Join the fight against MWD tyranny - drought is not the problem, says commentary; the problem is unemcumbered growth
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 28, 2008 at 6:34 amFrom the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, this commentary:
As California’s centuries-old water war threatens to once-again engulf the entire state, op-ed writers are already rolling out that old saw usually attributed to Mark Twain: “In the West, whiskey is for drinkin’, water is for fightin’.” Not only does the current water fightin’ pit North against South, but communities in Southern California are now engaged in a civil war.
The problem is not drought. The culprit is unencumbered growth.
One need only consult the rainfall chart published annually in the local newspaper to see that we still enjoy a humid climate in the Los Angeles basin. Since the 1870s rainfall has fluctuated cyclically but the average has hardly changed. What has changed is the proliferating and unquenchable demand we have placed on that finite amount of liquid.
To keep up with our seemingly insatiable and ever-growing thirst, we first drained the artesian supply that once abounded on the plain. We built an aqueduct, than a second, to the Eastern Sierra. We diverted the Colorado River. Finally, we tapped the water of Northern California.
But even that wasn’t enough. And now concern for the Delta Smelt has temporarily curtailed a significant portion of that supply.
So now we are about to fight among ourselves for what remains. This fight pits Lynwood against Beverly Hills, Covina against San Diego, in fact all the smaller and in many cases less affluent communities against the big, powerful and expanding ones. And the little guys aren’t about to quit.
Read the rest of this commentary from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune by clicking here.
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One Response to “Join the fight against MWD tyranny - drought is not the problem, says commentary; the problem is unemcumbered growth”
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The mighty MWD and all California AGENCIES have been offered a totally new fresh water Source of 1,000,000 million acre feet a year. That is ONE THIRD of the total amount of water produced world-wide from 21,000 desalination plants !(21,000 desalination plants in 120 countries around the world produce 3 billion gallons of drinking water a day. That equates to 9200 acre feet per day or 3.4 million acre feet a year.)
The new fresh water Source has been offered to the Bureau of Reclamation to balance all evaporation losses from Lake Mead and could FILL Lake Mead in nearly the same time period that the Scripps Institution of Oceanography predicts Lake Mead will go dry ! This is possible because the new fresh water Source is non-tributary to all rivers, including the Colorado River.
Lake Mead’s renewable energy can also be saved !
An average megawatt is the energy produced by the continuous operation of one megawatt of capacity over a period of one year (8,760,000 kilowatt-hours).$.05 per KW Hr X 8,760,000 =$438,000/year. The seventeen turbine-generators at the Lake Mead powerhouse generate a maximum of 2,074 megawatts of hydroelectric power. Lake Mead averages 1840 megawatts =$ 805,920,000 =$ 0.8059 Billion/year - O&M costs.
By the way, the Quagga mussel cannot plug up the Source !
Development of the Source has been GUARANTEED not to damage the water rights of anyone, anywhere or the environment. The Source is legally and economically feasible to develop !
“Fightin” and Court cases have never produced a single new drop of water for California…
WaterSource waterrdw@yahoo.com (Retired Water Rights Analyst)