As if you didn't have enough to worry about ... | GTAMotorcycle.com

As if you didn't have enough to worry about ...

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Brian P

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Water shortage in southwestern USA in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

I knew the Colorado River has been overutilized for a long time to the extent that it discharges almost nothing into the Gulf of California, but had no idea the situation was developing this quickly.


www.latimes.com

As water crisis worsens on Colorado River, an urgent call for Western states to 'act now'

The federal government is telling seven states to make plans for drastically cutting water use along the Colorado River within two months.
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com

Lake Mead is the artificial lake behind Hoover Dam.
 
It seems to me that everyone except the scientists and engineers are just ignoring the issue and pretending it doesn’t exist.

Politicians don’t want to ruffle any feathers by doing anything to limit consumption, it appears 50% of the average citizenry don’t even realize there’s a problem, and of the remaining 50%, 45% don’t give a ****, because me me me me me.

I guess when they turn on the taps one day and nothing comes out, they’ll wake up to reality?
 
The Australian aquifer recharges from cyclones flooding the land beyond the great dividing range.

India is pulling out water faster than the Himalyas can recharge ...they are down 350' now for some wells.

The Ogalla is remains of the ice age and not recharging. Some regions are tapped out.

Same with Libya and other northern Sahara states...non renewable tho lots of it there for now.
 
Brian P said:
Water shortage in southwestern USA in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

I knew the Colorado River has been overutilized for a long time to the extent that it discharges almost nothing into the Gulf of California, but had no idea the situation was developing this quickly.


www.latimes.com

As water crisis worsens on Colorado River, an urgent call for Western states to 'act now'

The federal government is telling seven states to make plans for drastically cutting water use along the Colorado River within two months.
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com

Lake Mead is the artificial lake behind Hoover Dam.
Click to expand...
Simply unbelievable.
In 1976, I stuck my foot in there. August, and the water was ice cold.
The lake was massive. There were more offshore racing boats buzzing around than I could believe.
Imagine waiting 4 hours to launch?
To see it like this is heartbreaking.
 
There’s a bunch of things going on here and they all add up to a disaster happening in plain sight that’s being ignored.

Almond and avocado farmers using massive amounts of water to feed crops that really have no business being grown there but, they are lucrative crops, and the farmers are rich and powerful so the charade goes on. Golf courses that crop up everywhere that swallow masses of water and avoid water bans because the members of the clubs come from their green water sprinkler gardened oases in the desert to play and they are rich and powerful too.

One day another nutter will get into the White House, look at where US border lines cross and then ask for their half of the water in the Great Lakes with the border lines in to water their favourite golf courses and then we are really in trouble.
 
As usual, one of the main solutions is not popular.

Joy for environmentalists as California blocks bid for $1.4bn desalination plant​



Wonder if they’ll approve water pipelines instead.



www.theguardian.com

Joy for environmentalists as California blocks bid for $1.4bn desalination plant

Poseidon Water sought to turn seawater into drinking water but activists said plan would devastate ecosystem on Pacific coast
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
This all ties in very well into the energy crisis conversation. No hurry in investing in alternatives until all the oil's out of the ground. No hurry in investing in water reclamation or desalination until all the potable water is dried up.

How Can Desalination Become Cheaper?

Turning salty or brackish water into fresh water makes economic sense only in certain parts of the world. Researchers are trying to change that equation.
www.technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com
 
monkeyfarm said:
This all ties in very well into the energy crisis conversation. No hurry in investing in alternatives until all the oil's out of the ground. No hurry in investing in water reclamation or desalination until all the potable water is dried up.

How Can Desalination Become Cheaper?

Turning salty or brackish water into fresh water makes economic sense only in certain parts of the world. Researchers are trying to change that equation.
www.technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com
Click to expand...

Separation technology of most things isn’t nearly as advanced as it should be. It’s also one reason why tar sands oil is ridiculously expensive. Israel seems to do quite well with desalination but it also supplements this by diverting water from other people’s rivers.
 
jc100 said:
Separation technology of most things isn’t nearly as advanced as it should be. It’s also one reason why tar sands oil is ridiculously expensive. Israel seems to do quite well with desalination but it also supplements this by diverting water from other people’s rivers.
Click to expand...

I'll also admit that desalination can be quite energy intensive. Considering what power generation looks like for most nations these days, it feels like jumping out of the frying pan, and into the fire. Maybe as the the slow shift to renewable energy takes place, the full cost of all of these inefficiencies will be less significant. Who cares if desalination is energy intensive if that energy costs pennies. Bit of a long shot, but I can dream.

 
monkeyfarm said:
I'll also admit that desalination can be quite energy intensive. Considering what power generation looks like for most nations these days, it feels like jumping out of the frying pan, and into the fire. Maybe as the the slow shift to renewable energy takes place, the full cost of all of these inefficiencies will be less significant. Who cares if desalination is energy intensive if that energy costs pennies. Bit of a long shot, but I can dream.

Click to expand...

small nuclear plants next to desalination plants…but then there’s other issues to think about.
 
The issue and maybe irony in this context with climate change as part of the problem is we have some populated areas with not enough water and other unpopulated or less populated areas with specific times throughout the year with way too much water. Areas of North America are having repeated flooding while Lake Mead is drying up. Just can't easily get from one to the other water wise.... and water pipelines raise the worry that water will not only be taken when there is too much but also when there is not enough. Long term mass people migration will likely be the result.

Irrigation diversion of course is also a very major part of this problem in the SW USA. In this context I find what happened to the Aral Sea incredibly fascinating (and even more tragic). Worth looking up, I remember as a kid seeing it on the globe, it is all but gone now.

The disappearance of Earth's fourth-largest lake

Drying lakes are an ever-increasing problem thanks to climate change, but nothing can compare to the fate of the Aral Sea. How could a lake as big as
wilderness-society.org wilderness-society.org
 
jc100 said:
small nuclear plants next to desalination plants…but then there’s other issues to think about.
Click to expand...
Instead of rejecting existing powerplant heat into the ocean at large, they could use that much of that free heat to operate desalination. Just do the final lap of cooling water through the ocean to hit the required intake temperature.
 
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