Why has California chosen water shortages over desalination?

wordpress ^ | February 1, 2014 | Dan from Squirrel Hill

[grundle]

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog

Why has California chosen water shortages over desalination?

Israel has made the choice to turn its water shortages into surpluses by building lots of desalination plants. Desalination costs less than 40 cents per cubic meter, which is less than 1/6 penny per gallon. It’s so cheap that in addition to using desalinized water for residential uses, Israel also uses it for agriculture.

Meanwhile, California has chosen to have water shortages instead of building enough desalination plants.

Why did California make this choice?

[Jack Hydrazine]

“It’s because California has become a cash cow for politicians, unions, teachers, public sector workers that the rest of the state producers don’t matter. This includes agriculture, manufacturing and to some degree the media industry.”

Like Detroit was at one time?

[morphing libertarian]

The plant in Carlsbad will open in 2016 and provide up to 10% of the county’s water. So we need a few more, as does the rest of the state. San Diego county is the driest along the coast and we have little of our own supply.

It has been 14 years since they sought approval, the private company and the city. They got all the permits, including coastal commission. It took 10 years; then the same groups which opposed the plant during the administrative process tried to stop it in court.

Instead of the judge deferring to the 10 years of administrative processes, he had a hearing and it stung it out another 2 years.

We are literally paralyzed in California. No new freeways, no tracking, no new power plants; so if someone builds a desal plant, it’s a miracle. But they need to get started.

[volunbeer]

The answer is simple. The people must suffer.

---

Yes, but the majority will suffer because a very small minority can use their brainwashed followers and purchased politicians to give them control. This is about power.

[shibumi]

"I thought there was going to be an explanation when I clicked on the link."

You have obviously mistaken Grundle (aka "The Gooch") for something other than a Ron Paul/Green Party Blog Pimp.

His "blog post" could easily have been a two sentence comment on another thread which he himself just posted but he decided to tease you into hitting his blog instead.

[markman46]

ya i know how dry San Diego county is, am surprised at how long the plant in Carlsbad has taken. Orange County needs one too, there was talk about on in Huntington Beach next to the old aes plant but not sure it will happen, and with downtown brown as Gov!!!

[quimby]

The greatest need are the farmers in the central valley. That is nowhere near the coast. The root of their problem is the delta smelt, a fish labelled endangered causing a court ruling deverting water from the sacremento river delta.

As technology advances, desal solutions will no doubt be used where cost efficient.

[43north]

Exactly. Under democratic communism/income redistribution all must be equally miserable - except the ruling elite of course.

[hinckley buzzard]

Large scale desalinization requires nuclear power. We know how to do that, we just don't have the political will. A competent government would have seen to the building of those plants and having them on line by now. That the Cali Gov hasn't promoted this is proof that their agenda has nothing to do with the common good.

[wintertime]

Why?

Because it is run by communists.

[Jack Hydrazine]

The One Percenters are the biggest proponents of collectivism and Islam and use the poor as their strawman to get what they want.

[morphing libertarian]

need about 7-8 in SD County, we could help Imperial County

[CIB-173RDABN]

Every time it rains, the left is on the television and radio saying we are in a drought and must conserve water.

Every time they check the snow in the Sierra (where our water comes from ) it is reported as the lowest level in history.

There are solutions to this problem but the environmentalist who seem to own Sacramento prevent any solution other than making the citizens suffer.

I always thought the purpose of governments was to do things that individuals could not do on their own, such as maintain water source, take care of sewage and build infrastructure to aid in commerce.

The Socialist in Sacramento do everything they can to make life in California worse than it has to be.

[morphing libertarian]

The purpose of CA government is to build a high speed train from Lost Hills to Avenal.

[dirtymac]

because this has nothing to do with water shortages but economic control. Like taxes where the Dems want to continue their wasteful spending but want higher taxes when running short of cash. Dems continue needless water projects to preserve the introduced striper bass in the delta but have cut off huge amounts of water to farmers and communities. They have avoided water projects that will provide more water to all because of the costs involved but continue to try and force through a very expensive high speed rail network through the Central Valley without terminus at either end and which no one in their right mind wants.

Socialism at work again. Central planning by intellectuals instead of entrepreneurs. Capitalist will evaluate a project and will take risks when the payoff is worthwhile. An intellectual will proceed with utter folly because it fits their agenda.

There is a saying by someone (who really cares) that states ‘an idea so completely idiotic that only an intellectual would believe it.

This country was founded on capitalism and it worked exceedingly well until the socialist got control and bled us dry. Look at history, real history not the bullshit history spun out of control by the education factory we have today.

[JRandomFreeper]

I always thought the purpose of governments was to

Governments are simply protection/shakedown rackets enforced by men with guns wearing snappy uniforms.

/johnny

[Domangart]

No underground storage. All the storage and transport is open to the air. This is changing. The FEDS required them to build underground storage,

[blam]

"California has so much oil that it naturally seeps into the ocean. "

Yup.

The La Brea Tar Pits are a very visable example.

I toured the place 2-3 years ago. I expected more.

[AZLiberty]

Schizophrenia. One half of the California mind is anti-growth. The other half lets millions of illegal immigrants in through the back door.

[Sherman Logan]

FWIW, it looks like CA utilities presently pay around $2.30/1000 gallons.

Desal plants can supposedly produce water for $2.90 to $3.70.

http://www.watereuse.org/sites/default/files/u8/WateReuse_Desal_Cost_White_Paper.pdf

[skinkinthegrass]

"in snappy uniforms"Mel Brooks?