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California Fights Drought With Data and Psychology, Yielding 5% Usage Reduction
dcblogs writes with an article about hackers using technology to mitigate the effects of drought. From the article: "California is facing its worst drought in more than 100 years, and one with no end in sight. But it is offering Silicon Valley opportunities. In one project, the East Bay Municipal Utility District in Oakland used customized usage reports .... that [compare] a customer's water use against average use for similar sized households. It uses a form of peer pressure to change behavior. A ... year-long pilot showed a 5% reduction in water usage. The utility said the reporting system could 'go a long way' toward helping the state meet its goal of a reducing water usage by 20% per capita statewide. In other tech related activities, the organizer of a water-tech focused hackathon, Hack the Drought is hoping this effort leads to new water conserving approaches. Overall, water tech supporters are working to bring more investor attention to this market. Imagine H2O, a non-profit, holds annual water tech contests and then helps with access to venture funding. The effort is focused on 'trying to address the market failure in the water sector,' Scott Bryan, the chief operating officer of Imagine H2O."
So, how long before they start redefining "average" down below the actual average so as to make even more people feel bad about themselves?
After all, it's pretty much just a line of code to reduce the value displayed under "average use" to be, well, whatever the coder wants it to be.
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
Stop trying to farm and build huge cities in the desert. When you fuss about not being able to find enough water in the desert I just want to sit in my muddy, humid, rainy state... and watch you die of thirst.
Why not simply lower the water pressure by 10% to curb water usage?
That might be practical but it depends on geography. You might find that people in low-lying areas need a high pressure just to that the water reaches the houses on the top of the hill. Also it depends on usage - someone with a conventional shower may save water when pressure is reduced, but someone who takes a bath or had a power shower probably won't.
There is merely a shortage of raw materials (H2O) for big agriculture.
Agriculture consumes 80% of the water in California and contributes 5% of the economy. There is sufficient water in California to supply the cities 5 times over.
But before you fly-over states get all self-righteous, think about this the next time you buy fresh salad greens in January.
I'm against watering a barren blazing desert in the west trying to pretend its "farmland"
Because building plumbing is built on the assumption that street water pressure levels are a certain figure. Decrease the water pressure and you find you have a lot of buildings in which the top floor doesn't get less water--it gets *no* water.
Yeah alot of ppl don't realize that residential use inside the home goes to the water treatment plant,
then back into the system. Things like lawn watering need to end though, its not practical.
Pool covers need to be made mandatory.
The top usage of water in California is agriculture, and a large portion of it is lost due to evaporation.
If they used a water method similar to wicking, they'd get much lower evaporation rates.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W...
Myself and others have said a water pipeline from the Columbia river would solve their water problems,
but I don't think they want spend that much money.
I think the non-operating desalination plants could be brought back online but power them via solar
thermal as California has plenty of that in this drought.
Also a large amount of groundwater is available, but it needs to be used at a max rate matching the
recharge rate, and no more.
The groundwater could be pumped via solar and windpower to help with long term costs.
google "32 trillion offshore needs IRS attention"
water levels in the aquifers are down 15 to 50 feet since year 2000, not being replenished as the absurd amounts of water on the pretend "farmland" and the too-huge cities are leading to the inevitable conclusion
Ah, but Golf Courses are the red herring of California. It's what farmers, who are wasting massive amounts of water, like to point and scream at, to distract from the real issue - people growing shit where they have no business whatsoever growing shit. (And then shipping it to China. But that's another matter entirely.)
Meanwhile, neither golf courses or farmers will be penalized - nay, households will be put to the sword if they don't wring the drippings out of their laundry and drink them.
Amusing captcha: unionize
Do you think everyone should dig up all the grass and use astro turf?
Actually in a lot of New Mexico (can't speak for elsewhere), digging under your grass and "zeroscaping" is fairly popular. Looks good and takes almost no water. Of course, you might need grass out back if you want to play on your Slip-n-Slide.
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
Tell me more about global warming, please.
Sure thing.
We have the same problem in Texas too. The rice farmers aren't willing to pay a free market price for water. They insist on paying 1/100th of what everyone else does. A long time ago, they got a law passed saying the water they used from the river each year means they own that much water from the river each year forever. Many won't even consider growing a crop that uses less water. "I've always grown rice. You can't tell me what to do with my water." Of course, they all vote for "free market" Republicans, because they'll keep the Mexicans illegal and protect us from Obama.
California could start by restricting water usage on golf courses, like that lush soggy one Obama played on last time he was there. Talk about some more equal than others!