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Low and high entropy water sources, water bonds and the Sites Reservoir

Posted by: Maven on April 8, 2009 at 7:56 am

The On the Public Record blog has a really interesting post, which is a rebuttal to yesterday’s guest commentary regarding the current water bond proposals floating around the state capital. The OPR blog begins by discussing the difference between low entropy and high entropy goods:

Low entropy goods, either stocks or flows, contain tons of energy and are well ordered. Think of old growth timber stands that yield wide boards. Or high quality oil wells, close to surface and under pressure. Or fisheries of abundant huge fish that swam close together. Or of pure snowmelt flowing into narrow-mouthed canyons above a waterfall, so you can get some hydropower too. All the old rich sources, so easy to gather, so low-entropy. Those are low-entropy goods.

You can tell when people haven’t accepted that the world has changed, because they are still wishing for low-entropy sources. Those are gone. If they were stocks, they’re used up. Big trees, big fish, artesian water, artesian oil, all gone. If they were flows, they’re tapped already. Ms. Sutton calls for Sites Reservoir, but the concept of building dams is played out because all the good options are already in use. She mentions Sites, but it is more interesting that there is no other dam on the table. Besides Sites, I couldn’t name another proposed dam project in the state. (The San Joaquin River Restoration project was the end of Temperance Flats.)

The next water available to the state is from high entropy sources, widely distributed dribs and drabs, or mixed with something, or requiring lots of energy to extract.

The blogger goes on to discuss how this relates to water bonds, and then discusses the Sites Reservoir – and how this fits into the entropy discussion. Be sure to read the comments, too. Good discussion – it is only until recently we have started to hear much about the Sites Reservoir. Check it out from the On the Public Record blog by clicking here.

Here is Donn Zea of the Northern California Water Association’s argument for the Sites Reservoir from the Capital Weekly (March 12th): Time for California to ‘Insure’ Against Drought

April 8, 2009 · Filed Under Legislation - State & Federal, Storage and supply

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