Desalination Plants

[oldnotdead]

Californians have known the risk they were taking with the Salton Sea for decades. Back in the 80s, I believe it was when a plan was drawn up to divert the rainwater drainage coming off the mountains and put the rain runoff in settling ponds to replenish the aquifer. That plan was politically quashed and nothing was done about it.

My uncle used to own a farm in Niland and got run out by rezoning his farmland for residential use. Coincidentally he was one who supported the plan....hmmmmm Environmental scientists predicted this day would come. But like the coastal desalination plants, their plans were killed over and over again. California has no one to blame but itself. Look how many years this drought has lasted and as the biggest draw on the water did California lead the charge to reallocate the water division? Nope, they continued to this day to draw their full share. Where is the ban on golf courses, lawns and water-intensive landscapes?

Public apathy is just as big of a problem as big agri. There is no political will because there is no public will. People won't care until rationing becomes a permanent thing. The problem is multifaceted. But it must start with a general public outcry because without it the politicians have no reason not to take the Farm Bureau's money.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Californians have known the risk they were taking with the Salton Sea for decades. Back in the 80s, I believe it was when a plan was drawn up to divert the rainwater drainage coming off the mountains and put the rain runoff in settling ponds to replenish the aquifer. That plan was politically quashed and nothing was done about it.

My uncle used to own a farm in Niland and got run out by rezoning his farmland for residential use. Coincidentally he was one who supported the plan....hmmmmm Environmental scientists predicted this day would come. But like the coastal desalination plants, their plans were killed over and over again. California has no one to blame but itself. Look how many years this drought has lasted and as the biggest draw on the water did California lead the charge to reallocate the water division? Nope, they continued to this day to draw their full share. Where is the ban on golf courses, lawns and water-intensive landscapes?

Public apathy is just as big of a problem as big agri. There is no political will because there is no public will. People won't care until rationing becomes a permanent thing. The problem is multifaceted. But it must start with a general public outcry because without it the politicians have no reason not to take the Farm Bureau's money.

I don't disagree with any of the above, but the discussion the OP presented us is about Desalination Plants. We know the political will has been nonexistent in many circles of our society because there is a lack of leadership, and now we have reached a point where the Feds are likely to impose restrictions which will trigger lawsuits that could take years to resolve, years that we don't have. The Sacramento Water Tunnel Project, like the development of desalination plants, is just another issue where locals say 'not in my backyard'.
I'm not an engineer, but I do possess a degree of common sense, and when the subject of desalination comes up and folks get twisted over this 'not in my backyard' malaise, it's not altogether different from off-shore wind turbine development we have seen in many coastal cities already.
One reason why I brought up a seawater pipeline to an area inland is because it's far less intrusive than a massive Desalination Plant that sits on our pristine California coastline, and the land & route are pretty easily followed if the Feds & State can get on board. Camp Pendleton is federal property, and state highway 78 would be the path of the pipeline, a fairly direct route, a huge desalination plant on the north-east side of the Salton Sea should have far fewer detractors, ... then another, now fresh water pipeline would continue north to Lake Mead through uninhabited desert land. Camp Pendleton is huge, and on it's southernmost reaches could easily yield some land for a pipeline, if not a desalination plant of it's own.
jmo.

California resists bullying along the Colorado River

Gov. Gavin Newsom isn’t standing for the bullying by the other six states that draw water from the Colorado River.

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