Category: Environment

Solving the California Drought

California is facing a drought says the governor and the mayor of Los Angeles.  OK we all understand that we have a serious problem.  There has been no discussion about ways to obtain additional water.

 

Other nations located in arid climates have looked to desalination.  There are functioning facilities throughout the middle east and Australia.  The most successful of them is the Askilon facility in Israel.  The cost of producing drinkable (potable) water is ½ cent per gallon.  That is about the same cost as the water provided by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

 

Happily there is a desalination facility planned in San Diego County.  For some unknown reason this project has been ignored by both Los Angeles Mayor Villaragosa and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Poseidon Resources Group of Connecticut is about to build a facility in Carlsbad, California.  The “project will provide San Diego County with a locally-controlled, drought-proof supply of high-quality water that meets or exceeds all state and federal drinking water standards.”

 

What I do not understand is the behavior of government in retaining the available water.  There is the issue of water use on government property including the sides of freeways.  Further there is the issue of broken fire hydrants that take weeks to repair.  The biggest loss of water is in the Los Angeles River (really a giant storm drain system).  There is no program in place to catch water from that river to add to our supply. 

 

Until our government takes water conservation seriously the pubic won’t.

Paradise Lost

NOW, on PBS every Friday evening, offered the best example I have seen that confirms the impact of global warning.  Paradise Lost documents the plight of the nation of Kiribati.  This island nation is most likely to become the first victim of global warming as the rising seas drown the islands.  There is probably nothing that can be done to save the land.


This is not the first indication of global warning.  Ships are now able to traverse the north rim of North America.  There was a documentary about Glacier National Park in Montana.  The governor of that state flew over the park with a reporter.  The governor pointed out the areas that had been covered with glacial ice in past years but are now all barren rock.  He stated that each year the ice retreats and predicted that eventually all of it will be gone.

 

Man’s paradise is this planet.  It is changing in significant ways.  I am convinced that man has contributed to the changes that are occurring now.  Can we make an impact?  Of course I do not know.  Isn’t it worth trying?