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California City Considers Restarting Desalination Plant To Fight Drought
First time accepted submitter SaraLast (3619459) writes in with news about Santa Barbara considering the restart of its desalination plant. "This seaside city thought it had the perfect solution the last time California withered in a severe drought more than two decades ago: Tap the ocean to turn salty seawater to fresh water. The $34 million desalination plant was fired up for only three months and mothballed after a miracle soaking of rain. As the state again grapples with historic dryness, the city nicknamed the "American Riviera" has its eye on restarting the idled facility to hedge against current and future droughts. "We were so close to running out of water during the last drought. It was frightening," said Joshua Haggmark, interim water resources manager. "Desalination wasn't a crazy idea back then." Removing salt from ocean water is not a far-out idea, but it's no quick drought-relief option. It takes years of planning and overcoming red tape to launch a project. Santa Barbara is uniquely positioned with a desalination plant in storage. But getting it humming again won't be as simple as flipping a switch."
Vegas gets its water from Lake Mead. How do you propose we get that water to central California?
Is the concept of an example of unsustainable and stupid water usage too difficult? I'll make it simpler. We are diverting lots of water to central California, more than appears to be sustainable. We should stop doing that.
That's great that you know what should or shouldn't have happen. Brav-fucking-O . Now, how about a solution?
[slow clap] Oh aren't you precious. [/slow clap]
Here's a solution to the Vegas issue. Drain the damn swimming pools and restrict the amount of water available in the city to sustainable worst case levels. It's a desert and if Vegas dries up and blows away that would be fine. People can go somewhere else to gamble and pick up hookers. Here's a solution the Central Valley issue. Adjust water policies to be based on the low end of long term sustainable usage. If that means less farming in the Central Valley then so be it.