Thursday, April 02, 2015

Curing California's Drought

You can't cut expenses to prosperity, you have to generate more than you spend to prosper. California is in a drought. It now has water restrictions. These policies are led by people without sense of purpose.  They think you get more water by restrictions. NO you must produce more.

There are 8 things California could do today that would resolve the water shortages.

1. Never allow one drop of any water of any kind other than sea water to go into the sea.  This includes waste water, run off, storm water, sewage water. All water goes back into inland lagoons for processing.  If you take a shower you may be making coffee with it next week. If you take a leak, it will end up coming from your faucet. Not one drop ever reaches the ocean anywhere. ALL water, storm and otherwise remains on the land.  

2. Agriculture gets water, but pays a price for it.  Make water an economic cost that will maximize the proper use of it. Sprinkler irrigation as is practiced must be replaced by drip and low flow systems.

3. All species preservation efforts that deal with water must stop.  Snail Darter or Drinking water..  People or Plants.  Bugs or Babies.  Those are the real choices.

4. Reduce the Population.  One way is make water and economic burden.  A big one.  If you must live in California then you must pay for water.  Many people will leave.

5. Getting water to stay on the land will ultimately recharge the water table.. it's slow but it's critical.  EVEN lagoons holding waste water will slowly rebuild the aquifer.


6. Divert ALL the watershed in the whole state into rivers that never reach the sea.  There is much more fresh water in the north that is being shed into the ocean when it rains, wasted..   There is a great deal of study already done in this.. stop feeding water of any kind into the ocean, it won't dry up.  There should be no brackish water at all. 

7. Why are we trying to keep people hydrated in a desert?  That includes lawns and golf courses.  There is such a thing as sand greens.  Las Vegas is going to have a problem at some point. Water is too precious to waste.  Use, Process and Reuse.  Don't waste a drop. 

8. Drill very very deep artesian wells. There is water there but it is a thousands of feet in the ground.  Use those for City Uses.  I grew up drinking fetid artesian water.  Bathed in it.  There are now RO systems for individuals to drink and cook with.  The rest won't kill you.  Geologically there is a lot of water well below the 300 foot water table. 

9. Begin to produce drinking and irrigation water by using a passive desalinization system along the lines of this.  It's simple but it will work.   

Now what?  Is there courage enough to solve the problem or is this a case of political pressure over progress.

Or let California turn back into an arid wasteland.


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