BabaRa
19th January 2014, 19:31
This is important because 50% of the United States' fruits, vegetables and nuts come from the State of California. It is also the top dairy-producing state of the country - and the State that produces the most Organic Food.
How much of this drought is due to natural cycles vs weather modification, who knows!
Water, like everything else it seems, is a highly political issue. California Aqueduct is a 700 mile system of canals, tunnels, and pipelines that conveys water collected from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and valleys of Northern and Central California to Southern California. Often water restrictions are put on N.Californians, while the water flows freely south (supposedly to the farmers), but we know how that goes. Got to keep all those swimming pools full, you know.
Then there's the Delta–Mendota Canal which is a 117 mi (188 km) aqueduct in central California. It's part of the Central Valley Project and its purpose is to replace water in the San Joaquin River that is diverted into Madera Canal and Friant-Kern Canal at Friant Dam. So, we divert water from one river and then have to build a bazillion dollar canal to bring water back to that river! Who's in charge here.
Wisdom would say, if we didn't bring water down to desert-like communities (Los Angeles), folks would stop gravitating there and move to areas where there is water available. (wisdom, she says!)
We've had droughts before and survived them; I imagine this will be the same, although I'm sure it will cause food prices to go up, which will put more stress on an already stressed economy.
How much of this drought is due to natural cycles vs weather modification, who knows!
Water, like everything else it seems, is a highly political issue. California Aqueduct is a 700 mile system of canals, tunnels, and pipelines that conveys water collected from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and valleys of Northern and Central California to Southern California. Often water restrictions are put on N.Californians, while the water flows freely south (supposedly to the farmers), but we know how that goes. Got to keep all those swimming pools full, you know.
Then there's the Delta–Mendota Canal which is a 117 mi (188 km) aqueduct in central California. It's part of the Central Valley Project and its purpose is to replace water in the San Joaquin River that is diverted into Madera Canal and Friant-Kern Canal at Friant Dam. So, we divert water from one river and then have to build a bazillion dollar canal to bring water back to that river! Who's in charge here.
Wisdom would say, if we didn't bring water down to desert-like communities (Los Angeles), folks would stop gravitating there and move to areas where there is water available. (wisdom, she says!)
We've had droughts before and survived them; I imagine this will be the same, although I'm sure it will cause food prices to go up, which will put more stress on an already stressed economy.