2K can't be ignored. But a big part of the problem is culture and market, not dissimilar from the holodomor.

I don't think there will be a miracle cure for water, since that along with natural gas are the two resources that technologies around the world haven't been able to replenish. The rolling blackouts that plagued the state back in '03 will likely never happen again because of solar panels - the state is practically swimming in electricity, and we're uniquely poised to take advantage of it.

[Rangeet]

Well, easy access electricity might make desalination easier to set up. It really does seem that that might be the only way forward for a coastal city receiving little rainfall. If it is invested in then I think Cali won't have water problems for quite a bit.

[Jerichi]

I can tell you that most municipalities,, counties and even state governments won't be funding a desalination plant since it's far too expensive of a process. You'd need a federal project to get a desalination plant built, and that could take years and years.

A quick trip to Wikipedia tells me that there are already two major desalination plants in California, one of which won't open for two years, and the other of which only runs during droughts but at exceptional cost. So they're way ahead of you on that front, Rangeet, but like I said, it's a very, very expensive, both money- and energy-wise, option.