LA residents told to cut showers as drought deepens (driest in 130 yrs)

[UpInArms]

Source: Reuters

and stop throwing trash in toilets in a bid to cut water usage by 10 percent in the driest year on record.

With downtown Los Angeles seeing a record low of 4 inchesof rain since July 2006 -- less than a quarter of normal -- and with a hot, dry summer ahead, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the city needed "to change course and conserve water to steer clear of this perfect storm."

It is the driest year since rainfall records began 130 years ago.

The Eastern Sierra mountains, where Los Angeles gets about half of its water supply, marked its second-lowest snowpack on record this year.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSN0642623620070606

[ixion]

1. interesting... extreme dought on both coasts

over here in southern FL, we've got an extreme drought going as well.

[ohio2007]

8. Extreme populations tax the resources

[Bandit]

48. While that may be true it really doesn't address the drought unless

You are suggesting if we had less people there would be less Global Warming. I think it is already too late but I expect the genius's in power to attempt something to lower population levels like maybe a nuclear war or something..Might turn out to be the best thing possible for the earth if 90% of humanity was wiped off the face of the planet..I think humans resemble more of a plague than a benefit for earth.

[ohio2007]

93. Peak population has been reached and the

water wars in parched regions are under way. They say that litttle river in Lebanon flowing through the Bekka Valley holds the attention of three nations.
Don't even need to bring up the African population problem as it is self evident.
Wars kill fewer people than bad water does.

[candice]

105. The L.A. Basin is a desert with a carrying capacity of 650,000 thousand people

...something has to give. The area with the most air pollution in the U.S. is getting one-quarter of that from China. The future does not look bright.

I was always hoping that someday I could return to the city of my birth, but I can't breathe the air, and the mass migration after WW II never stopped.

[earth mom]

134. Bingo-Overpopulation is the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about. nt

[raccoon]

36. In SC, we're in a drought. Don't know if it's an extreme drought, though. nt

[BarstowDeath]

50. What is an extreme drought?

are there degrees?

[progressoid]

59. Here ya go...

http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html

[BarstowDeath]

89. thanks

[Odin2005]

81. Here in Fargo it's it's so wet we have flooding.

nt

[VTMechEngr]

109. New England is doing well. nt

[BeyondGeography]

2. Trash in toilets?

Didn't realize that was a widespread problem.

[madrchsod]

9. that`s were we throw our trash here in illinois

we have so much water we never shut off our faucets! well i`m kidding. throwing used toilet paper in the trash can? no thanks

[bigmonkey]

79. In Chicago the park water fountains used to run continuously.

They just stopped that a couple of years ago. They would turn them on in the spring, and off in the fall. Could be the proximity of Lake Michigan affected thinking on that.

[Delphinus]

82. Somewhere (here or elsewhere on the web)

I just read an article about one of the Great Lakes being affected (diminished) by global climate change.

[silverojo]

84. Plumbers in Illinois must be pretty wealthy, LOL

As for throwing used TP in the trash--that's what we've done for years. Unless you've got a houseful of people with raging diarrhea, it doesn't add much to your trash output. And unless you plan on plunging your hands into your trash bag for some reason, it's perfectly OK to throw the wipes into a bag, then tie up the bag and dispose of it. We also use biodegradable TP.

Maybe it's because our family has dealt with ill people over the years, that we don't get squeamish over such little things. Now, if you're dealing with a patient who has been hit by an attack of diarrhea before he/she can make it out of bed and onto the commode...THAT'S something to get squeamish about. :rofl:

[Megahurtz]

88. LOL! n/t

[Screwfly]

131. LOL

reminds of that movie Saving Silverman where they tell the Gunny they shitting in the yard to conserve water; then the Gunny goes and starts taking a crap in the front yard.

[Joanie Baloney]

54. Talking trash...

I think the article is referring to people who use facial tissue or toilet paper to clean off make-up, etc. and then toss it into the toilet and flush. I sure hope people aren't throwing soup cans and wrappers in the toilets. L.A. will have a whole different problem then: exploding sewers!


Ewww! ;)

JB

[kestrel91316]

122. Yep. Toss the dental floss in and flush. Toss a kleenex in and flush.

You know - things people do without even thinking......

[TankLV]

138. how do you wipe with dental floss?!!!

ewwwwwwww!!!!

bad imagination!
bad imagination!

ewwwwwwww!!!!

[kestrel91316]

141. People use their toilets for TRASH disposal because they are too

lazy to reach for a wastebasket. I know. I used to do it on occasion.

[Buns_of_Fire]

144. Dental Floss is a versatile thing. They even use it to make

bathing suits, these days! ;-)

[tinymontgomery]

3. Time to take Navy showers

Rinse, turn off water, soap, turn water on rinse, turn water off. Or buy the valve that you push and it give you about 45 seconds of water before it shuts off.

[Delphinus]

83. I wouldn't mind this, actually.

I rode a train two years ago that did this and it worked very well. Any idea how to find one (or what I'm asking for)?

[silverojo]

85. Go to a place like Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.

They have all sorts of low-flow shower heads that have on/off valves. I use one such shower head, and it really reduces water consumption, without sacrificing the feel of a nice shower. I can also shut down the water while I'm lathering up, etc., which saves even more.

What can I say, I started trying to live green before Al Gore made it cool. :)

[devilgrrl]

86. Yep, that's what I'm doing...

I also need to come up with a way to use less water washing dishes. Anyone have good tips?

[grasswire]

110. fill one tub with wash water and another with rinse water...

...and then dump your rinse water outside on your rose bushes when finished. Wash your glasses first and then your other dishes, with the dirtiest things last. Maybe you already knew that. :-)

[devilgrrl]

115. My sink is real small and doesn't have a drain that plugs...

I'll need to get another container to hold the rinse water.

It's shocking how much is used :scared:

BTW, the navy shower thing is working just fine. You'd be surprised of how little water you need to get squeaky clean. At Burning Man, it takes less than a gallon of water to feel fresh and shining. :-)

[yardwork]

118. You can buy a plain rubber cover that fits in your drain to plug the sink.

Also, lots of plants will actually thrive on the soapy water if you don't overdo it. Detergent is pretty close to fertilizer in chemical composition. Just don't get the soapy water on the leaves.

[devilgrrl]

120. I use Dr. Bronners soap too :-)

I've seen those rub covers - this is a old time sink and I'm not sure it'll work - another plastic basin will be fine. :-)

[yardwork]

126. That'll work!

[catgirl]

114. Many Europeans bathe this way

with the shower head you hold to rinse off. It drastically cuts
water usage.

[Ezlivin]

123. Never stopped taking "submarine" showers

Once I learned the routine I never dropped it. I can't fathom why everyone does not shower like that.

:shrug:

[TankLV]

133. I learned to do it that last time Honolulu had a drought in the 80's

fell "funny" NOT doing it that way...

[rodeodance]

4. Unless water is rationed to each household. this will not be enforceable

[BikeWriter]

5. No, it won't, but they could raise rates in an emergency!

[madrchsod]

6. when everyone moved there

.
they should have looked at the river that ran through la and figured out that this area does`t get a lot of water.maybe that`s why there were no large indian settlements there on the scale of the midwest.

[MindPilot]

14. And when everyone moved to New Orleans

they should have noticed the basin was below sea level. And the people in Iraqi should have noticed they were moving in on top of OUR oil.

Do you have any idea how ignorant that statement makes you appear?

[arikara]

49. Need your morning coffee?

For sure the ones who issued the building permits should have been aware that there was a finite amount of water but then they are only interested in the tax base and in scratching the backs of their buddies the developers.

[kestrel91316]

124. Thank you. They still are building MORE AND MORE. If they would

put landscaping restrictions in the code like Vegas and Tucson have, it would be fine. But everyone still wants their expansive English lawns front and back, and tropical vegetation that hogs water.

Fools. Time to raise the rates for usage beyond basic needs for household use. Big yards like mine should pay an arm and a leg for water, instead of getting it cheap.

[hedgehog]

53. When people move to the arid West from the lush areas of the

North and Midwest, soneone should have been smart enough to figure out that it wasn't the place to plant a lawn! Instead, people settled there and never changed their water habits.

[MindPilot]

56. Another expert on living in California...let's see where you're from.

hmmm...NYC.

[hedgehog]

63. Not exactly !

Try Oswego County, population 123,077, annual rainfall 39".


You're right, I haven't been to California since I left there at the age of 3 months, but I can point out a typical article:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060305/news_lz1v05salm.html

[MindPilot]

67. And there you are hoggin' all the rain, hedgehog

I support an excessive rainfall tax. :D

The article supports my whole point...we live with drought year in and year out.

[hedgehog]

77. I guess the question is, how many transplanted Westerners live in a state of denial?

You do live with drought year in and year out. Trying to maintain an Eastern landscape in those conditions is nuts. Going by the article though, I'd say a lot of people try to maintain a lawn by watering it on a regular basis.

We had a Georgian visiting the area and he couldn't get over how lush and soft our lawns were in August. In Georgia apparently, they get pretty much baked to straw by then. We pointed out that the 14' of snow the previous winter might be part of the reason, and then he wasn't so envious!

[silverojo]

87. Well, I've lived in California and Arizona

Arizona's a helluva lot drier, so when we first moved there from the Plains, we had to learn to change our water habits fast. Like, refrigerating water instead of running the tap endlessly to get cold water (hint: in AZ, it never turns truly cold in the summer, so you could run it all day). Or watering your outdoor plants at night, so that the daytime heat won't evaporate the water before your plants can absorb it.

What really sucks in CA, AZ, and other dry states is the way they insist on making these lush, real grass golf courses, in a region where grass like this doesn't grow naturally. I remember talking to a guy in Kansas who had been to Phoenix and saw these golf courses. He commented, "There's got to be a special place in hell for those people!"

You can't just blame people from the Midwest, because the locals are pretty good at being wasteful, too....

[KansDem]

80. I lived in the LA area from 1954 to 1978...

Here is a photo of the "Los Angeles River"


We used to ride our bicycles along the sides of the "river." It rarely had water in it; usually after a rain. It usually looked like this photo.

Now, I believe Angelenos get their water from the Colorado River and, I believe, an aqueduct coming down from the north (Owens Valley). madrchsod has a point: LA would be a desert if it wasn't for water importation.

Take a look at the 1974 movie "Chinatown."

[candice]

106. You were getting water from the Owens Valley in the 50s.

[kestrel91316]

125. Well, sometimes it does this:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.you-are-here.com/location/la_river.html&h=320&w=480&sz=48&hl=en&start=15&um=1&tbnid=9lxBk1010ho74M:&tbnh=86&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlos%2Bangeles%2Briver%2Bflood%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us

Scroll down on the page to see the flood photos.

[ChazII]

69. That is why

the Hohokam tribe built canals. Those canals are still used to bring water to the Phoenix and surrounding communities.

[BikeWriter]

7. (or shower with a friend!)

[iamjoy]

10. That Could Use More Water

showering with a friend, that is.
;-)

[SomeGuyInEagan]

33. "Conserve ... shower with a friend"

Sounds like the type of media campaign Schwarzenegger would enthusiastically .. er, get behind. ("Oh my!")

[JNelson6563]

11. Can't we desalinate the ocean?

Seems odd that California's right there on the ocean but they have no water. I thought there were already ways to desalinate ocean water, is this incorrect?

Julie

[dipsydoodle]

12. Must be.

They did that on the coastal strips of Spain for years. Caused tummy upsets for some tourists who were not used to it. Perfectly safe - just a different chemical makeup to that with which their stomachs were accustomed. Comedians used to avoid drinking tap water but had the same water as ice in their drinks quite apart from brushing their teeth with it.

[MindPilot]

16. Desalinization is one of those things that looks like a good idea

but it is very energy-intensive. It can be done with filters and chemicals, but the results aren't as good as actual distillation.

[InkAddict]

28. *ALERT" - In a daring maneuver to thwart Mother Nature

reverse osmosis is neing used to suck water out of Paraquay and pipeline it over SA and the Baja - for a nice profitable fee cost, of course! Mexican tank haulers that have passed DHS's "thorough" background checks line up at border crossings to fill non-recycleable six-packs and pick up shotgun security guards before rollin' northward to Dick Cheney's secret mountain-cave bottling warehouses where it will be stored for re-distribution to points south and east. (see blow up of spy satelitte and tracking photos of caravans).

And in related news, spas are getting soaked for processed "all natural" bath additives. Blame lands hard on Cheney's desalinazion plants where refining profits are boiling over as armed guards insure the security of numerous dumping sites.

[XemaSab]

99. We've got a desal plant here in Santa Barbara

but right now it costs a lot more money to desalinate ocean water than we pay for State water.

[ikojo]

146. I think the Israelis are working on this

very issue.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2005/tc20051230_495029.htm

Israel: Waterworks for the World?
With decades of experience managing this precious natural commodity, it hopes to become the Silicon Valley of water-management tech.

For decades, water has been an extremely precious commodity in Israel. And over the years, the Jewish state has developed numerous technologies to deal with severe water shortages. Already, 60% of the country's sewage water is recycled, and in September, the world's largest desalination plant was opened along Israel's southern Mediterranean coast. Now, new ventures are sprouting up to develop technologies for a global market where demand is growing rapidly. Israel is looking to exploit its expertise and become a major player in the global market for water technology.

[Doctor_J]

13. I have a better idea - shower with a neighbor

:evilgrin:

Edit: I should have read the posts before mine. Some other letch already had this idea.

[Javaman]

15. Can you spare a square? nt

[Robb]

17. In Colorado there's a saying:

"You can't conserve your way out of a drought."

Meaning at some point (a) it has to rain, or (b) you have to get water from somewhere.

(c) would be change your population to match available water, but that never happens.

[rfranklin]

18. They have sprinklers going day and night throughout CA...

I have always marveled at how much water is wasted trying to turn the southern CA desert into a rainforest.

[MindPilot]

22. Shit fire Dilbert, I don't even have shut-off valves on my sprinklers!!

Yeah, we all do that. :eyes:

But at least we don't that whatever here that you do back there. We're all smarter and better looking too.

[driver8]

25. Oh man -- don't even get me started!!

I live in Southern California and it drives me absolutely f*cking crazy to see these sprinklers going all the time!!

We live in a f#cking desert, people...time to face facts!!

When we bought our house, our side yard had a nice green lawn. The problem is, our side yard is exposed to the sun all day. To keep it green would require watering every day for an hour or so. No freakin' way...my wife and I refuse to waste that much water to have green grass. We have planted drought resistant plants in our front yard and are still trying to decide what to do on the side.

What I really love to see is to watch people use a hose and water to clean off their driveway. Hey -- have you ever heard of a broom??!!

Idiots.

[bunkerbuster1]

35. It's the pristine-clean cars that bug me

And it's not just that I'm a lazy SOB who thinks it's dumb to wash your car more often than once a year or so (combined with a protective wax, as long as I've got the car out). Here I am, in the SE, where we are literally a FOOT off the expected rainfall for the year, and yet everyone's still all anal about their cars.

Sick, sick, sick.

[bleedingheart]

42. it isn't just CA

here in PA people run sprinklers to have the perfect putting green lawn...granted we don't often have water shortages but it has happened...

I planted native trees and shrubs and I don't have to water as much since they are adapted to our climate....even my perennials don't need daily waterings...

I never understand folks who move to let's say Arizona and want to have a green lawn...it seems really weird....

[Xithras]

52. It's never neccesary to water like that.

A southern California lawn requires about 2 inches of water a week to stay green. If the ground has been properly plugged and aerated to allow water to penetrate, and if the water is applied an hour before dawn when evaporation is the lowest, the lawn should only require water for about 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week. People who water their lawns every day, especially for an hour a day, are just wasting water pointlessly.

[MindPilot]

58. Ahh someone with a sense of reality!!

My sprinklers run for five minutes every other night. And that keeps my drought-resistant grass close to green. If the word comes to quit watering, I cut 'em off, the grass turns brown until the rains come.

My car gets washed at a car wash that recycles its water. (I think that's a law if you are going to build a car wash.) I can't recall the last time I saw someone using a hose on their driveway.

I get really uptight at all the people from other parts of the country who think they can get away with making sweeping generalizations about Californians. We live in drought, so our normal usage is probably already far below what the cali-haters want to accuse us of wasting.

[driver8]

74. Great post.

I was at the car wash the other day and I heard the owner explaining to a customer all of the changes he had made. He said that he was now using 25% less water than before...that was nice to hear.

Drought resistant grass -- I need to look into that.

[silverojo]

90. Indeed, you don't have to water lawn much in SoCal

Let's face it, if the temp reaches 105 during the summer, it's newsworthy to them. SoCal is hardly a true desert...try living in Palm Springs, now THAT'S desert. LA's a totally different climate.

If you're living in an area where 105 is considered newsworthy for being a COOL spell...now you're living in a desert. :rofl:

[kestrel91316]

127. LA is often HOTTER THAN PALM SPRINGS. I should know.

My office is half a mile from where last summer they recorded 119 degrees, the hottest temp ever seen anywhere in LA County. It takes a LOT of water to keep typical landscaping alive here, even with the low-water use grasses. And still most homes have semitropical plantings..........very few have natives and drought-tolerant plants.

[xxqqqzme]

65. you need to be planting veggies in that sun

soaked space. Drip irrigation & a good layer of mulch and you have fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, cantelope and/or watermelon.

Also drought plague peoples, buy a bucket or dish pan and put it in your shower. It will catch water that you can then use on plants....

[silverojo]

91. I tried the bucket in the shower idea

But my low-flow shower head is so low flow, that I couldn't begin to fill the bucket during the time that I showered. I'll admit that I do turn off the water while soaping up, etc., but I give most of the credit to this incredible shower head I found. It looks really stupid, a little bitty thing, but it works great. I wish I could remember what it was called, so I could recommend it by name. :(

But if you look at your local hardware stores, and shop around, you should be able to find a very low-flow head with an on/off valve.

[ordinaryaveragegirl]

136. Give "desert landscaping" a try...

There are a lot of beautiful plants out there that require very little water, and LOTS of sun. Lantata, Pampas Grass, Bouganvillea (sic?), and more. I've also heard of people in SoCal going with artificial grass, so that they have the "look" of a green lawn, but no watering issues.

[MadHound]

19. This is what happens when you put large metropolitan areas in what is essentially a desert

The sad thing is that these urban areas are sucking up water that should rightfully be going to water the breadbasket of this nation. Thus not only are they going to collapse themselves due to lack of water, but as they suck the aquifers dry, they'll bring down the Midwest down with them.

[msongs]

20. invalid reasoning. try again nt

[MadHound]

24. OK, I conceed that I was a little over the top calling the area a desert, however

With the area averaging around fifteen inches/yr, the place is certainly arid, and the rainfall certainly can't support the number of people that live there. Same goes with other SW cities, Las Vegas, Phoenix, etc.

And yes, these cities, with a population that they can't sustain naturally, are sucking our large and small underground aquifers dry, water that normally goes to feed the Midwestern growing land.

Instead, this water is squandered in the desert, watering lawns, golf courses, filling pools and manmaded lakes.

Sorry, but the fact is that SW metro areas are unsustainable, and the longer that they continue to suck down water at the current rates, the more damage they're causing not just to themselves but to significant swathes of the rest of the country. Why should fresh water springs here in the Midwest dry up just so people in the SW can have green lawns?

[MindPilot]

26. So the Ogalala aquifer is draining into the San Fernando Valley?

Try again.

This couldn't possibly be a result of global warming could it? Of course not. It's all the fault of people who live in the Southwest. :eyes:

[silverojo]

92. You are so deluded about the Southwest

First off, the vast majority of us have NO grass in our yards--we have "desert lawns", which consist of gravel and trees/plants native to our environment.

Second, going by your reasoning, the rest of the country is unsustainable because you people suck up so much of our natural resources to heat your homes during the winter, to fuel snowplows and snowblowers to clear snow, etc. EVERY part of the country has some quirk of climate that requires more energy during part of the year. If you want to stop "squandering" energy, turn off your heater--yeah, I thought you wouldn't agree to that.

Third, if other parts of the country are so wonderful and sustainable, why do you think so many people flee out here to the Southwest every year? (Hint: They want to get the hell away from the horror and expense that you call winter.)

Fourth, all you people who use oil and gas to heat your homes in the winter are squandering a lot of natural resources that those of us in the SW never use at all in our homes.

Finally, no matter what climate you're in, private pools and golf courses with true grass are a waste of water.

In other words, you're great at throwing blame, but not too keen on checking out how good a job we've done at making our cities sustainable, and working WITH our natural environment instead of against it.

[MindPilot]

95. I'm not absolutely certain about this, but I believe most golf courses

are irrigated with grey water.

[Coventina]

108. Thanks for the defense of us desert rats.

I'm here in Phoenix by necessity, not choice. But here I am, and it looks like I will stay (unless something drastic happens).

I do have one quibble, though. I've lived here in Phoenix since 1979, and saying the "vast majority" have "no grass" in their yards is not true. I wish it were. The proportion is getting better, but most people still have grass in their backyards at least.

[kestrel91316]

129. Come to Los Angeles. Most of the millions of homes here have GRASS LAWNS

front and back, and a majority have water-hogging ornamentals.

My next-door neighbors used to water their front lawn every single evening for an hour or more, year round, even in the rain. 'Til they moved. Idiots.

[kestrel91316]

128. We DO live in a desert here in SoCal. Most years we get almost no

rain. Except for the flood years when we suddenly get 30". I have lived here 25 years and NEVER seen an "average" year with 15", lol. No such animal.

[acmavm]

29. What's invalid about it? Are you saying that you don't understand

that we are already having water wars (and have been for friggin' YEARS) here in the United States? What part of water shortage don't you understand?. Or what part of some people are such asses that they feel that they should be entitled to water their useless, worthless grass during a shortage when there is not enough water to take care of the crops? Or for drinking? Or maybe to wash clothes or other necessary hygenic uses?

Seriously, you need to try again.

[MindPilot]

31. No. You have to understand that we in the west live with water shortage

day in and day out. We live in what is basically a desert and we know it. Unlike you rubes back east, we in the west have been conserving water for as long as we have been here. We know how it works and how to do it--that's why a newspaper article is all that's necessary to get a convervation program going. And my lawn is not worthless; it keeps my propery value up and will continue do so. Got a problem with that?

[barb162]

38. You are probably going to be the one with the problem.

With the driest season in over a hundred years, I doubt your lawn will survive with complete watering restrictions.

[Name removed]

45. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[depakid]

68. You have got to be kidding me!

LA and its population are every bit as wasteful and even more callous than most other cities I've lived in or visited. The point about people's (and business') automatic sprinklers is a valid one- and low flow toilets (and the "brick trick) are still not the norm.

In many parts of the city, people don't even take care of their own yards- or pools. That's largely hired out to Central Americans and Mexican Indians.

While there are more wasteful and absurd places in the West, none has the LA's basin's population nor its contrasts. And I have news- if this keeps up, you all are going to be in for a double shock: Australian style drought and water restrictions PLUS rising petroleum and natural gas prices that are going to decimate the area's economy.

And most people will never have seen it coming....

[MindPilot]

72. Another expert on Southern California who doesn't live here.

What cities would fall into your "absurd" category? How can a city be absurd?

[depakid]

76. I have news

LA's probably one of the most wasteful places I've ever been- particularly in terms of available local resources. I know, because I lived there on and off for many years before getting wise and leaving permanently.

What cities are more absurd? How about Phoenix and Vegas.... they're not close to sustainable with their current population base- and yet they just keep growing like bacteria in a petri dish. Can you say" "overshoot and collapse?" or "boom & bust?"

People in the Western sunbelt -and LA more than most- never learn...

BTW: I lived through much of this. Did you?:

In Drought I, in 1977, an emergency city water panel concluded, "This really is war." The Department of Water and Power banned watering lawns in the heat of the day, hosing down sidewalks, driveways and parking lots, and serving water to restaurant customers unless they asked for it — it took almost half a gallon of water to wash a water glass.

Leaders took Drought I very seriously, so we did too. The city wanted a 10% water cut. We gave 20%.

As for Drought II in the late '80s and early '90s, the bans of the 1970s were still on the books, and L.A. started sticking the violators with fines. Santa Monica went so far as to ban new swimming pool permits. In Santa Barbara, a brown lawn was a sign of patriotic sacrifice — except to a Texas billionaire who paid $25,000 in fines to keep the grass green at a Montecito estate he rarely visited. But as soon as rainfall decently allowed, the politicians overruled the water experts and eagerly pronounced an end to the crisis: Go back to your old habits.

With Drought III upon us, I called the DWP. Those regulations are still in place, right? No hosing down, no free-running car-washing hoses? And you'll be enforcing them, right?

Yes, they are, but no, they won't.

MORE: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-morrison17may17,0,3021729.column?coll=la-opinion-rightrail

[huskerlaw]

55. There are water wars, but

Nebraska's not losing water to California. It's losing it to Colorado.

I live in Los Angeles...I'm not drinking water from the Ogallala Aquifer. I'm drinking it from the Eastern Sierra Nevadas, which doesn't impact the midwest in the slightest.

[XemaSab]

100. It's a totally different water system in the midwest

There's no connection whatsoever between the major watersheds of California/Southwest and the Midwest.

[MindPilot]

21. I had no idea there were so many California-bashers here on DU

Now that's it's morning here, some left coasters can post some sense into this thread.

[Joanie Baloney]

27. Yawn. Stretch. Waste water.

My morning regimen here in southern California.

I have to hurry and flush all my toilets and turn on my sprinklers, but first, let me just say


:wtf:



Conservation is always a good idea. Whether we are in the southwest or midwest. Can't we all just get along? Sheesh.

JB

[NorthernSpy]

40. I'm not bashing California. I just don't get why people try to make it look like Connecticut...

Why not just accept your climate for what it is, and plant groundcovers that are fully adapted to a warm, arid place? A landscape doesn't have to be uniformly green to be beautiful. There are so many awesome things that you can grow down there that would require a conservatory up here.


(Full disclosure: I live in a wet climate with high rainfall. The concept of "watering the lawn" is alien to me. Grass grows too damn fast anyway.)

[VTMechEngr]

111. LOL. They want to look like Connecticut....

But not deal with the Hassle of Mother Winter. Wussies.

[mike_c]

44. LOL-- Californian here and I agree with the bashers....

It's ludicrous to water a lawn in SoCal. It's ridiculous to grow non-native grasses attempting to look like a lush English gardenscape in an arid Mediterranean climate. You do it because it raises the property value of your house, at the expense of genuinely necessary water needs? That's utterly selfish.

[XemaSab]

101. Hey Mike

Go talk to Chris in Geography.

Urban use is about 10% of water consumption in the state.

That being said, I planted a bunch of natives around my apartment that look AWESOME. :D

[Throd]

51. Because as I drive around El Dorado Hills...

I see lush lawns and pristine golf courses. It won't rain here until November. In July and August it will be over 100 degrees for days in a row. It seems that every fifth house has landscaping appropriate for the climate, but too many people are clinging to the birthright of the dewey green meadow in front of their house.

[LeftyMom]

103. Yell yeah, but white flight suburbs tend to have high concentrations of the spoiled and stupid.

That one just happens to be worse than most, since it takes a special kind of stupid to brave the commute on the 50.

[RedEarth]

23. If it's yellow, let it mellow

if it's brown, flush it down. Used to hear that years ago when the conservation movement was just starting.

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MindPilot]

32. California is stealing water from the entire country?

Riiiiiight.

[NMDemDist2]

34. LA has been stealing water for decades

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Water_Wars

[XemaSab]

102. Every urban area in California steals water from another part of the state

San Francisco steals the Tuolumne, Oakland steals the Mokelumne, LA and San Diego steal the Owens and Feather as well as a good chunk of the Colorado and Sacramento.

Any city hooked up to State water is also complicit.

Redding, Sacramento, and Fresno are fortunate enough to be along major rivers, so they don't take as much of the blame for wasting water.

Ultimately, however, urban use is only 10% of the state's water consumption. Rice, cotton, alfalfa, and irrigated pasture are the biggest consumers of water.

[Le Taz Hot]

39. Huh?

It's about the small snowpack in the Sierra Nevada which means less run off which means less free water for farmers which means farmers have to buy water which means they have to pass off those higher costs to consumers.

I have NO idea where you got your premise.

LTH<---Totally confused. I mean, even more than usual.

[MindPilot]

46. Did you intend to reply to the other poster?

I was questioning the silly premise that Cali is taking water from the other side of the Divide.

[Le Taz Hot]

47. No, dahlink,

but I think you did. :9

(Damn, for once it WASN'T me having another menopausal moment.):hi:

[earth mom]

140. Ever seen the film Chinatown? nt

[DrDan]

37. group showers are much more effective

the carpool lane tactic - much more effective . . .

[kineneb]

41. everyone: get a copy of "Cadillac Desert" and read it

It is probably the best history of water in the West ever written. We have been living on borrowed time out here for a long while. Perhaps this is a constructive warning.

The West is a seasonal desert: rain/snows in the winter, dry summers. Without the huge water projects from the 1930 forward, the area simply would not be able to support the large populations that have developed. However, there is little "extra" water left to tap.

If climate change makes it drier, the area is in trouble. All water usage is predicated on storage of water in the form of mountain snows. The snow melts and fills the dams which then control the flow of water that serves cities and agriculture. Or, in areas with no dams, people plan their water usage based on the snow pack. Add in the winter rains, and those are the major sources of water.

Pumping from aquifers is next down the list. But most of those aquifers replenish from the rains.

[BeyondGeography]

60. Great book...Marc Reisner (RIP) was a visionary

:thumbsup:

[PaulaFarrell]

43. Misleading headline...again

Says driest in 130 years, not driest ever recorded. The headline implies that 130 years it was this dry, rather than that it is the driest summer since recording began 130 years ago, and thus that that while not normal, it's not unheard of. This kind of headline comforts the deniers, and it seems to happen all the time.

[BadGimp]

57. I skipped a shower this am and..

since I started flusing a lot less there is something growing in my toilet

[roamer65]

61. Delete.

[roamer65]

62. Message to the West: Don't even consider Great Lakes water diversion.

Lake Superior is at its lowest level in 190+ years of recording. Any diversion project will be met with stiff resistance. We'll bog it down in the courts for decades.

http://www.pca.state.mn.us/publications/mnenvironment/winter2006/diversion.html

[hedgehog]

64. Bog it down in the courts, nothing!

Canada has an interest in those Lakes, as well!

[roamer65]

70. All Great Lakes Canadian provinces and American GL states are in "the same boat".

We really need to convene a conference of this group for the express purpose of permanently sealing off the Lakes to all diversion attempts. No pipelines, no bottled water, no water at all from this region should leave.

[TankLV]

135. totally agree - Buffalo born, live in Vegas now...

We'll agree to let you keep your water if you stop sending your nuke waste to us, Kay?...

I wonder if eventually we'll see Vegas become one of the many ghost towns that dot the Nevada landscape...they all thought they were the next big thing...

[roamer65]

71. Delete.

[Xithras]

98. Don't worry, we're looking more at Alaska :)

Just kidding!

[Wcross]

66. It's bad here in southern middle Tennessee- no rain in months.

The hay is poor for the early cutting, wells are drying up. I am on a self imposed conservation program as I don't want my well to run dry.

[roamer65]

73. Your rain has slid north.

We're getting buckets of rain in lower Michigan. I never water my lawn and this is the greenest I've seen it this late in the spring. It looks like a golf course lawn. Yuck, I hate mowing.

[BrightKnight]

75. They need to move on a number of cogeneration desalination projects.

Conservation might help but it is never going to solve California's water problems. The Pacific Ocean is the only real answer. It is possible to create and run desalination plants in an environmentally responsible way.

[hedgehog]

78. How about reverse osmosis on the sewer outlets?

Take care of two problems at one time?

[MindPilot]

94. Well we were going to try something similar in San Diego, buuut

somewhere along the line the project got named "toilet-to-tap". That naturally flunked the PR test and it failed miserably.

[hedgehog]

96. That's too bad. I think eventually all sewer plants will have to engage

in reverse osmosis to prevent the return of untreated chemicals to open waters, esp. pharmaceuticals.

[MindPilot]

97. I hope to see thermal polymerization plants

used to fire desalinization facilities.

We have an additional problem here on the coast (at least in San Diego) because our storm drains don't connect to the sewer system. It's a separate network of pipes that dumps directly onto the beaches. So after a good rain which washes all the accumulated shit from the streets right into the Pacific, the water is contaminated and sometimes beaches are closed for weeks after a storm.

We also get outfall from Mexico--which doesn't have the best sewage treatment facilities--that moves north.

[one more state]

104. Too many illegal aliens

Could it be to many illegal aliens? The government should cut of anyone's water and power that is not supposed to be in the country.

[candice]

107. How would they know...the government has no idea who is here, and

fake IDs are sold out in the open in MacArthur Park.

[barb162]

116. Over here, fake IDs are sold by a city councilman's father

and I hope the feds really go after that slug. Afterwards the councilman said why don't the feds go after the drug dealers and "real" criminals, like his father is some sort of law-abiding citizen. Like his father wasn't breaking the law.

[grasswire]

112. time to close the Oregon border to migration

....and don't be thinking we're going to ship our water south! Our energy prices have skyrocketed since Enron sold our NW energy to CA. We ain't bailin' you out on this one!

[barb162]

117. I'm surprised there aren't more people in your state.

It is SO damned beautiful.

[grasswire]

130. shhhh.....

Californians have already been fleeing their state in massive numbers.

[ozone_man]

113. Time to redistribute population according to rainfall?

I don't know if this is a trend, but it's starting to look like that in certain parts of the world, Australia, North Africa, etc. Maybe the SW will have to move some of it's population to a rainier region of the U.S. living in a desert is just not sustainable. Phoenix and Las Vegas in particular.

I predict that water wars will be coming too. I hope the U.S. doesn't try to build aqueducts to suck up Canadian water. If it goes that way, I think the SWers will just have top move. Or will they rather fight than switch?

[TankLV]

137. hey - let me whistle past the graveyard in the dark a while longer please!

Vegas resident...

[ordinaryaveragegirl]

142. Sheesh, guess we might be the next "boom" area LOL...

We've had off and on flooding problems here in the Plains for weeks now. I wish we could send some of our water to some of the places that really do need it.

[ozone_man]

143. It's probably best to stay as the bread basket.

The plains don't have a very low carbon footprint, partly because the geographical distances are so large and not having much hydropower (not that hydropower comes without impacts, it destroys river ecosystems), so it's a region best left to the growing of the wheat and soy beans, etc., for the rest of the country, which the plentiful rainfall is good for.

Two equally important issues are water availability and per capita carbon footprint. California has a nice carbon footprint, the same as New York, but has run out of water to be sustainable. The Colorado River never makes it to the ocean.

New York, by contrast, has the best water system in the country. So, I expect some reverse migration will be occuring from the SW back to the NE. Better bundle up, it gets cold up here. :)

We've got to reduce our carbon footprint and live more locally, less driving automobiles, better mass transit between hubs and subhubs. Carbon emission per capita:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/06/02/state/n094611D25.DTL



http://www.env-econ.net/2007/06/us_carbon_emiss.html

[Cronus Protagonist]

119. I just took a very WET walk around downtown LA this morning

The business owners here have no problem pouring thousands of gallons of water over the sidewalks every morning and I'm not supposed to have a shower? Fuck that! I'm more important than a shitty sidewalk!

[kestrel91316]

121. I have been doing my part since Sep 1 2006. I have not watered

my yard AT ALL since the new landlord quit providing a weekly mow-blow-and-go gardening service. He's planning to bulldoze the two houses on this 14,000 sf lot and put up a Persian Palace, and is trying highly illegal eviction stunts to boot, lol, but we have sicced the city housing dept on him.

Anyway, with the no rain at all (2 1/2" since last July) it is pretty dead and brown, and all the trees except the huge pecan are visibly suffering. I don't care. I'm not going to waste one drop of water on vegetation he is going to rip out once I'm gone.......but it's sad to see it happen. No veggie garden either.

[TankLV]

132. Save water - shower together!!!

I've stopped watering my yard altogether for a few years now - nice and brown dirt so far - plan to get a fake "carpet" "lawn" - it's real neat - all types of textures - some are soft and cool like real "grass" - plan to do it only in part of the back yard - more of an "urban patio" with pavers - as soon as I finish the damn ROOF! - (I should be out there in about an hour already today - I'm postponing the inevitable for as long as I can)...

[earth mom]

139. Two ideas Brown Lawns and Front Loading Washing Machines.

When we moved to the Pacific Northwest in the summer almost 10 yrs ago, we couldn't believe all the brown lawns we saw. In California where we had moved from, it was like a sin to have a brown lawn! I remember thinking that wow-these people could care less about their property. But the fact of the matter is that people up here just don't water their lawns in the summer because 1) the water rates are too high and 2) the rain will be back in no time.

If California wants to conserve water, I suggest brown lawns AND they should figure a way to help people buy front loading washing machines-maybe a hefty tax break. Front loaders use about 15-16 gallons a load vs. 40-45 gallons for top loaders. That's a helluva lot of water! :wow:

[ikojo]

145. But what will Paris do if she cannot

shower several times a day?