Aquifer Collapsing In Foggy Mendocino CA; Local Businesses Trucking In Water As Wells Fail

[hatrack]

On many mornings, the village of Mendocino vanishes into a thick white fog that covers its seaside cliffs, redwood trees and quaint Victorian houses. Carved into California’s northern coast, the historic hamlet’s rugged beaches, scenic hikes, charming bed-and-breakfasts and boutique galleries draw in 1.8m visitors each year. “Of course it does. This place is just so beautiful. It’s so lush and moist here,” said Julian Lopez, the executive chef at Mendocino’s Café Beaujolais. “So when you learn about all the water problems, it really comes as a shock.”

For the past century, misty, forested Mendocino – despite being nestled along a number of major rivers, creeks and springs – has relied on shallow wells for water. But amid a historic drought dessicating the US west, the aquifers beneath the town’s damp fog layer have rapidly declined, threatening to sink the region’s tourism industry and the residents who rely on it. Café Beaujolais, which normally draws all its water for cooking and cleaning from two small wells on its property, has already been shelling out thousands of dollars to have water trucked in from nearby towns and cities.

Because surrounding areas are also facing shortages, the costs of getting tanker trucks full of potable water has nearly doubled over the past few months – from about $350 per 3,500-gallon load to $600, Lopez said. “This is likely to keep getting worse,” he said. “Especially with global warming, as the earth gets hotter and dry seasons get longer.”

EDIT

“It’s a challenge,” said John Dixon, who owns lodging houses in the area. He requires guests to reuse towels, and he’s installed water-efficient dishwashers and laundry machines. But last month, one of his properties briefly ran out of water when the city of Fort Bragg, which used to send neighboring coastal towns including Mendocino and Little River regular truckloads of supplementary water, stopped exports. High tides had pushed brackish water up the dwindling Noyo River, which Fort Bragg relies on for its water, and local officials decided to stop outside sales to protect residents’ supply. “That day that For Bragg cut us off, the wells on one of my properties came up dry,” Dixon said. “And the drivers weren’t going to be able to bring us a delivery.” At about 11am, the taps ran completely dry. After a couple of hours, Dixon was able to convince a different water supplier to send down a tank from the inland town of Ukiah. Since then, he has been paying a premium to continue to do so. Still, like most other residents and business owners in the region, he’s eager for a longer-term solution.

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/07/california-drought-water-mendocino-tourism

[Binkie The Clown]

1. There are places which simply will not be able to support human life in our near future.

Climate change will render more and more of the earth's surface as uninhabitable.

[Random Boomer]

2. We need a managed retreat

But instead we'll continue to sink money & resources into areas that will have to be abandoned eventually.

[Another Jackalope]

3. "Retreat" sounds a lot like "Degrowth"

Neither word is in the western sociopolitical vocabulary.

So long, it's been good ta know ya.