The upcoming global water crisis

[Twilight Dirac 720]

This 4 year drought in California is just the start.

 

I really wouldn't worry about the California drought, it is not a precursor to some kind of global drought, but rather another indication that California is run by a bunch of imbeciles.  Remember the California energy crisis under governor Davis a decade ago, which was supposed to be a precursor to a global energy crisis but was in fact simply the consequence of California not bothering to build powerplants?  Well this is just that problem again, but now with water.  Just like when they refused to raise electricity prices in the midst of the previous crisis, California won't hike water prices now so its politically connected agricultural industry is more than happy to squander massive quantities of water while its citizens are ordered to ration their water usage.  Then there is the whole Oakdale Irrigation District scandal where they were going to lower water levels in the New Melones Reservoir to assist steelhead trout migration in the middle of the drought, demonstrating a complete lack of priorities.  I hate to sound cruel, but I have long run out of sympathy for California and its management of just about everything.  

 

Problems in California are nothing more then an indication that the Californian government is incompetent, something I have known for a long, long time.  Just don't elect any California's politicians to Federal environmental management posts and the rest of us can steer clear of these kinds of problems.

 

 

 

We talked about this alot in my Earth Science class. Desalination plants would be the most effective thing, but what would happen to the salt that was removed from the water? Now I'm not sure if there is another answer to this, but our science teacher told us that it would be put back in the ocean, rising the salt levels so much to the point where our oceans would end up like The Dead Sea, which is like a catch 22.

 

 

Your science teacher told you that?  Doesn't he realize that was the salt just removed from the sea water to begin with, so that the net salt intake would be zero.  Actual ocean water salt comes from the erosion of soil in riverbeds as water makes it way from inland back out to sea after being deposited by rain, which has accumulated over the course of hundreds of millions of years.  There is no risk of desalination plants raising the salt levels of the ocean to that of the dead sea.  This isn't doing much for my confidence in the public education system.

Edited September 4, 2015 by Twilight Dirac

[Zoraxe 546]

@@Twilight Dirac,

 

There is a problem with desalinization plants in that the brine released doesn't disperse fast enough so areas around the plants get saltier, so they have to mix it with more water before it reaches the ocean to prevent that. And the plants cause pollution too.

 

The drought in California isn't as serious as the drought in Iran or Brazil or large parts of Africa, but it does show that California isn't capable of handling all the food production of being a bread basket in a desert, with an ever increasing population to feed. And that's the trap, raise California water prices then jobs are lost and farms fold and agriculture shifts to other parts of the country, but keep things the same as they are then they would need more and more water to keep up. But like in Australia, people are hesitant to build desalinization plants because if it rains and the reservoirs refill it would make them seem like huge wastes of money. But once the underground water in the Midwest runs dry then agriculture there will die and, yep, California would have to step up food production even more.

Edited September 4, 2015 by Zoraxe

[Splashee 28,537]

I am not so sure it is a problem. This planet is like 99% water, and there are a few tricks you can do to make it drinkable.

 

I have had more floods lately than drought, which also suggests the problem might be local to specific areas like deserts and stuff.

[Fluttershutter 2,107]

Two simple words: STOP REPRODUCING!!!!!

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,275]

Just thinking about water makes me say YUCK  

[Splashee 28,537]

Transistor technology will help us with water, just like it has helped us with the rest of our problems 

[Gale Wind 79]

I’m not sure all the Midwest would be affected. I live near Chicago and we’re Midwest but I don’t see the Great Lakes going dry soon. I’ve seen where the water level in Lake Michigan goes up and down, though. 

[Props Valroa 25,949]

It is not a problem. Water is everywhere. I don't buy into the fearmongering.

[RDDash 18,839]

people could build desalination water plants if they really wanted a fresh water in California or anywhere else. New desalination plants are controlled by the Coastal Commission and the Coastal Commission is controlled by the environmentalists. So here you go California may or may not want more fresh water sources.

Edited January 22, 2023 by RDDash

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,275]

So California is a toss up between old and new water?