About
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 18, 2007 at 11:02 pmHi and welcome!
This blog is dedicated to providing news and information about water issues, and in particular, to those issues which will affect Southern California’s water supply.
Here in the sunny southland, we turn on our tap and water comes out. The tropical vegetation around us tricks us into believing that water is plentiful; and yet we are living in the middle of a desert. Few of us even realize that Southern California is a dry as the northern plains of Africa. Most of us do not realize that a major portion of our water originates in mountains far from us, and travels down long man-made rivers and up over hills to reach us, the result of billions of dollars of investment in water infrastructure.
The imported water supply for Southern California originates from three areas: the Bay-Delta area in Northern California, delivered via the State Water Project, the Owens Valley, delivered via the Los Angeles Aqueduct, and the Colorado River, delivered via the Colorado River Aqueduct. Each of these areas has been impacted by the water diversions to our area. In addition, growing populations and drought conditions across the Southwest are putting pressure on our water supply.
Water projects are not good or bad; the time for arguing that has long past. The future for the Southern California and the Southwest lies in conservation and consensus between the major stakeholders: urban users, agricultural users, and the environment. Water is a finite resource. If we run out, we cannot buy it from third-world countries. We need to rethink the way we view our water supply and starting treating it as the precious resource that it is.
The intent of this blog is to educate southern Californians on the important issues affecting our water supply. I think residents of Southern California are profoundly disconnected from water supply issues. I don’t think most residents are aware of where their water comes from, the efforts it takes to get it here, or the impacts on the areas where the water is drawn from. Aquafornia seeks to be a source of information and awareness. My intention is to present viewpoints on all sides of the issues; to educate, not necessarily to opinionate. However, comments and opinions on any side of the issues presented here are welcome.
In the interest of full disclosure, Aquafornia has an opinion on one important issue: conservation. I believe that we all need to work much harder to conserve water. As pressure continues to increase on existing water resources, we need to become more aware of our water use and take active measures to cut back. I believe our very future depends on it.
A lot of the articles here will be snippets of articles posted online at various news sites on the internet. Many of the links will go to news sources in Northern California; much more attention is given to water issues in that part of the state. Registration might be required at some of them - registration is always free, can be completed in minutes, and is recommended if you really want to follow these issues more closely.
Aquafornia seeks to be a source of accurate information on all sides of the issues. Is there a side to the issue I have missed? Is there something erroneous you want to correct? Do you have an article or opinion you would like presented on Aquafornia? Please feel free to send me an email. Your comments, questions, and suggestions are always welcome.
Aquafornia is not affiliated with any organization, business, corporation or environmental group.
You can contact me by emailing: Aqua Blog Maven’s Email
Thank you for visiting!