California drought 2015

[GostHacked]

California has been drying up. Reservoirs are being depleted, importing of water is a challenge via the various aqueducts bringing water to Cali. No desalinization plants. Farm land getting an insane amount of water (who in their right minds build farm land in a desert!???????) and another factor that has been going on unchecked for decades.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/california-drought-s-newest-battlefront-is-bottled-water-1.3074419

The bottled water industry has become the newest battlefront in California's struggle to cope with its devastating nearly four-year drought.

Its critics say corporations are exploiting the state's "archaic," historically hands-off approach to water regulation at the expense of a precious resource, and petitions to shut them down are gaining momentum.

Multinational giants like Nestlé Waters, Walmart and Coca-Cola operate some of California's 111 bottling plants and have historic rights to vast water resources throughout the state and are continuing to mine the product from springs, groundwater wells and some municipal water sources.

A coalition of non-profit groups recently launched an online petition aimed at Nestlé​ Waters, calling for a moratorium on what one spokesman called "the ultimate form of water privatization." It has accrued more than 160,000 signatures to date, and a similar petition naming Walmart has more than 45,000.

"The bottom line is that we don't see bottling the public's water and selling it back to them as especially useful during a drought like this," says Adam Scow, the California director of Food and Water Watch, one of the groups that started the campaign.

So multinational companies have had unabated and unrestricted access to Cali's water. So much water wasted on cola and other stuff. But let's blame all californian's.

[kimmy]

I've read that California's almond and pistachio farms need ludicrous amounts of water.

As well, alfalfa uses a vast amount of water in California agriculture. Who eats alfalfa? Cows do. You'd think it would be California's beef and dairy ranchers that are the end user, but a lot of it is being exported to China.

-k

[GostHacked]

I've read that California's almond and pistachio farms need ludicrous amounts of water.

As well, alfalfa uses a vast amount of water in California agriculture. Who eats alfalfa? Cows do. You'd think it would be California's beef and dairy ranchers that are the end user, but a lot of it is being exported to China.

-k

That makes even less sense. These people are insane.

[kimmy]

China has a burgeoning dairy industry, and they need to feed cows. Alfalfa prices are going up, so people grow it and sell it on the global market. Fair enough. But water is a cost of doing business, and if you're doing water-intensive agriculture in the desert you've taken on a big risk.

-k

[cybercoma]

That makes even less sense. These people are insane.

It's about making money and not having to deal with the external costs of production.

[Topaz]

wow, is gas prices really coming down only to have water prices out of this world? Are we going to have wars over water??

[Guest]

I would imagine so.

What breaks my heart is the use of fresh, clean water to force oil out of the ground. I have no objection to almost any facet of the oil and gas industry that stays within the laws, but that really gets to me.

[TimG]

But water is a cost of doing business, and if you're doing water-intensive agriculture in the desert you've taken on a big risk.

The trouble is in California they object whenever some suggests that water be freely bought and sold like any other commodity. Make farmers pay market prices for the water they consume and these kinds of uses would disappear very quickly. That said, the Enron fiasco with deregulated electricity shows what happens if brokers and traders are allowed to manipulate supply to make a profit. What is needed is a market price that does not create new class of middlemen.

[sharkman]

I would imagine so.

What breaks my heart is the use of fresh, clean water to force oil out of the ground. I have no objection to almost any facet of the oil and gas industry that stays within the laws, but that really gets to me.

There is none of that going on in California, or on the west coast as far as I know.

A thread like this starts up and immediately people name the atypical uses in the agriculture industry. What about fruits and vegetables? You know, foods that people eat on a daily basis, as well as the poultry and beef/dairy farms? People need to eat as well as drink water.

[Guest]

There is none of that going on in California, or on the west coast as far as I know.

A thread like this starts up and immediately people name the atypical uses in the agriculture industry. What about fruits and vegetables? You know, foods that people eat on a daily basis, as well as the poultry and beef/dairy farms? People need to eat as well as drink water.

True, I was just going by Alberta. However, a quick Wiki search shows that:

"The average fracked well in California used 166,714 gallons of water, according to a 2013 Ceres report"

Again, I'm pro industry. I just think that they could come up with a better way. Produced water for instance. CO2? Just random thoughts, no research.

[sharkman]

Oops, I was flat wrong there, I'd not heard of fracking in the west. I'd love to see another method too.

[GostHacked]

So, farmland, companies selling water, fracking, what else can these idiots waste water on?

[Guest]

My original post here was a reference to this practice more than fracking. I believe it uses more water as it is constant, not just during the drilling process. If there is one thing I would love to see the new NDP government here tackle it would be this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_injection_%28oil_production%29

[Michael Hardner]

Thanks again, government, for doing such a good job of this. Everybody is clear on the rules, and we all feel comfortable knowing that the future is bright.

Yes that was sarcasm...

[eyeball]

I've read that California's almond and pistachio farms need ludicrous amounts of water.

1 gallon of water per almond or pistachio apparently.

I live in a rain forest and water sells in the Co-op here for $4.99 a gallon.

A bag of of about 100 pistachios or almonds is peanuts in comparison.

[GostHacked]

Oops, I was flat wrong there, I'd not heard of fracking in the west. I'd love to see another method too.

Fracking is happening all over Canada, I believe there are a few wells in Ontario.

[Je suis Omar]

I would imagine so.

What breaks my heart is the use of fresh, clean water to force oil out of the ground. I have no objection to almost any facet of the oil and gas industry that stays within the laws, but that really gets to me.

Wait'll all that fracking sets loose the next big one. Then more than your heart'll be broken.