25 million people rely on water from Lake Mead, and it's drying up

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Originally published at: 25 million people rely on water from Lake Mead, and it's drying up | Boing Boing

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Between Fallout: New Vegas and a recent re-read of the excellent Paolo Bacigalupi novel “The Water Knife”, I am excited for an upcoming tour of the Hoover Dam despite the glum news about the water.

I encourage folks interested in the issue of water in the west to read the novel. The Water Knife: Bacigalupi, Paolo: 9780804171533: Amazon.com: Books

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Tour Guide: Any questions before we move on?
Ren Faire Geek: [Raises hand]
Tour Guide: For the last time, it’s just a name. The lake isn’t actually mead.

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Someone should turn the “water source” knob from “Lake Mead” to some other setting

/dusts hands

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I was reading that there’s a single mega-farm in California that controls an amount of water greater than that used by the residents of LA and the entire SF Bay area - combined. (Mostly growing water-thirsty crops like almonds.) 80% of California’s water use is agricultural, and there’s a whole lot of incredibly wasteful practices still going on in agriculture here, even in the midst of the drought, thanks to how water rights were set up during the wettest period of California history. Water use in the West was not remotely set up to deal with this kind of situation, and it’s all going to start coming apart now.

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I fully expect Trump (or some Trump-wannabe) to weigh in with that solution at some point.

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That book got me to buy and read Cadillac Desert, which is beyond depressing

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I remember going through the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History and saying to the person with me, “I feel like I should have a combat shotgun.”

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I love Las Vegas as much as the next person (I really do; as a social invert, going to LV for the first time was huge for me).

Anyway, despite its terrible name, what about toilet-to-tap? I recall reading about it, but because of the “eww” issues (how do you think water gets to you now?), nobody really talked about it.

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California’s ocean desalinization camp is getting a new look nowadays.

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  • " Back west, you don’t see too many of these. Lakes, I mean. Natural or man-made. Any kind, really. We neglected the dams or pumped all the water out a long time ago. Owens, Isabella, the San Luis. Drained the aquifers of everything they had. Just a lot of mud and dust now. It’s a different feeling, watching the sun come up over the water. Takes some getting used to. But if you’re here long enough, it starts to seem normal. That’s what a ranger’s life is now. Looking east. "

Ranger Chief Hanlon

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Is your sneak skill bad enough that you couldn’t just beeline it to Lincoln’s repeater? That thing is terrifyingly effective when someone needs to be taught a history lesson; or just taught a lesson. Zero spread and hits like a truck.

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And I fully expect to be something along the lines of We need more dams! Taller dams!

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the power from Hoover Dam is used to carry water up and across the Sierra Nevada Mountains on its way to Southern California

From where? If that water is coming from Lake Mead, or the Colorado River, that’s a lonnnng roundabout way to go to get to Southern California. Even water from the Owens River that goes to LA doesn’t cross the Sierras.

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Trump already criticized the state for letting water run out into the ocean - when talking about rivers. There’s nothing too stupid for them to propose.

Edit: And actually, I have heard the “more/bigger dams” demand from Republicans. Yep, that’s really helpful when there’s no rainfall to begin with.

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Check out The Windup Girl by him, as well.

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almonds which are mostly shipped over seas, thus helping even more to push the climate over the edge

mother jones had an article on it a few years back. one of the problems is it’s become a commodity traded by hedge funds, and ca law allows farms to drop a well and take pretty much whatever water they can find.

so basically wall st making money by not having to pay any of the externalized costs. again

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New England here. I’ll take pickled cukes/apples/turn-ups all winter long. Then in the summer/spring we get fresh berries and herbs. Oranges/bananas are cheap enough to import but we’ve cut back on our nut/avacado consumption. Tofu/chicken/beef prices seem to be stable enough not to worry about seasons.

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Cloud seeding?

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Pretty sure that’s the POM/Pistachio assholes, the Resnicks. No love for them out here. Meet the California Couple Who Uses More Water Than Every Home in Los Angeles Combined – Mother Jones

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