State of Emergency in Washington?

[garyhaupt]

Really? I mean..yes, I can see the news...it is real, but wow...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/washington-state-declares-drought-emergency-1.3076115

What does this for RV'rs? And the vineyards?

(ok Gary..don't panic)

Gary Haupt

[bigred1cav]

Vegetables are now supplied from worldwide sources.

Almonds are not a staple of life and the use of deep well water to make profits for nut growers is obscene.

CavemanCharlie wrote:
It's been slightly mentioned but, not talked about a lot in this thread, that the populations has increased, by millions, in the area we are talking about. And, the rest of us depend on this area for our fresh vegetables in the winter. The rest of us are now millions, and millions, more then when we started to use these areas to live in and produce food.

I don't have any answers but, it always seems to me that this is part of the problem.

[CavemanCharlie]

It's been slightly mentioned but, not talked about a lot in this thread, that the populations has increased, by millions, in the area we are talking about. And, the rest of us depend on this area for our fresh vegetables in the winter. The rest of us are now millions, and millions, more then when we started to use these areas to live in and produce food.

I don't have any answers but, it always seems to me that this is part of the problem.

[pnichols]

myredracer wrote:
Maybe the solution is to control what farmers are allowed to grow in various regions instead of letting market demand determine what is grown. I rarely eat blueberries or almonds and wouldn't care if they were no longer available.

Outstanding idea on allowing farmers in drought regions to only grow water-efficient crops!!

I also wonder how much water those California wine grapes take ... we don't use wine either and would never miss it. We eat blueberries and almonds only because they're around ... never did as a kid ... and could stop now.

The last time I checked with my relative who used to be a professional large-acreage commercial farmer with all the barns, equipment, etc. - he did it for a living and used computers to help optimize crop return dollar margins - just like any business does regarding their margins. He wasn't in it for altruistic reasons - he was in it to make money.

Ooohh ... and while we're at it let's get rid of the swimming pools and lawns in the desert where they don't belong. Our spring and well almost dry up every August - no meters needed on them. We collect 15,000 gallons of excess spring and well water every winter and try to get by on it during the summer - or else buy trucked in water at around 8 cents per gallon for our household in order to make it through the rest of the year. (By the way ... what is a "lawn"?) I wonder how many farmers spend 8 cents per gallon for their almond water? At that rate, each almond would cost at least 8 cents and I'll bet almond consumption would cease in a heartbeat.

The way America's health is going ... it might do us good if our farmers switched to primarily fruits and vegetables anyway (with a few non-hormone cows and chickens thrown in).

[myredracer]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Nothing in your list of toys used water or is partly responsible for the supposed "global warming" ? Didn't say it was. Maybe I should have just made a separate post.

Yea let's put more regulations on our farmers so they "all" go out of business and then we can eat foods from third world countries.

Hey let's all boycott blueberries and almonds.

Okay then, what is the solution? Sure, lets just keep ignoring it until it's too late. Let's here what should be done.

[Cummins12V98]

myredracer wrote:
Our local municipality was proposing to install meters on wells around here a few years back. Our old well dried up every summer and we had to get water trucked in to fill it up every couple of weeks and have been paying twice for our water. There was a huge outcry and they gave up the idea of meters. Now, in the last few years, we've had a proliferation of farmers converting to blueberries, which use an extensive amount of water and there's nothing to stop them. A guy across the street drilled 6 deep wells for his blueberries. Aquifer levels here have been steadily dropping for years but there's no measures in place to stop it and farmers can use as much as they want.

In California, 80% of water is used for agriculture. Almonds are the state's top crop and use over 1 trillion gallons of water a year - about 1 gallon per nut.

Maybe the solution is to control what farmers are allowed to grow in various regions instead of letting market demand determine what is grown. I rarely eat blueberries or almonds and wouldn't care if they were no longer available.

Dropping aquifer levels are a serious threat worldwide. There are 2 types type of them, one is replenishable from rainfall and the other type ("fossil" aquifer) is non-replenishable like the large Agallala reservoir in the US and will be emptied forever when eventually pumped dry. Dropping replenishable aquifer levels are widespread and are being depleted at a rate higher than can be replaced by rainfall. Good story in this article.

It seems that agriculture around the world is headed for a catastrophic failure unless something serious is done. There is no stopping of the effects of global warming, and the effects are accelerating with time. Personally, I don't hold much hope for the future of mankind for this and other similar reasons.

Nothing in your list of toys used water or is partly responsible for the supposed "global warming" ?

Yea let's put more regulations on our farmers so they "all" go out of business and then we can eat foods from third world countries.

Hey let's all boycott blueberries and almonds.

[myredracer]

Our local municipality was proposing to install meters on wells around here a few years back. Our old well dried up every summer and we had to get water trucked in to fill it up every couple of weeks and have been paying twice for our water. There was a huge outcry and they gave up the idea of meters. Now, in the last few years, we've had a proliferation of farmers converting to blueberries, which use an extensive amount of water and there's nothing to stop them. A guy across the street drilled 6 deep wells for his blueberries. Aquifer levels here have been steadily dropping for years but there's no measures in place to stop it and farmers can use as much as they want.

In California, 80% of water is used for agriculture. Almonds are the state's top crop and use over 1 trillion gallons of water a year - about 1 gallon per nut.

Maybe the solution is to control what farmers are allowed to grow in various regions instead of letting market demand determine what is grown. I rarely eat blueberries or almonds and wouldn't care if they were no longer available.

Dropping aquifer levels are a serious threat worldwide. There are 2 types type of them, one is replenishable from rainfall and the other type ("fossil" aquifer) is non-replenishable like the large Agallala reservoir in the US and will be emptied forever when eventually pumped dry. Dropping replenishable aquifer levels are widespread and are being depleted at a rate higher than can be replaced by rainfall. Good story in this article.

It seems that agriculture around the world is headed for a catastrophic failure unless something serious is done. There is no stopping of the effects of global warming, and the effects are accelerating with time. Personally, I don't hold much hope for the future of mankind for this and other similar reasons.

[Cummins12V98]

SteveRuff wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:


CA is on the brink of metering private wells too. A lot of the people I know are running around punching un permitted wells all over their property for when that day comes.

That's the spirit!! To heck with everyone else, I'm going to get mine even if the rest of you have to suffer for it.

It's a dog eat dog world!

[SteveRuff]

rockhillmanor wrote:


CA is on the brink of metering private wells too. A lot of the people I know are running around punching un permitted wells all over their property for when that day comes.

That's the spirit!! To heck with everyone else, I'm going to get mine even if the rest of you have to suffer for it.

[SCVJeff]

Raften wrote:
If you look at how Austraila has developed a water usage plan in light of their recent prolonged dry spell you will understand how wasteful the American west water useage is. Better hope El Niño kicks in as predicted this next winter or we might be drinking toilet water.

Where ya gonna get that from ? 🙂

[bigred1cav]

It isn't local climate change it is global climate change.

[FlatBroke]

Funny, every one around here, Colorado, in the last month or so says its like living in Seattle. Believe that ain't no drought.

[Raften]

If you look at how Austraila has developed a water usage plan in light of their recent prolonged dry spell you will understand how wasteful the American west water useage is. Better hope El Niño kicks in as predicted this next winter or we might be drinking toilet water.

[sonora]

Oregon Ms wrote:
Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, where Lake Mead is at an all time low, the developers continue to get permits for further sprawl and development.

Why dump on the developers? It's people from other areas moving to Las Vegas that are creating the housing demand. Ban people from moving to Las Vegas and you will stop the developers.

[holstein13]

SCVJeff wrote:
I would love to hear exactly how much fresh drinking grade water that plant produces % wise?

One of the big problems with these plants is the saliene contamination in the local waters of the ocean. Unless the return is MILES out and in the currents, double the salt output in calm waters will likely kill everything in the area.

I am far from a treehugger, but I also grew up on the ocean and maintain a salt water reef tank, and I know it takes very little to kill it all.

It's funny you should mention that. There are companies that look to recover the salt and use it to make chlorine and other chemicals.

[SCVJeff]

RAS43 wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
If we are so smart why are we not making fresh water from salt water?

There are countries that do have desalination plants, like Saudi Arabia. And San Diego is completing a plant to supply their needs.

I would love to hear exactly how much fresh drinking grade water that plant produces % wise?

One of the big problems with these plants is the saliene contamination in the local waters of the ocean. Unless the return is MILES out and in the currents, double the salt output in calm waters will likely kill everything in the area.

I am far from a treehugger, but I also grew up on the ocean and maintain a salt water reef tank, and I know it takes very little to kill it all.