Why California is Running Out of Water
2022 ж. 23 Мау.
3 104 113 Рет қаралды
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Imagine building a city in a desert and then having water issues...
*coughs* ... Phoenix
Las Vegas and Phoenix? LA is definitely not in a desert lmao
Dessert cities are actually doing fine, every single big city on the coast not just in California but anywhere is practically sinking into the ocean due to over population, skyscrapers and pumping what little ground water they have, again these places aren’t low on water for drinking its agriculture
Cali is not a desert lol that's like claiming Greece is a desert
70% of the country’s produce comes from CA. They need water so you don’t have to pay $5 for a cucumber.
Fun fact: The way almonds are grown is actually super interesting (at least for arborists like me). They start by planting an orchard of Maple trees*, and wait until they're several years old. Then the maples are cut down and the stumps are quickly treated with a grafting hormone. They graft almond cuttlings onto the maple stump and that's how they grow. The reason for this is because almonds are particularly susceptible to a fungus that spreads from tree to tree via their root systems. Maples are impervious to this fungus and also compatible with almond grafting, hence every almond you've ever eaten was probably grown from a maple tree's root system. *[EDIT] Some people have pointed out that Maples are not the most common tree used as root stock for almonds, Plums, Peaches, Cherries and many others are more commonly used and I'm sorry for spreading misinformation. I was going from a memory several years ago when I talked to a Farmer who used Maples for this. He made it seem like that was the industry standard but apparently it is not. I didn't expect this comment to blow up but I should have double checked. Thanks to everyone who corrected me.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
That's why the trunks look so odd in the central valley!! Anyone whose driven i-5 can tell you those trees look strange
That's an interesting nugget of new information, thank you!
That is interesting as hell, thank you
That's not unusual. Roses, Grapes and other fruit trees are grafts. Granted that they are grafted to closer related species.
As of mid-March 2023, CA has been inundated by repeated atmospheric rivers from south to north. We now have more than double the average yearly snowfall, with more on the way. This year we are headed for one of the wettest years on record, which hopefully will restore groundwater in aquifers as well as fill the reservoirs. Massive flooding is already happening in some areas, with plenty more to come as the snow melts. Our "wet" season is from Oct 1st to April 1st. We get about a third of our water from snowmelt, the rest from reservoirs and the Colorado River aqueduct system. The state also has plenty of water storage for 20 million people. Problem is, the state has over 40 million. We do have plans for more storage and distribution, but any attempt to increase water storage (reservoirs and damss) gets mired in litigation.
it was wild at the start of 2023
@@apextheracer2022 My previous comment was too soon. As of May 11, some areas have over 3 times the average snowpack....Owens Lake is becoming a lake again, the Owens River is a torrent, all the little streams crossing the 395 Hwy are raging. Many reservoirs are at capacity, and have to let water out or they will be topped from the coming snowmelt. Tulare Lake in the lower San Joaquin Valley is a lake again, Corcoran and other nearby towns are being flooded out.
Can’t forget your crops are being flooded and ruined by mountain water.
That's why saying a state running out of water and crying out a "End of the World" video is silly. LOL!!!
@@GlennHa still not enough to fully restore groundwater. CA may need 2-3 more years of wet weather. I was kinda sad that the Tioga Pass is till closed. I mean it is July!
California's central valley actually used to be marshland, especially the southern portion of the state where there is massive cotton farm which is what used to be a lake, these areas were apart of the water cycle for the eastward states which fed it. This vid from 2 years ago goes into good detail "Why the US Erased its 9th Largest Lake..."
Yes, Tulare Lake is just a distant memory now. The Kern River used to feed it and then it flowed out into the San Joaquin River north to SF Bay. It's all gone now...
Nailed it… and Tulare lake has returned lol
@@VRG_HQ for now. It’ll disappear again
They've built too many dams and will pay the price
I do remember years ago, when I lived in San Diego, that the avocado produces were complaining that their water resources were drastically reduced while the almond growers were being allowed almost unlimited amounts of water. Several avocado growers went out of business as a result. They had already upgraded to trickle watering their trees but the almond growers were basically flooding their groves. I wonder just who the almond growers were paying off.
It's apparently a mafia type situation with the almond growers. Tell everyone you know to stop drinking almond milk.
@@Nphen lol, I don't know anyone who drinks it. Sounds like a bunch of hippy freaks to me. 😆 🤣
Now the Avocados are growing in all Ventura County and they need a lot of water
@@wernerdanler2742 my girlfriend used to drink it since she's lactose intolerant. She's now drinking oat milk but Yea hippies drink it. Let's ignore how common being lactose intolerant is in the USA.
@@shinon748 I didn't even know people drank milk until I came here to the US when I was seven. I then grew to like it but after I was grown up it upset my stomach if I drank it regularly. Any dairy like yogurt would bother me. Now, though I eat Greek yogurt every day, Fage, and use cream in my coffee and tea all day long. I'm well into my 70s now so I guess I'm in my second childhood so dairy is good for me. Lol
The American southwest is so surrealist / dystopian; Manicured lawns with white picket fences, lush golf courses, cattle ranches, and cotton / alfalfa fields in the desert. All the while the mighty Colorado doesn't even reach the Gulf of Mexico anymore. These states really need to implement sustainable policies before they suffer from environmental crises. Like what is Vegas supposed to do when Lake Mead dries up? * edit: my mistake, I meant the Gulf of Cali.
The issue is the fines in California for the most part are the same across the board. The fines aren’t going to deter the Fortune 500 companies or the wealthy people who ignore the regulations.
@@cubs1433 do you know how many businesses left California over the last few years? Rich Business owners are leaving. Democratic policies have destroyed Cali. Thats the reason I left
It's because of all those fucking swimming pools and jacuzzi
Ah-hahahaha. That’s a problem for tomorrow. We don’t do tomorrow, we do today.
@Don't read profile photo Touch grass.
Desalination could probably be a solution for socal while also allowing AZ, NV, NM to take more water from the Colorado River. I have watched videos and know there are a lot of issues with desalination (cost, brine, energy needed, etc) but CA has a coastline while the other south western states do not. I duno... just a thought.
doubt the government puts in anymore utilities and public transpo anymore because this is the country we live in
Yes the brine can also be used for batteries and the salt could be sold as salt after every other thing is stripped from it. We just discovered fusion power that can maybe power such a project. Cali should pump a water pipe line into a reservoir making a huge man made lake into a forest area giving water back into these areas plus help fire fighter in this area, and one in a dry area to help cool the area in higher altitudes. The water will then run down hill feeding into a damn anthe other areas the damn could power the water pumps going uphill to the lake. Then the water goes into farming and the citys. This could be the biggest project in are time like the hover damn. Inner states keep the Colorado River water the sw could be saved. Plus citys in the sw go the vegas route and learn how to save every drop of water used so it can be put back into the rivers.
It’s the only solution but those geniuses won’t use nuclear and that’s the only way to power something strong enough to disseminate 🙄
Yeah but that would pretty much require nuclear power to be cost effective and scalable but California's would rather die of thirst than give themselves autism with all those radio waves
@@arthas640 use solar to pump water into a new huge lake reservoir where cali needs the water build it up then run the water down stream into dams that will then power the pumps and other uses like planes ext build in steps then it will take over itself. We people just figured out fusion power too so there that in the next 20 30 years. Make it the next big hover damn project. If they can pump oil all over the government can pump water. The salt also makes batteries so plenty of uses
And the rain took that personally
2:56 This is very funny. I'm Spanish, and those almond trees actually were imported from Spain during the colonization. And I say it is funny, because here in Spain almond trees have always being considered of "secano" meaning of no irrigation. Not only that, but they were planted in the poorest lands because they can handle mind-boggling droughts, along with rocky and poor terrains. If you guys are irrigating those, it is not because the trees need the water to live, but just to increase production. If you have a water shortage, the first thing you should do is cut off the irrigation of almond trees.
And why did you call "Las Vegas" (the rivershores) to a desert? You spaniards are also responsible for the drought in Las Vegad
@@beyondthesunset9659 Las Vegas means "the meadows" and was originally settled by Americans because the local springs made it an ideal spot to refill the water tanks of trains as they made their way to and from southern California. Las Vegas remained very small until the legalization of gambling, though the nearby construction of Hoover Dam (then called Boulder Dam) didn't hurt.
The reason they get so much irrigation is because many if not all of them are grown using maple tree stumps that then have almond trees grafted onto them because almond tree roots are susceptible to fungus that maple tree roots are not, and maple trees really aren't made to grow in a desert, hence why they require so much water.
@@beyondthesunset9659 Vegas popped up later and is in an oasis
I knew people were lying. Spanish almonds taste better. People really need to realize, desert fruits are better, because they take longer to develop. Oil crops like almonds, avocado, and olives produce more oil to replace the lack of water . If you irrigate, it won't be as rich. Orange and Grapes are sweeter, when they get less water as well. Florida orange is used for juice, but California is for eating.
You should look at what happened with the Murray Darling Basin in Australia, where you had agricultural use taking too much water out of the river to the point that Adelaide, the fifth largest city in Australia had around ten years of water restrictions and the river ended up practically dry until major policy changes happened to reduce corruption and prevent illegal water theft by farmers. And this was alongside some of the largest droughts the country had ever seen
Lol ok 😂 now i know
I grew up in in this in the Murray basin and the amount of water we took out from it was criminal. Lets just say most farmers in my area were really bending the rules that dried the river up
@@PostWarKids what methods were farmers using to irrigate the crops?
No one gives a shit about Adelaide m8.
=AND NORTH IS CHOKING OF WATER,THOUGH ........JUST AN ADVANCED CANAL SYSTEM MUST'VE BUILT AND OKAY WITH THAT
Very fascinating and informative video. Thanks for sharing. Surprisingly enough, while South California (Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego) receivelittle precipitation, Southern Arizona (Tucson in particular) get quite of summer rainfall (their “monsoons”), which leads Arizonans to think they’re immune to water shortages. Please do a video on rainfall patterns that move north from Mexico into Arizona, then Nevada and southeastern California deserts. As always, I appreciate your content.
@most stupid person in the world , Orange County is the next county over from Los Angeles County. It’s where most Republicans in Southern California live. San Francisco is the largest city in the County of San Francisco. In fact, the city and county of San Francisco have the same boundary and are governed by the same legislative body. San Diego is further south; it is the largest city in San Diego County.
It would be great to learn more about desalination and why it isn't used globally to remedy water shortages.
Beaurocratic and ecological red tape. Also, why fix a problem when you can use it to control the population with more legislation, taxes, and fear mongering?
High energy use + where do you put all the extra salt?
There are currently 17000 of 'em globally, working just fine.
@@robertvasilyev962 how many people do those 17000 serve?
@@gereikat 300 million people worldwide
One of the things I always found amusing as hell when I lived in Phoenix was the green grass lawns. You live in a desert, surrounded by some of the most soul gripping scenery and you bust your azzes and spend bundles to have a patch of green round your house. Don't water it for a few days and it dies. Meanwhile, the neighbours who embraced the desert fauna have a really great yard, that fits into the spirit of the desert. I loved heading into the desert, miles from any light pollution and just sitting there enjoying the scenery. Come night, flaking out on a sleeping bag and just watching the stars. My roommates and I used to drive from Phoenix to Flagstaff a couple times a month, and were in awe of the various terrain types we ran across. I'll miss that scenery for the rest of my life.
Light pollution covers all of Arizona except the Hualapai Indian Res. I have to drive to the headwaters of the Gila in NM or Utah 4-corners
Dummies and nowthey catch on holy crap
My Sister lives in AZ and I visited a couple of times I loved the scenery too Don't like that heat that much but it truly was very nice We donate money to American Farmland Trust who are conservators for the land and water and only produce organic crops They employee everything that makes sense and works to protect the water and land They recently sent information that they can help Calif farmers with our water problems and know what to do We only send 20 a month which is all we can afford I know they would take any amount though My Mom's friend used to say if everyone only gave without guilt what they actually can send? ( because people feel guilty and want to solve the problem you know? ) Anyway if everyone did this most of our problems would be solved
Lived in Tucson for a few months; the golf courses were hilarious to me. They look like a green rug laid directly over the rocky desert, constantly watered to keep them even a little alive. I never watered and had lovely desert plants that often flower. Growing grass there is evil...
Don't miss it for the rest of your life, go back there and experience it again! Life is too short!
To people who dont live here. The central valley is essentially a desert. Its not as bad as the southwest but its just below that hot. It just doesn’t snow in the central valley (it only snows in the sierras/mountains in the winter). Ca has a Mediterranean climate in the coastal cities. Since it doesnt snow in the central valley and isnt humid like the southern states, it just means you can technically grow year round here so long as you have enough water. That being said, it takes ALOT of water to feed crops in the desert…
It’s like, there used to be a lake in the Central Valley. A big one too(not that deep but still significant) and it was drained for cotton. A whole lake. Not like a corner of a lake. Or a tiny section. the whole goddamn lake. I’m sure that if the lake was still existent today it would’ve been the number 1 supplier of water as well as a massive tourist destination.
California doesn't have a good track record with lakes if you count the Salton sea
well you have a huge coast with lots of water and much land to produce energy, solution is pretty easy, but then again : its the us and then again its california
You're using common sense. It's not a thing CA mucky mucks are known for.
@@flycrack7686 What are you implyinh? You're forgetting the Carlsbad Desalination Complex near San Diego, CA.
Weather is a lot different than when I was younger. We have a year or two of drought in Redding, California these days then it pours down and fills up the lakes. It's getting pretty rainy up here again the lakes have risen and it's not even January yet.
After two days in the desert sun my skin began to turn red and after three days in the desert fun I was looking at a river bed and the story it told of a river that flowed made me sad to think it was dead
Here in Mexico we have a city called Monterrey, that has run out of water. The city is built between rivers and falls, but last year the water was just in a drastic level. The rivers and dams are completely dry. It’s one of the most important problems our country has, because Monterrey is the second biggest city in the country. I hope there’s a way to end this water problematic and avoid the water problems all around the world.
_ah hola paisano_
ask drug cartels to bring your city water
@@ling636 no te importa que la segunda ciudad más importante del País tenga una crisis?
@@emilianobarrios1388 tercera *
It's God's punishment for f their cousins.
In Australia (Victoria) we had a 7 year drought with no end in sight. As soon as we started building a billion dollar desalination plant the drought broke. Then the construction site was constantly flooded causing delays that cost extra millions. The desalination plant was finally finished only to be mothballed.
that's sad, they could have used the water to ease up on the aquifers and rivers.
Maybe that's a good thing. Those plants produce lots of toxic brine.
@max mackinlay must have been managed and ruled over by LIBTARDS! anything and everything they touch is a failure and a disaster waiting to happen
also had problems with the by product killing ocean
@@peter-pg5yc which "by product" ? be specific because the oceans of the world are already POLLUTED with billions of tons of SALT, dissolved minerals, dissolved metals, dissolved gases and the urine and fecal matter of trillions of land based animals and ocean dwelling creatures since the beginning of LIfe on the Earth
Local Californian here. I grew up in Bakersfield, the biggest farm town in the Central Valley. We grow quite a few of those almonds and also most of the worlds carrots (grimway and bolthouse, check your carrots it’s probably them). We have complex River way and Aquaducts everywhere. I grew up on the west side surrounded by almond trees often spending my summers in their shade and cooling effect. The Central Valley is a desert, this summer alone we had a month of 100 degrees up to 118. We really do produce all that agriculture, and we need the dam water from the north. There are signs on every farm telling you to vote to bud off more water to the Central Valley. I also grew up spending my summers in Arizona and Nevada on lake mead and Powell. It’s so sad to see them so low, not allowing us to get to the places we used to go. If you have any questions I’d love to answer!
Also yes, a lot of our farmland is going, especially almond trees
"If you have any questions I’d love to answer!" Evaporative cooling from the trees and other vegetation should be slowly decreasing desert temps and the increase in water vapor over the past half century should provide for more localized rainfall. This is not happening. So where does the water go?
Mangrove trees deserve some mention and interest here, southern red cedar, gaillardia flowers, and mulhy grass, as well as other salt-water-tolerateing trees, shrubs, and plants.
Something very rarely mentionned is the effect that water redistribution has on the natural water cycle. Pulling water from wetter areas to dryer ones leads to dryer conditions overall as there is less water available for evaporation and therefore precipitation at the source. This overtime can reduce the total precipitation and water supply at the source, especially if most of the water being pulled isn't going back into the natural water cycle, but being used by humans.
Case and point see the Amazon rainforest. The amazon is a by product from the hottest and wettest time on the planet the PE thermal maximum where temperatures reached ~5-8C above average. This was an era of inhospitable deserts, rampant wildfires, which were eventually replaced by rainforests covering the entire planet. The Amazon rainforest is a by product from that time and is a miracle it is still around. A ton of variables all coincided for it to be self-perpetuating. If humans don't destroy it it will still be around in many more millions of years. Chop said forest down and suddenly you get a dusty desert to take its place.
True, which an exception to the rule being land masses who have a major coast line to the west of them, like California.
thank you God to provide monsoon to india monsoon is the life line of india and same others country
@@goutamraoshab3777 There is no god giving that, there is science.
Well it's still better to pipe water from the places with excess water, to the drought-stricken areas. The evaporation will still happen, maybe not just as much as certain areas expect. I think that's a non-issue, because the atmosphere isn't static... Moisture will move around.
reminds me of a novel called “dry” where california runs out of water and all hell breaks loose. it’s actually quite realistic. really made me think about what i would do in that situation
OH MY GOD THAT BOOK WAS SO GOOD
@@gracequach6769 yes neal shusterman is a great author
You would be kidnapped, skinned alive, and eaten by roving gangs of cannibal bandits. That's all there is to it.
I read that book and this video made me think of it
That was an excellent book!
Colorado just had the 5th wettest July on record. That's good news for the Colorado river and those it feeds. But desalination is worth looking into.
What I gathered from this video is that water demands in California are growing due to the demand for the agricultural products grown in California and only 10% of the water consumed in California is actually going to people versus farmlands. That tells me that if there is a shortage of water, the farmlands should be the first to shut down so as not to encourage greedy businessmen from taking a required resource from the state. However, people in California are instead required to pay more for water each year, are ticketed when water is used outside of regulated hours, and are required by law to only buy products that restrict water usage. This tells me that our state government is failing us and are being paid off by big businesses.
How much water is required for tech production? Government management is a failure.
There is something that never gets brought up, and that is that California is naturally a dry region. The Spanish kept records of the weather since they arrived 500 years ago and those records show a very dry arid region. What happened about 150 years ago is that the region entered an abnormal wet period and it was during this wet period that large numbers of people began moving there. So the region is just returning to its natural state. Combine the return to a dry weather with warmer temperatures around the world plus a lot of water usage and the region is basically screwed.
Most folks are totally unaware of the Great Flood of late 1861-early 1862, which flooded much of the Central Valley and large swaths of the state with up to 10 feet of rain in just 2+ months. Combined with rapid melting of the snowfall in the Sierra's, parts of the Central Valley were under as much as 30 feet of water. 4,000+ people or approximately 1% of the entire state population died and thousands of properties were completely destroyed in what was the worst natural disaster to happen in California over the past several hundred years. So much rain fell in Los Angeles County that it created the equivalent of an inland sea with the land covered in 4+ feet of water extending several miles in either direction of the Santa Ana River. Perhaps more shocking was the fact that before the Great Flood, California had experienced what was a 20 year period of prolonged drought. While the state has a far more extensive network of dams and levees in 2022, there *will* eventually be another disasterous flooding event throughout California as evidenced by past flooding events by geologists. Hopefully not in my lifetime.
@@FreewayBrent More rain is exactly what we need. I hope we get that flood ASAP.
Never gets brought up? He spends whole minutes talking about California's naturally dry history going back to the year 800. Did you actually watch the video?
@@sinisterdesign He talks about past droughts, but the Spanish records show us a picture of a region that is always dry, not just some dry periods. A wet region can have dry periods and he didn't explain that well enough.
Which is why the Spanish named the region California. Cali (from "caliente" meaning hot) and Fornia ("oven" land). Pretty much everywhere in the south they went (except the mountains) was all arid to semiarid. Back then, the Spanish had a tendency to name a region based on its appearance/ characteristics. Like Colorado (because of the red river or red colored mountains), Montana (mountain), Nevada (from the snow capped mountains Sierra Nevada), Florida (flower blossoming land), and most likely Arizona (meaning arid zone). The Mormons did the same thing by naming their land "Deseret".
"Smart people learn from everything and everyone, average people from their experiences and stupid people already have all answers" Socrates
My grandfather told me a similar thing, "Smart people talk about ideas, average people talk about events, and stupid people talk about other people." True words from a true man.
@@TaleTeller9581 why viet country ball
I like countryballs.
@@TaleTeller9581 but what if you always has idea and always talk about even, but also always talking about others behind their back There's someone Literally like that, but i don't know what state they are.... Stupid, average, or smart...........or beyond lol
I see ideas that became realized all over Walmart shelves, but in my opinion easily 60% percent of it was a waste of precious energy to build, transport, and display. 🐻👩🎨
Snow pack looks to be going well this week.
I grew up in the San Joaquin Valley never had an issue with water. The problem we have is to much building communities are growing, high speed rail, the train to nowhere, they won't release water from the delta in Sacramento because of a two inch fish. The valley needs water to flourish there a lot of land that is sitting dry.
I find it odd how folks claim the drought in California has only been going on for no more than 20 years...it has been getting worse for over 50 years folks...I grew up in SoCal and remember all our favorite fishing holes got shallower and shallower until they completely dried up by 1980...I can also remember my parents and their friends talking about droughts and water restrictions back in the 70s just after the gas shocks...
People don't have memories, and especially do not study the history of before they were born.
The video makes the timeline Utterly unclear- talking about "thousands of years back" ridicoulessly unscientific
Remember those discussions between adults myself as well, born and raised in San Diego Ca. But I still miss it, the variety of landscapes in all of California is breathtaking.
I don't see a problem. California messed with mother nature and are paying the price. Let them dry up.
HOLD On =Ice Age #6 Coming< lol
Living in Northern California, the thing I find funny is if you look here, everyone conserves water and have drought tolerant plants and stuff. Then you go down to Southern California (where the water up north is being exported) and everywhere are just green grassy lawns and sprinklers and stuff. Just makes me want to stop giving them water because they don’t even try to conserve it when really they should be conserving it more than us!
Dang 😬 I live in Northern Cali myself I'm saving money to convert into hard scape I rarely go south dam a holes 🤦
rich people
Yes, but not for long. I am from southern CA, and im pretty sure people can only water their lawns once a week, so everyone is ripping out their lawns.
Alfalfa and Cannabis are not drought resistant.
@@ericalorraine7943lookup Priscilla Dearmin-Turner, this is her name online, she's now the real investment prodigy since the crash and have help me recovered my loses
It is a great video, I would recommend it for the viewer. Thanks!
Saudi Arabia had a similar problem in the past, and they're using desalination plants to meet their water demands, in fact they are a major exporter in the region of food products and diary, which require enormous amount of water, if they can do it surely an advanced place like california can do it
كيف علمت ذلك؟
I feel like most of human's water problems (and other geographic problems) can be summed up as "humans decided to live in an unsustainable area and won't move"
CA isn’t an unsustainable area. The only thing that’s unsustainable is the agriculture in CA. It takes up 80% of their water. That’s insane. We need better farming practices.
122 MILLION people live in drought affected areas. Where do you expect them to go?
@@manderly109 it's only 60%, not 80%. Thank corporations for that.
@@lescobrandon8443 there was one point in the video he said 80%. I’m basing what I said off of that. This is why I drink oat milk and not almond milk. 😂
@@manderly109 You might want to rewatch it than, be because he clearly states only 60% for agriculture.
The problem is that many of the states affected are approaching this by raising water rates rather than controlling the actual water supply and water usage. What has resulted is that individuals and businesses with deeper pockets continue using water at the amounts they are accustomed to, while everyone else conserves. That's why you still see golf courses, fancy homes, etc. still wasting water. They'll gladly just pay more money out to use all the water they desire, even though the higher rates don't contribute to increasing the water supply. The local water municipalities just use the extra money to pay off any fines they incur for not meeting water conservation regulations.
Duh. Your politicians don't give a fuck about you or any of the rest of us peasants. They don't give a fuck if we suffer without water. React accordingly.
Great comment.
All golf courses in CA are watered with recycled water. That has nothing to do with drinking water.
ⁿ09
the extra fees should be going towards improving water infrastructure, conservation methods, so on and so forth. So, if a company or individual wants to use more and be fined for it, then that money should be used appropriately
There is a desalination plant in Carlsbad CA, and it produces a huge amount of usable water. The same company that built it tried to build another one in Orange County, but was not allowed to by the California Coastal Commission. They claimed it would put too much salt in the ocean. So if you run out of water, send them a thank you note.
This video showed up in my feed after I had watched several videos on the Resnicks. I recognize this is an engineering channel, but Forbes's "Inside the Secretive World of Billionaire-Owned Water | Priceless" and NatGeo's "Investigating Shadiness | Water & Power" cover the other side of this equation more in-depth and are worth a watch.
I feel like crops that take a lot of water and damage the soil just need to be phased out completely in states that have water supply issues. Either develop drought tolerant varieties that won't require as much water or phase them out completely. Crops like corn and Cotton which normally grow in wetter climates like the southeast and Mexico should not be grown in California. There should also be more rotational farming but that's just me.
@Jacob Klein I didn't know people eat cotton. Lol. Couldn't miss the joke
one word. M O N E Y
Agreed, however Karen likes her non gmo California avocados, meat, almonds etc. prices of food will continue to rise no matter what we do. American south west is terrible rn.
Rotational farming isn't necessary, but instead polyculture, food forest guilds, and diversity
@@augustooliveira518 cotton = clothes so close enough
I've been recently watching videos about the fall of ancient civilizations, and many of them fell because they took nature for granted. They expected the weather patterns that existed when they first settled to remain permanent, so when the pattern changes in a significant or severe manner, that civilization got royally screwed. This feels very similar, only difference being that current civilizations can survive this. However, I wonder if this continues, if people are gonna be forced to abandon southern california
That’s exactly what I think. The past has seen huge civilizations fail due to lack of water. Why do we think it couldn’t happen now? Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico are having water issues as well.
nope. won't happen. Today we have technology to solve the problems. ancient civilizations didn't have what we have today. we can also build desalination plants and pump sea water to replenish lakes and reservoirs in no time. we can also reroute some of the overflowing lakes in other states to california. There are just so many solutions to solve the water crisis problem in california.
@@eyebeebak nope
@@eyebeebak you're delusional, this is by design,, the nwo want us all begging..
just turn southern california into a prison
excellent presentation and was glad to see that alfalfa was mentioned as well as almonds as alfalfa actually uses twice the amount of water .. what was not mentioned was that although agriculture is huge it only accounts for 4% of the state's GDP (CA is the world's 5th largest economy) so at a certain point growing food will not be as important as water for people and other areas will take up the task of growing fruits nuts & vegetables .. the ag producers will protest but there will be no other choice ..
Note: the Las Vegas metro area outside of Boulder City gets NO electricity from Hoover Dam (the dam that created Lake Mead). It gets the vast majority of its water from Lake Mead, however. That's why the water is so cheap there. If you don't have a grass yard or similar water hungry yardscape or a swimming pool, your monthly water bill will be less than $50.00 US per month.
As a Northern Californian I've gotta mention these pronunciations. Klamath is pronounced like clam-ith (like the seafood) and Shasta is more like the sha of shaft and the stu of stud
And Nevada/s is all wrong too
This guy has terrible pronunciation when it comes to Spanish based names. Many of his videos are really cringe to listen to when he speaks.
In his first High Speed Rail video, he pronounced Merced as Mer-ked. It’s Spanish in origin, meaning “Mercy” and pronounced similarly with the soft C. People told him to soften up the Spanish pronunciation, and he got it right in the second version of that HSR video. Now, he’s taken that advice and softened up Klamath to Klaw-muth instead of Clam-ith and Shasta to Shaw-stuh instead of a short “a” as in FASTER. These two words are Native American origin, not Spanish. The poor chap is trying but just can’t win. We have done this deliberately to easily spot those who aren’t from around here. Just like SoCal folks sticking “the” in front of their freeway numbers (eg, “THE 101”). 😉 Just wait until he tries Temecula, Suisun City, and Port Hueneme.
Guys - you are listening to a ROBOT synthetic, computer generated voice! You can tell most easily by the mis-pronunciations of proper names.
Oregonian here. Was just ready to make this comment. I got to the second “Klamath” and was like “nope”.
I’ve just come back from an amazing month long road trip in California and the heat was so insane I have never experienced anything like it, when I got back to the U.K I was glad to see some green foliage and some rain. The farm lands I passed through went for hours of driving properly blew my mind!
California is an entirely artificial machine. Every bit of land and water is tightly controlled by the Soviet style government in power there. 🐻👩🎨🇺🇲⚒️🇷🇺
yeah, california had a decently harsh heat wave over the last few days. if you booked your trip for next week it would've been a cool 70 lol
Hopefully you hit the mountains and coast! The hot parts aren't the most scenic
We just had a heat wave, 103 when it’s usually 70 where I live (Bay Area)
@@SlowinTheMotion the mountains where unreal and big sur was the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen, but couldn’t help but feel that it so ridiculously hot but after all I am used to sunny England 😂
Man i wonder where you guys get your tunes, they are bumpin and very good for background. Do ya make em yourselves or are there a playlist? plz n ty
Well has improved since
One other aspect of California's precipitation pattern, besides getting most water from winter storms coming in from the northwest, is that the second largest source of precipitation comes from "Atmospheric Rivers" that channel vast amounts of water vapor from the tropics in a narrow band. If you happen to be in the path of the river you will get flooded out. Since each event is unique and not predictable more than a week or two out, it is impossible to predict with certainty where they will hit, and how to manage reservoirs correctly. If it is kept too full, then there is no capacity to hold the additional flood if an Atmospheric River event hits. If it is kept too low, then there is not enough supply left over if a River does not arrive.
If you read the cli-fi novel "A Ministry for the Future" by KIm Stanely Robinson you'll find an interesting depiction of an atmospheric river.
@@johnb6913 I'll have to check that out! I really enjoy his books in general.
Atmospheric rivers are relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere - like rivers in the sky - that transport most of the water vapor . These columns of vapor move with the weather, carrying an amount of water vapor roughly equivalent to the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River. When the atmospheric rivers make landfall, they often release this water vapor in the form of rain or snow.
@@johnchedsey1306 Just be aware that his Cli Fi books are not ‘hard science’ (I don’t know who did the fact checking to allow his Mars Trilogy books the ‘hard science’ label, but his Cli Fi books definitely are not, so his artistic license is cringey in those ones )
In 1863 [?] a huge flood dominated the entire Central Valley [10' deep lake], due to an atmospheric river. Months to drain; Sac residents used boats from 2nd floors.
I remember visiting my girlfriend's relative's in Rowland Heights outside LA a couple of years back. There was water leak just outside their yard that flowed through their yard and down to the street. It was a big leak too, probably like 3-4 liters per minute. Which you know, that's not normal so I asked about it. Turns out it had been like that for several months but the city didn't wanna fix it cause the pipe intersected my girlfriends relative's yard and thus wanted them to pay for repairing it, even though the leak itself was outside their property. But considering the leak didn't actually cause any problems for her relatives they didn't have any incentive to do it. So it remained unfixed and the leak kept leaking. The city had thusly decided that instead to hiring a plumber for a day to go and replace a single pipe, it would be better if they dug their heels in and refuse to do anything out of, I don't know, principle maybe? And in the mean time, thousands of liters of water was just being squandered for no reason every single hour of every single day. They moved out of that house a few years later and as far as I know it was still not fixed at that time... So let's just say I'm not surprised California has a water shortage...
And if the homeowner would've repaired it they would have jumped through hoops and loops with all the permits.
That’s got to be one of the most preposterous thing I’ve ever heard!
I’m not from Australia but an Australian on FB had a similar story about a gas leak …the issue was that the wife freaked over the thought of a gas leak and called a plumber …the only thing the plumber could do was direct her to the proper city authority but still had to charge her for the visit …all because of the jurisdiction issues that can arise when dealing with pipes
Texas has a similar issue with the plugging of old oil and gas wells. Regulations actually incentivize drillers not to plug them after production because once they do, they are perpetually financially liable for any leak from those wells even after they have sold them. So they go unplugged and remain a potential source of groundwater contamination because the State doesn't want to pay repair costs (and tbh, those costs aren't cheap). This at least is what I understand from people who have interacted with the State over this issue.
Thats around 8 Million Liters per year... Enough drinking water for 2 Million days.
Always love a video about my home state!
learned more from you than I ever did from school. Great job!
I live in the middle of the valley (modesto) and work in the agricultural sector I’ve watched the rise in almond production durning my lifetime, the amount of water that is wasted in orchards on a daily basis is insane and new orchards are being planted all around. I don’t know why the state gov hasn’t woken up to these problems, everyone talks but no action is taken. We don’t need golf courses and pools, we need food!!!
Exactly! I live in Hanford and see this unfolding and nothing is being done. It's been an ongoing problem for sure as the state gets dryer and dryer year by year. I've lived in the Central Valley all my life, almost 50 years now and these are some scary times if you're living in California but especially the southern part of California.
Did you deliberately not watch the video or something? It’s a well known FACT that commercial and residential water use when combined is still less than what the agricultural industry uses. What do you want the state to do? Tell farmers they can’t grow food? Lmao.
Because it's run by Democrats.
@@js8411 i want the state to reduce residential water usage and to stop wasting water coming out of reservoirs. Farmers need more water.
@Michael Smith I’m very familiar with that area…I’ve done a lot of work out there.
Everyone blames lack of rainfall for the droughts, few people actually cover the fact that soil degradation is an even a greater problem. The way agriculture and deforestation works today forces rain water to wash away and not sip into the ground to refill aquifers and rivers. When this natural process is in a healthy state, rivers run full even in years of little rainfall. But I guess blaming fate or the clouds is better than spending milions on regrowing natural forests around the river's basin.
Wait. How does agriculture prevent water from sipping into the ground to refill aquifers?
its pretty hard to regrow natural forests when the forests get burned down the next summer
what happens when contaminated rain water falls? just curious
Deforestation? A couple years ago everyone was claiming the fires in California were caused by too little forest clearing.🤦♂️ Anything to avoid talking about climate change, right?
Making nice swales and focusing on regenerative agriculture, with methods to preserve water instead of it evaporating (ollas, mulch) would be a good solution for the industries, as well as avoiding monoculture etc.
we had 6 years of over 100% of normal snowfall in the sierras, in fact 2016,2017,2018 we had half a dozen dams get damaged from too much water. the last18 months the water projects were arbitrarily ordered to increase flows. our water flowed out to the ocean because of policy.
Are you implying that Sacramento is corrupt and crooked? What a concept!
Bro my science teacher put your channel on in class I live in the southern part of the Vally
Ever since i was little i remember people saying that the northern part of California had nothing to keep itself economically until i moved to the upper quarter i then realized the area provides almost all of the southern part's water and it all made sense why the top quarter has wanted to separate into its own state for years
That and there’s probably a lot of demographic and cultural nuances that make the people feel different. The less populated areas of the country often seem to have significant differences from densely populated city areas, and Southern California is densely populated city area that holds political hegemony over the northern and more rural areas of the state, despite being wholly dependent on the northern areas. The clashing values coupled with unbalanced political power and resource management are going to cause problems. Point is, it’s a situation primed for feelings of resentment.
They don't own water just because it falls in their area, this is still the state of California...the hell do you think this is? Feudal Europe?
@@Vivaldi111 i think you missed the point i was making that the northern parts have been trying to separate because of southern California's taxation and neglectful treatment of the upper regions
The state wants to litterally rip itself apart because of the poor miss management done by the large coastal cities that dominate what happens in California sonce the coastal cities have so much population that they cam really throw their weight around. The only area that wants to stay with at least one coastal city is the entire San Diego County. Mostly because san Diego is one of the less bad coastal cities. Its still horrible but not as bad as LA or San Francisco
Yep, NorCal guy here and the resentment is certainly high, politically the north and south are different and economically as well, SoCal needs NorCal but not vise versa, it’s a problematic relationship
We live in a part of California where it rains 10 months of the year. We are also in the redwoods right on the coast and experience no wildfires at all. Redwoods do not burn easily, and, like I said, we get A LOT of rain.
What part of CA is this?
@@Javelin3o4 North western coastal part
go HSU lumberjacks !!
Where is this?
@@bluenightsky humboldt county way north of san francisco .... eureka / arcata ...
Lol this video aged nicely.
Surprised to see so many people that still think there's a drought
I live in southern California and one of my neighbors waters the plants on city property with her drinking water and 75' extension hose because according to her they don't get enough reclaimed water from the city. These same people vote against desalinization plants because they like to lay on the beach. People are incredibly entitled and think that because they pay their exorbitant water bill each month it is their water to do with what they want... water needs to be five times more expensive before people would appreciate it for its true value.
They vote against desalination because it harms the environment and requires a LOT of energy, not because they want to lay on the beach. Every potential solution can have massive negative effects on our environment. I think taking water from the ocean is a smart move, but we need to figure out where the brine gets discharged to and how to power them in a clean and economically friendly way. It will be a massive engineering undertaking and will require decades to complete.
@@MacMcIntire Fair enough. Whatever the reason, they want to have their cake and eat it too.
@mac MacIntyre lol ur brainwashed. The brine is not a problem and the vapid excuse of time/cost is the only talking point the environmental terrorists have told you to say. Think for yourself and stop parroting unproven rhetoric
Sounds like their is no solution to your problem as long as people think that their waste of water is justified just because they are paying for it. Until they realize that water is the most valuable resource on earth the problem will get worse
@@doublezmtnman As long as entitled people are not required to struggle, they will never understand. Once entitled people are subjected to struggle, their opinions will most likely change. But how to bring about a forced struggle? That takes a bad turn down a long road...
Studies of dried up lake sediments suggests that CA has had absolutely horrendous droughts in the past and can be expected to do so in the future if you think a hundred year drought is horrendous which I do. Precipitation in the region is seriously not dependable.
After living in Los Angeles, in finding out that there are a natural hot springs located in Koreatown called the Beverly Hot Springs it’s a natural bacteria free ,mineral, rich, water source that comes from under the ground to serve the community someone from the city actually approved plans to demolish it and build an underground parking structure instead it’s terrible and we need to have her voice is heard about our concern over things like this happening because of things like this are approved. It’s only gonna get worse from here.
What’s interesting is that at least in Kern County it seems like they’re replacing a lot of almost trees with pistachios or pomegranate trees
So, California either needs fewer people, significantly less agriculture, or expanded water systems that probably would need to reach into Oregon. Shifting to somewhat less water-intensive crops might make a bit of a difference, and cities could probably help out a bit by adopting less water-intensive practices, notably getting rid of rules that require lawns.
Yet CA counties are always trying to build more and more housing, without any idea where the water is going to come from.
And Option four: Solar powered desalination Plants to refill Lakes and Rivers! But not requiring Lawns sounds like a great idea, gods damnit, how stupid is such s zoning law???
Southern Oregon has severe drought issues already too. You would have to go further north to Washington/British Columbia and this has been looked at multiple times, but there is NO way this will ever happen. Washington and Canada will simply NEVER allow their water to flow south for lots of reasons. Saudi Arabia even tried to bribe Washington State officials to allow them to use retrofitted oil tankers to move Washington water to the Middle East, paying top dollar, and Washington State shut it down fast. The biggest reason is because Washington State is actually a very wealthy agricultural state with its own lucrative needs.
Send the 20 million illegals home and start building new reservoirs, problem solved.
@@beerenmusli8220 Desalination is great until you see the devastating effects it can have on the local sealife.
Incredible mismanagement of water. Like what was said in the clip, it's an engineered water system - due to lack of water in too many aspects has been seen as an engineering problem. The canals that have been built are water highways that do not sustain any life in and around them. No ecological aspects seem to have been taken into consideration. No trees planted on fields or along canals whose cover could have prevented a lot of water evaporation. A sad evidence that this problem is not solved within the scope of engineering and economics
I completely agree. Complete mismanagement of their resources and irresponsible farming practices. As well as on a personal level, residents choosing to have lawns instead of native plants that can withstand CA’s weather. It’s a shame.
yep, it's a bit similar to these trees around farmland to prevent another dust bowl situation, they're called shelter belts in that situation, they slow wind and soil erosion, it would greatly help if people weren't also flooding into california
Like... what was said in the clip
IIRC a lot of those canals only have cement along the edges. Not underneath. So up to 40% of the water in those canals leach into the surrounding ground.
engineered for$
Has anyone considered building a soft-walled reservoir stretching under the John T. Know Fwy bridge that maintains a fresh-water lake fed by the San Joachim river, a barrier that could be steadily floated south from the estuary as the fresh water accumulates until it reaches its final destination at the bridge? In this way the City of San Francisco would be able to reduce the City's demand on the other fresh water resources throughout the state.
This was a pretty good explanation...We are now entering our 3rd straight year of La Nina conditions. Lots of rain up north, very little in the south. One aspect that you did not mention is the politics around the "endangered" Delta Smelt. I read an article recently that said 78% of the rain water that falls and is collected in Lake Shasta ends up in the Pacific Ocean because bureaucrats have decided that the Sacramento River must stay at full capacity in order for the Delta Smelt to survive. Despite having millions of Delta Smelt in the fish hatchery at Shasta Dam, the Bureau of Reclamation that controls all of the inflow/outflow volumes of every reservoir has decided to let it all go to the sea. There is a plan for a new reservoir near Maxwell, CA but that won't be completed for decades. To make matters worse, even when California voters have opted for the expense of desalinization plants, the California Coastal Commission typically shuts down those attempts as the process heats up the reject water that goes back into the ocean and yep, you guessed it, endangers all the sea life... The issue with populating the western arid regions of the US, west of the 100th meridian was first analyzed by John Wesley Powell back in the 1870's. He suggested dividing up the land by watershed areas instead of arbitrary state boundaries. The politicians, railroad men, and other robber barons laughed at him, and ignored his insights because $$$. There's just too many people in California now to sustain current population levels here. Living in the best weather in the country comes at a tremendous price.
do you remember the name of the article, or can you link it? currently doing a research project
Best weather for most people means least rain (as long as temperatures are reasonable).
"Best weather" LOLOL most of CA isa desert. Weather is just another selling point used to pull in new residents and businesses for tax base.
These massive water projects enabled populations to live in numbers that are far beyond what they could ever normally support.
Nah! Greed did that all on it's own.
It was supported just fine with a historical rain and snow pattern. Sure has gotten a LOT warmer lately. I wonder why...
@@kenjackson6256 No it wasn’t, there’s only been a population in California for less than 200 years. Historically California’s droughts have lasted around 20 years, but there have been outliers like a 240 year drought. In fact, the last century in California has been one of the wettest in the previous 7,000 years. It seems to any reasonable person that California simply cannot support a huge southern population.
Almonds don't support populations, they're purely luxury and like all luxury, also a waste of resources.
@@MoylShekelstein You're not from Cali, are you. I'm a native nor Californian. 2022 has been the driest year ON RECORD. Here in Redding, we've had over 3 weeks of 100+ degree days, often over 110. Even for Redding, these are new records. Talk in geologic terms, but we don't have that much time left...
I remember reading a book called, "The Cadillac Desert," and it predicted everything that is going on right now West of the Rookies and particular California. The constant stripping away of natural aquifers have led to the problems they are not experiencing. In 1980 Satellite photos showed California showing up as a completely RED AREA on Infrared Scanning. Most of their problems can be attributed to over working the land in favor of development and Industrial demand on the land and aquifers.
Its cause the top 1/3 of the state should just be the 51st state, and they should prosper. The rest of California should just cope and realize they should move to that 51st state I mentioned. Fuck it, North and South California. Why not.
I seriously don’t get why politicians can be so delusional with so much evidence right in front of them and info they have access to. I heard pieces and videos of many government officials of a couple cities and states denying that there are any water shortages and of course many across the world denying global warming.
@@leabrimliebrity487 That would be massively expensive and the pure urbanization of that required and loss of farmland would have massive consequences across the state. They just need their leaders to stop being dumbasses and make water conservation laws.
@@FrostReave The problem is that politicians aren't delusional. Which goes to show that they are working it over how they want to work it over, and people and just deal with it. Just like if you order fast food and they fuck up your order, they don't care, they just want you to shut up and suck up.
@@leabrimliebrity487 It’s unsustainable. You can’t just guess their thoughts like you seem to be doing. I saw an interview with the Senator (not sure if he is still in office it was last cycle.) who denied there being a water shortage. At this rate California and it’s farms will die out. Drinking water will still be transported but other necessary things like farms, tap, and shower water will shut down. The consequences will be massive. If they knew they would change it.
R.O. machines require lots of energy. Plus the maintenance, membranes ,high pressure pumps,volume pumps... interesting to see if photovoltaics can power a reverse osmosis plant.
The Colorado River supplies about 14 percent of the water used in California by agriculture, industry, commercial businesses, and residential customers. The Colorado River water is by far the most important source of water used in Southern California--accounting for over 60 percent of its water supply.
While driving across interstate 8 near el centro, it was crazy to see all the crop fields and farms in the middle of the desert, only being fed water from hundreds of miles away from canals
Mostly to produce feed for meat. Google amount of water it takes to produce one pound of hamburger. But Americans love their steak and meat so this is what you get unfortunately. The meat industry also ships billions of dollars of meat overseas annually at the cost of Americas water supply.
@@semperfi6801 That farmland is not only used for feed. El Centro is in the Imperial Valley and this area produces plenty of vegetables in the winter which feeds America.
I never EVER would've thought California actually receives so much water...its simply in places that people don't want to live in. The network of piping to bring water down to the south seems very sophisticated. ALSO didn't know that Cali is responsible for so much of our agriculture which contributes to their very high water usage rate
We should diversify our portfolio by decreasing agriculture in California and increasing it in The heartland all the way down to Florida! (I just wanna see Liberal heads explode as they actually have to confront the reality that they’ll no longer have their agriculture industry or their vineyards)
They put the most money in the cookie jar
The problem is the corporate ag that is depleting the nutrients in the soil with bad practices for quick profits and poor quality food!!!
@@lauramcconney9367 No Laura
Why wouldn't people want to live in Northern Cali? It's 100× more beautiful and the weather is amazing. Your comment just goes to show that you've never been to North Cali and your speaking about things you have no clue about
WOW! I didn't know this until I was 7 yrs old back in the '60's.
Need to do fog nets and desalination. Also, invest in tunnels carrying water from more mountains/hills/places not tapped into yet to population centers. I know it's tough and expensive. I know the climate/weather doesn't help. But you will get it done.
As someone who lives in Southern California, this video was very informative for a topic that I have been interested in the past couple years. Thank you for making the video!
Nobody is buying your fake comment made by the person promoting this channel. Why you want to be like that,bro?
@@jamessummers3866 ???????????????????????????????????
I live in NorCal!
I'm from the eastern sierras and I always remember seeing the dry lakes and rivers while driving up from LA. There is also the huge ecological impact of diverting nearly all the water to the central valley and LA. Desertification is a huge problem
Is it possible to pipe the water from the river where all the Delta Smelt are saved to Southern Cali? I'm from Ft. Lauderdale; and only hear story's Thanks Mike.
well id assume originally the water just goes into the ocean, so they were rerouting it to go through civilisation before getting to the ocean. fine in theory until you become too dependent and the climate changes, and the climate always changes, whether we cause it or not. you need to be able to respond when it does, or your civilisation will cease to exist.
@@jonathanodude6660 Dude! You're forgetting the Carlsbad Desalination Complex near San Diego, CA.
@@mr.elastomeric1787 Thats the funniest thing. I use to live not far from where the Feather river and the Sacramento rivers met up. Before California did its great water management project to deal with the constant flooding all the rivers in northern California would go dry in the summer. Yet the fish managed to survive year after year. The Delta smelt is a canard used by environmentalists and the rec industry to make sure the rivers have enough water for boating. Its a huge industry.
So L.A. is screwed without the Sierra Nevadas.
Hey Lore 👋 Can you do a video if it’s better to live on the East Coast or West Coast?
Can you make a video about the advantages, drawbacks and challenges of desalination? Would watch!!
Doesn't require a video. Advantages are obvious, you have a source of water that is effectively impossible to deplete. Challenges are pretty simple at the core: 1. It's energy intensive, which makes it expensive 2. It's expensive to build the infrastructure to desalinate enough water to seriously change anything. It's expensive to build desalination plants to service use by normal people. It's prohibitively expensive to build enough desalination infrastructure to support agriculture, and will cost more money to desalinate the water than the plants sold. There's some other nuances to consider, like environmental topics, but this is one of the questions where you literally need under 3 minutes to google search and get the majority of the picture.
The core problem right now is simply that's it's just too expensive relative to where they can purchase or obtain water from now. As the cost of importing water from elsewhere goes up, and the supply of water they have goes down, also making it more expensive, the price point of desalination plants will become more competitive. So basically it's just waiting until it's a cost effective alternative, which it currently is not.
@Black Pearl Z 85 If there's anything history has taught us it's that humans will happily destroy the environment if it's economically useful to do so.
California government is way too dysfunctional to pull off such a badass public works project. The 21st century was destroyed in favor of status quo and runaway socialism, Comrade. 🐻👩🎨🇺🇲⚒️🇷🇺
@Black Pearl Z 85 To some extent they can further refine it into different chemicals which can then be sold reducing the cost and some of the byproduct, but I just don't foresee the brine byproduct being the bottleneck that stops desalination, it could be though.
I have over 25 years in the water/wastewater industry mostly working with California water purveyors. At one time California had the most advanced water system in the world. As you noted, several water projects move water hundreds of miles from the North and East essentially turning deserts into large cities and/or among the most productive agricultural areas in the world. Los Angeles and San Francisco developed into their massive metropolitan areas because of such water projects. So the technology and money to move lots of water around the state is already there and had already been implemented. The big problem is State of California essentially stopped improving this system decades ago. It's to the point that what used to be the world's most advanced water system is falling apart. The State of California has not constructed a new reservoir in over 20 years and has less water storage now that 20 years ago due to taking some reservoirs offline. Runoff from the major tributaries is more than enough to supply the entire state's current consumption even during drought years. There are no active projects to recover and store such resources even though several have been proposed over the years. Furthermore, there are no active desalination projects or any other major projects which could resolve California's water issues. Instead, State of California implements drought condition conservation which at best would save 5% of the state's consumption but realistically does nothing. All of California's water issues can be fix if the state government makes an actual effort to fix it. The current annual budget the High Speed Train project could completely fund 2 1/2 Diamond Valley Lake projects which would be about 2.4 million acre feet of water storage or enough water to supply the population of San Francisco for almost three years. TLDR; It's not a lack of water or money issue. It's a lack of proper management issue. On a side note, California's record breaking fires has more to do with poor forestry management than the droughts. I often hike with my son's boy Scout troop and I see first hand all the fuel on the ground in many of California's forests. Any uncontrolled fire will quickly escalate, which is what has happened for years and what will continue to happen until someone decides to properly manage the forests.
Can you fix it please lol. Like, do you think you could if you were in charge?
They just blame climate change every single time there's a large forest fire. Climate change doesn't help the issue, but mismanaging the forest is the primary cause
Conan the Barbarian fixes it and and the solution is to take everybody's cars.
Probably still has todo with water management because lots of the forest is dieing because not enough water
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and actually having suggestion on how to fix the issues. The rest of my comment is a bit of a rant. Ignore if you wish. As a CA resident for over 40 years it's clear to me our states' problems are with our leadership. We are banning the sales of manual transmission cars and the building of new gas stations in a time when the transition to electric vehicles will do the same thing using market forces. We have farmers that feed the nation threatening us if we try to get them to improve the way they handle water. Millions are spent on getting consumers to use less water but if we cut consumer water use in HALF it would barely make a dent in the overall water problems. I may get slaughtered for saying this but we need a government with a liberal heart and a conservative head (classical liberal and conservative concepts, not the psycho junk we have today). Keep doing the best we can for people while running the state in a more efficient manner that include LONG TERM planning.
California use to have the largest lake west of the great lakes called Tulare lake . But the state allowed cotton farmers to cut canals and pump it dry . Just the lack of evaporation from this lake probably caused drought throughout the west . Evidently they didn't teach about the water cycle in California school's or cause and effect
You learned that from a utube video.....glad u regurgitated it
Very informative video 👍
Been working 11 years for the central valleys largest public water utility divison. Currently hold several licenses thru dept. Public health/State Water Resource Control Board im very aware of our "current situation".. the valley is basically a well irragated dessert, through our smart meter data we are well aware that 80% or better of our consumption is literally irragation. We see abuse especially on commercial and well to-do residential areas we have more resources than is reported thru local media the valley is rich in water rights. My major concern is what's coming. .the metering of private farmland ground water wells... it will absolutely have a immediate impact on that fast food bill. Grocery bill, family gathering bbqs, or overall way of life will be impacted real quick, compounded with fuel and housing prices in the state. I'm concerned for the next generations to be, and the citizens of California who have no choice but to leave the state we love.
Obviously, greed and a short- term view once again win and screw up our world.
I wish they would add in to the consumption the amount of environmental usage. ie the amount of water that must be “not pumped” in honor of the endangered species. Been a part of the reduction in water because of the endangered species act but haven’t heard much on the improvements in habitat since reducing the pumping at the delta.
Curious as to your best guess of time frame when quality of life will be impacted ? My guess is within the decade we should see the beginnings of some societal cracks
@@garrettgonsalves6224 the endangered species they are trying to protect is the delta smelt... it's considered an invasive species here in California: it's not even part of our echo system and really serves no purpose but to force us to divert billions of gallons of fresh water a year into the ocean.
@@roundpeg3239 agree completely, I’d like to hear which group of whistle blowers is watching on the progress, because there probably isn’t any and they wouldn’t tell us if their plan had failed. We farm out on the west side where the water from the aqua duct is crucial to the survival of 100’s of 1000’s of acres. I don’t think they really care about all the trees they’re about to kill out here. They’re selective in what to report, kinda like with mass shootings vs Chicago shootings.
I've lived in the Mojave desert most of my life. And amount of water we get up here. It's not a lot though. I have noticed in the last 15 years that amount of a rainfall and snow has dramatically been reduced even though in the early 2000s we had more participation than we do now in the modern day and the area. The Mojave desert is a dry area doesn't mean we don't get rain or snow, though it's been very fleeting in the last 5 or 6 years. The amount of rain and snow that we've gotten The last year that I remember we had a decent amount of snowfall enough to shut down. The whole area was nearly 15 years ago, about 2 years after I graduated from high school. That's the last time that I saw a decent amount of snow in the desert areas
Are you here now ? Its much greener in the area I'm in (high desert). I have also lived here for the past 15 years. I'm in the Mojave near the AV though not Joshua tree.
@@marleyg2850 I live in the middle of apple valley around my area is mostly desert not much greenery where I live I have to walk about 1 miles to another area to have a park or about 2 miles to go to the city hall witch has a nice park other then that it really dry here. and right now there is start of fines for for use of water from liberty I think its 20% reecution of water usage for this summer.
Yeah with all the geo engineering that has taken place out there is pretty suspect to why it is so dry.
Another words chem trails.
Well, that’s why it’s called a desert. Not a lot of precipitation in deserts if you didn’t know after 15 years of living in one.
Here's a challenge: take a shot every time he says "entire".
If the problem is precipitation, then why not create large artificial underwater shallows offshore? A series of large reflective platforms that float about 25-50 feet underwater, tethered to the sea floor. That would cause more surface water to evaporate faster by reflecting sunlight back upwards, allowing the water to absorb twice as much sunlight, and thus heat. This evaporating water would be blown towards the mountains, condense, and fall as rain.
I grew up in Ohio, and while all my siblings migrated to Cali, I'm staying put because of one reason and one reason only... the vast water resources of the great lakes.
Same for me, I don't ever wanna move west, its too risky nowadays for a number of reasons.
Tell your siblings to move back. California for locals only
By 2050, your friends will wish they made your decision. Climate change is gonna make The Great Lakes region the most important region of the whole US.
@Esh don’t worry, we’re all stuck in Ohio anyway
it's means it always was Ohio.
Imagine not building more reservoirs since the 60's and wondering why?
EXACTLY!!!!!
11:52 I used to jump off that bridge into the water. The top of the arch was probably 50-60 feet above the water level.
Water-Shortages were also covered by Some-More-News.
Informative video.
one: the state is not building any desalination plants. two: the state keeps opening the reservoirs and draining most of the water before rain or snow. three: not sending water out because of fish. four: not building more reservoirs. the state has the water but doesn't want to store it and wont store it.
You my Friend, Are Right over the Target.
Precisely, Mike.
I would also add they produce too many crops that are very dependent on water and they deplete the water table in surrounding areas that cause temperatures to fluctuate and compound the issue.
Open border and over 40 million in one state?
Five, they never flood all of the rice fields in the winter.
I feel very fortunate to live in the "real" northern calif, where we get plenty of rain; it even has been raining here in june! We have a well, and it stays well-stocked. Of course, we still practice water conservation like using grey water to water plants and saving the water from showering and using to flush the toilet, etc etc.
Well you live in Cali so you shouldn’t feel fortunate lmao. I’d rather live in northern Africa than that cancer of a state.
I feel very fortunate to have recently moved out of California before things get worse. There is plenty of water and power where I live now.
i am fortunate to live in Tennessee🙂
@@mailmanx69 which is where, pray tell?
@@mailmanx69 Power is not really a problem in Cali
I'd love an update to this video now in early 2023, where the whole west coast is being hit with massive rainstorms that are easing drought conditions, while flooding areas and eroding infrastructure
LA and San Diego had tons of downpour this winter for multiple months, but California did nothing to collect it.
I had heard that San Diego was one of the world leaders in water desalination. MIT has also come up with lesser expensive means to desalinate water, so that is probably California's best chance here, especially seeing that the vast majority of the people in the cities ignoring the water restrictions so that they can ensure that their lawns are nice a pretty.
There are already activists protesting desalination efforts. It's sad, really.
While limiting residential water use helps a bit, the fact is you could literally shut off the taps to ALL residential use and it wouldn't solve things. Ag uses 80% of the water. And Big Ag has Big Lobby to buy Big Politics while residential users don't, so it's easy for politicians to restrict residential water use but it simply won't make a dent. There are massive issues with restricting agricultural use such as jobs lost, but let's be honest - almonds and the like are high profit but not exactly 'critical' food. I don't claim to have the answer as it's an insanely complicated question but it's plainly evident that unless we uses substantially less water for ag we aren't going to get anywhere.
Desalination is not good for the coast, high brine levels kill all kinds of animals. The easiest solution is a pipe from the columbia River which california is doing nothing about. It's literally dumping ridiculous amount of water into the ocean..
@@billy909420 Everybody who hasn't actually studied things always goes straight to desal because it 'seems' like an easy answer. But once you look into it you realize that while it could be a small piece of the puzzle it's far from a real answer. As for piping in from the Columbia, we don't need to go that far. There have been plans to bring water from far northern CA down via pipe played with several times but aside from monetary costs they come with their own major environmental costs. Unfortunately many people see rivers as simply 'wasting' water by letting them run to the ocean. Even our own Sacramento, San Juaquin, Kalamath, etc rivers. While I'm a fan of building more water storage and some new diversion infrastructure, the environmental impacts are significant and getting approval for something like this will be a massive undertaking and likely be fought for decades. There are still people trying to get rid of Hetch Hetchy today even in this water environment.
@@donhappel9566 what has more of a significant environmental impact, water pipes from north of our state Or the high speed rail?
We moved from Southern California in 1980, I remember back then as a kid in the 70’s being restricted to watering our lawns by even/odd address’ and you could only wash your car certain days of the week and you had to wash it on your lawn and that was your lawn watering for the week!
so where in So. Calif did you live in the 80's. We lived in Santa Monica and cannot recall such restrictions. But then that was Santa Monica.
Being a more than 60 year resident of the California Central Coast, and doing much traveling in the upper 2/3 of the state for the last 40 years, I have been watching the lakes and reservoirs dropping to near empty. Yet the California Aqueducts always has plenty of water flowing south to the lower end of the state. With Gavin Newsom wanting to create more Aqueduct to send more water south. I pass the San Luis Reservoir frequently, and it has remained being drained lower and lower for the last 20 years. I have been told unofficially, that this reservoir was built to send water south for a particular number of years. Maybe 50, and I would guess that the time is about up. I would be curious to know what Southern California has been doing to provide their own lakes and reservoirs to draw off of in the last 50 years, and when will that water get to be used more centrally in the state? I am on the Monterey Peninsula near the Salinas Valley, which also grows lots of produce used around the world, has SALT WATER INTRUSION, the need for DESALINATION ( which I hear that there is a DESALINATION plant at the local landfill, just needs to be turned on? ), but local water companies squabbling over rights to the water. And also, no one wants a plant in their backyard, such as Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel, Carmel Valley, Pebble Beach, 17 MILE DRIVE, SPANISH BAY, etc. Yet all of Central California continues to build more and more homes, and California Government pushes the need to keep building more, and the farmers drill deeper into the next aquifer. When does it stop?
Desalinization station, wind turbines to pump to, reservoirs on the mountains to,hydroelectric to distribution system
80% of California’s water is for agriculture, but when there’s a drought the state government doesn’t tell the ag industry to use less water they tell regular people they have to use less water
California has to keep up that "GLOBAL DOMINATION OF AGRICULTURE!". They can't let basically any other state(or country) take that mantle from them and just take the L. This video is basically just yet another explanation of how bloated and ready for collapse California is.
That's how it always goes. Blame the People (who are not responsible for the problems) and allow the Others a free pass. 🤮
It's kind of unavoidable for the farmers. I would think they'd recycle the water in those areas.
well the problem is that if you let the trees dry up and die, you end up with a shit economy, jobless people, and a trade deficit. Using less water is annoying, but ultimately protecting the country's "infrastructure" is often more important than mild annoyance to people.
You can start by eating less food
You forgot to mention the man led draining of Tulare, Buena Vista, and Kern Lakes by the US Army and the Boswell Company in The Central Valley over the 20th Century which would've provided a secondary source of groundwater and even possibly rain for SoCal. These lakes were so big they induced rainfall in the valley and Southern Sierra Nevada and fed the Kern, Kaweah, Tule and Owen's Rivers to the point many of these rivers flooded in wetter years and excess water was actually fed into NorCal. With the way our water is brought through aquaducts and canals now it could be possible to refill these lakes and use them to put some distance between us and drought damage. They'd offer groundwater recharge and could bring more rain into the South Valley, Sierra and Inyo County which provides water to LA and San Bernardino Counties. It would be a large project but it would bring in more water than a dozen desalination plants and could offer a strong line of defense as the megadrought continues.
Well dams fill up with silt so the only long-term solution is to green the desert.
That would have to involve getting a lot of people to reduce their use and not building as many houses for awhile. You might be able to pull off the first but not the second. We need to just start imposing population density requirements in a region based on its available water.
That's a lot of stuff to read
But I will read it anyway
The fact you just called it a "megadrought" tells me you are buying the narrative they are feeding you.
I like how the most replayed moment was people trying to figure out if the mojave and sonoran deserts overlap
Water-Shortages were also covered by Some-More-News.
Yes the brine can also be used for batteries and the salt could be sold as salt after every other thing is stripped from it. We just discovered fusion power that can maybe power such a project. Cali should pump a water pipe line into a reservoir making a huge man made lake into a forest area giving water back into these areas plus help fire fighter in this area, and one in a dry area to help cool the area in higher altitudes. The water will then run down hill feeding into a damn anthe other areas the damn could power the water pumps going uphill to the lake. Then the water goes into farming and the citys. This could be the biggest project in are time like the hover damn. Inner states keep the Colorado River water the sw could be saved. Plus citys in the sw go the vegas route and learn how to save every drop of water used so it can be put back into the rivers.
I once saw an interview with a ranger at Mesa Verde National Park. He said "I'm always asked why did a whole civilization build a city in the middle of a desert. I always say someone will discover the ruins of Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Las Vegas a thousand years from now and ask the same question."
The answer is gold. California was a shithole before gold made it a popular destination for miners, which have needs and towns sprung up to provide cheap whores and beer to meet those needs.
Exactly. Eventually millions will have to relocate, and those big cities will become huge ghost towns, and then ruins.
@@geosophik9369 California has enough rainfall for populations it is agriculture that uses most of the water 80% or so. Also the Columbia river between WA and Oregon is the 38th largest river discharge in to the ocean in the world, if even a small amount of that water is diverted to the SW it would eliminate all water issues forever and along the path create brand new cities and agriculture area, totally revolutionize the western USA but this would be the world's largest water project in history and the cost would require everyone in the USA to pay for it so that is a big problem but it could happen some day, there is a good amount of talk about it but that would be a serious megaproject of historical levels.