Governor's Event on Twitchell Island today

Well, if they store more water before it gets to the delta and send more around the delta to the Tracy pumps, what will happen to the delta? Since it is subject to tidal action all the way up to the I Street Bridge in Sacramento, it will not go dry. Instead we might have salt water way up the Sacramento, San Joaquin and Mokelumne Rivers......
 
True. I agree it will probably be very salty after all of this is over. I just really wonder if they did turn off the pumps to make San Luis look extremely low.
 
My son and I were on our way out to the boat this morning and their were police everywhere on Twitchell Island Road. I was tenpted to ask when and where the Governator would be holding the event, but decided I didn't want to be hassled. I suspect that we are going to be seeing some proposals for the Delta that we won't like. Hope everybody is preparing for a fight; we can't let SoCal ruin our paradise so they can water their lawns and fill their pools.
 
I don't mind the faucets, swimming pools and lawns in southern CA, that only accounts for 10% of water exports. It's agribusiness that gets the other 90%.

But, I'm with you. It may be a more difficult battle than last time. So far, newspapers and broadcasting have been following the money interests.
 
Yzer,

The SoCal folks get my goat more than the agribus, simply because of attitude. Back in the late 70's, when I was in college, IO can remember my folks saving bath and shower water to flush with during the water rationing. I happened to go home with a friend to Downey, CA. We took his Hobie Cat out and when we returned, he liberally hosed it off and washed it with the water running down the gutters. It left a lasting impression although I agree, agribusiness is taking far more of the water. At least they are producing something with it. The question is are these crops worth the amount of water that is being used and could they do it profitably without all of the subsidies.
 
I was here in college during the early '70s and remember the peripheral canal battle and the rationing.

To defeat the bypass again, northern Californians will have to make peace with the southern masses and engage them in an effective and informational campaign. It's going to take a lot of money, a lot of letters and probably a lot of commercials (Spanish language, too) to make the point that SOCAL can have it's water without the wasteful expense of new canal, and the damage that canal would do to the biggest estuary on the west coast.

Agribusiness is extremely valuable to the region and the state. But a small percentage of water saved by agribusiness is a lot a water for the rest of California.

One big plus: latino voters in SOCAL (a majority) will still remember how hard it was to earn a decent living on the farms. Joining up with some good latino leaders and personalities will help turn this large voting block to the good fight. We and the rest of the nation may have to pay a little more each week for the artichokes and carrots, but how much do we spend on produce, anyway? Isn't the Delta worth that?
 
Well, AbsoLoot, I'm with the urban users in SoCal, not the farmers. Why? Because the urban users pay far more for the water, per acre-foot, than the agribusiness interests. Once SoCal folks learn this, it may split the camp of "grab more water" into the "why can't we have it at the farmer's price" and "we still want subsidized water" groups.

There's clearly lots of demand, backed by sufficient money, to keep urban water flowing to SoCal. But agribusiness? Maybe not so much--remember, much of the irrigated land is naturally desert. Perhaps it will be cheaper for SoCal just to buy the agricultural land and retire it--ahem--excuse me--"return it to its natural state."

In the end, it's hard (politically, socially, etc.) not to provide water for people. But do we really want to continue to spend money and environmental resources to grow a monsoon crop (rice) in a desert?

BTG
 
Why can't southern Cal convert salt water to fresh? I believe that would be more cost effect then building more canals and shipping it down south. Israel uses desalinization to turn their desert into productive agribusiness and supply drinking water to its people.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Flutterby

Why can't southern Cal convert salt water to fresh? I believe that would be more cost effect then building more canals and shipping it down south. Israel uses desalinization to turn their desert into productive agribusiness and supply drinking water to its people.

Click to expand...


I've always asked that same question! There's talk about $10 billion dollars worth of work needed in the Delta (read that somewhere), and then SoCal could pay for that EXPENSIVE water, seeing that they live in a desert.

But with so much water being consumed by agribusiness, and paying such low rates, that's the area where saving a smaller percentage can pay off. Especially when these large corporate farms growing water consuming crops, for export. They need to take a closer look at that situation. Some farmers just re-sale their water allotment (and don't farm), because it pays more than farming!
 
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