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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Jan 15, 2015 - 10:35pm PT
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Well, it is pretty clear that this will not be a "make up" year of heavy precip.....it is very likely to be another lower than average year.
For the smaller places around the state, perhaps they should give thought to moving towards water independence.
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John M
climber
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Jan 19, 2015 - 09:07am PT
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Poor badger Pass. when are they going to get a snow making machine? I can remember years when there would be a 30 minute lift line on a 3 day weekend.
this drought is getting to be seriously boring. come on snow. where are you!!!
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John M
climber
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Jan 19, 2015 - 09:13am PT
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thats too bad Ekat. they had plenty of moisture in Dec, but it must have been too warm.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Jan 19, 2015 - 12:01pm PT
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Personally, I think we are at a turning point WRT technology. Take, for example, the new Omniprocessor:
http://www.wired.com/2015/01/omniprocessor/
it takes sewage, and converts it very efficiently to pure water, and the remaining sludge is used as fuel to run the machine....producing net energy to sell. It actually would make a profit to run.
it cost 1.5 mil to build....the first one. But it will become much cheaper with volume. Add this to a town of 100,000, and it can change the dynamics in a major way.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Jan 19, 2015 - 01:35pm PT
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I hate to say, but DMT is on the right track.
We need more efficient handling of water, requiring fewer participants in the water chase. Let's start with stray animals. That could save millions of gallons.
Plant more strays.
Plant fewer orchards.
Treat plumbers like doctors, subject them to years of study at university, peer review, offer malpractice ins., and so forth. This might help save untold billions of gallons of water in keeping leaks to a minimum and miles of pipe might be reserved for other uses.
Hell, the present water system itself is so inefficient, it's unbelievable.
How easy is it to place a cover over the larger canals, at least? This has been a waster of water for as long as there have been canals, but the older cultures never thought much about evaporation loss, or so it seems.
Some of our technology is right out of the stone age. It may be simple and it may have been cheap to build back then, but is it efficient? How easily could it be replaced and at what cost? But costs are linked to present prices, and so that must be factored.
And...here's my pet peeve...we don't need politicos to be in charge of the water supply, we need technologists and scientists, who should "know how." Rome managed, barely. It was a so-called "great" civilization. They put people in charge of the Italian aqueducts who were idiots, especially in corrupt imperial Rome itself (I've been reading, Capt. or Scully) like we seem to do. Well, their intentions may be good, but they still don't belong in charge.
Every drop will eventually count.
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zBrown
Ice climber
Brujò de la Playa
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Jan 19, 2015 - 02:03pm PT
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The real problem is that there are not enough scientists working on creating a water substitute or something similar.
When soldiers tired of hiking through the mud, they requested a method to de-hydrate it. Science responded with Ice-9.
Where in the hell is Reverse_Ice_9? Is it a patent issue?
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Jan 19, 2015 - 08:48pm PT
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Dingus, thanks for the kudos.
I am optimistic, because of what I see, and what I am involved with.
It is an aside, but I think worth talking about, the population issue. I became involved with this issue about 45 years ago, and I could not have been more pessimistic.
But something amazing has happened. What you hope for has happened.
In the 1950s, most countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa had low life expectancy and high birth rates; in most cases, more than 5 children per women.
Only five decades later, most of those countries have less than three children per woman, and much longer lives.
To really see the remarkable change that has happened, take a look at this TED talk, starting at 11:05.
http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_the_good_news_of_the_decade#t-663394
Or looked at another way, this entire TED 10 minute talk, and be amazed:
http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_on_global_population_growth
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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Jan 19, 2015 - 08:53pm PT
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Pretty dry so far in the SW San Juan mountains of CO . . . some nice early season snow, but not so much now.
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Norwegian
Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
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Jan 20, 2015 - 05:16am PT
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hell arrived in strawberry, late last night.
saved me a trip.
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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Jan 20, 2015 - 05:24am PT
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Yeah, again January seems to have the high pressure ridge over the central western US. Dry and warm here in UT as well. Was low 50s over the weekend, and the forecast is for mid 50s in a week. And no snow.
This is about the third year in a row like this. And it's a major cause of the inversions we get here in SLC.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Jan 20, 2015 - 06:22am PT
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Norwegian...All the people in hell want ice water...Save me some...and a Budwieser...
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John M
climber
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Jan 20, 2015 - 10:29am PT
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Badger Pass closed today.. I wonder if they will open glacier point road.
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Guernica
climber
dark places
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Jan 21, 2015 - 05:03pm PT
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^ interesting, and fair enough... what do a bunch of hipsters know about drought in california anyway??
Vice does have impressive production value though, kudos to your buddy in NY for that at least.
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bergbryce
climber
East Bay, CA
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Jan 21, 2015 - 05:31pm PT
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i appreciate vice's different perspective but only about 15% of their content is worth reading/viewing. They have very good headline writers. Then you click and realize it's a big tub of garbage.
T-shirts and shorts on this evenings hike. January has become about the best month for hiking for me.
Warm storm coming from the south. Things are getting even weirder.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Jan 21, 2015 - 08:38pm PT
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So I walk my dog early every morning and late at night about 1/2 mile each time out in an open field. For years we've seen multiple deer most nights, we used to see coyotes every couple of weeks, often in a pack of 2 - 5. Oliver has tangled with two so far and bested them.
We'd see a fox every now and then and rarely a bobcat. Oliver treed a bobcat one morning. We've also seen one Mt Lion. Up close and personal at 11 PM right next to my drive!!
The wildlife up here near Castle Rock has been decimated over the past 3 years.
Haven't seen a coyote in at least a year. Haven't seen a bobcat in more like 2 years. We hadn't seen a fox for months until one two weeks ago in the morning. We can go several nights without seeing deer. 5 nights ago we saw 6. A record for the past 2 years. Haven't seen one since.
Oliver used to find gophers and moles to dig up every couple of weeks. He hasn't had reason to tear up the barely damp ground in over a year.
The weaker black oaks are dying.
It's pretty desperate.
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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Jan 21, 2015 - 11:42pm PT
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what is the employment situation like in Dos Palmas?
can i swim in the Delta Mendota canal without a permit?
is there life after death?
can you spell grandmother without using a G?
can you smile when your shorts are too tight?
does your girlfriend lick your face every morning?
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Jan 22, 2015 - 02:04am PT
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norwegian, everybody smokes in hell and nobody drinks.
look out below.
the drought is becoming a very dry topic...but that's probably just me.
i'd like another strawberry daiquiri, miss.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Jan 22, 2015 - 05:35am PT
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Dress it up, make it seem commonplace and natural and a boon to mankind.
"The more you do anything that don't look like advertising the better advertising it is."--Will Rogers, speaking of selling the West
Mendota's got nice figs. That's about all.
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dirtbag
climber
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Jan 22, 2015 - 06:29am PT
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Excellent summary and analysis Dingus.
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