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Missing California’s Water As Its Wells Run Dry

A friend who just moved from southern California to Dallas said his two year old son has seen more rain in the past few days than he has seen his entire life in California. The WaPo reports that the exceptional drought in California has gotten so bad that the state is entering uncharted territory. The state […]

A friend who just moved from southern California to Dallas said his two year old son has seen more rain in the past few days than he has seen his entire life in California. The WaPo reports that the exceptional drought in California has gotten so bad that the state is entering uncharted territory. The state is now drawing down its aquifers, which take much longer to replenish than lakes. Excerpts:

When those faltered, some switched on their well pumps, drawing up thousands of gallons from underground aquifers to prevent their walnut trees and alfalfa crops from drying up. Until the wells, too, began to fail.

Now, across California’s vital agricultural belt, nervousness over the state’s epic drought has given way to alarm. Streams and lakes have long since shriveled up in many parts of the state, and now the aquifers — always a backup source during the region’s periodic droughts — are being pumped away at rates that scientists say are both historic and unsustainable.

One state-owned well near Sacramento registered an astonishing 100-foot drop in three months as the water table, strained by new demand from farmers, homeowners and municipalities, sank to a record low. Other wells have simply dried up, in such numbers that local drilling companies are reporting backlogs of six to eight months to dig a new one.

In still other areas, aquifers are emptying so quickly that the land itself is subsiding, like cereal in a bowl after the milk has drained out.

More:

“A well-managed basin is used like a reserve bank account,” Howitt said. “We’re acting like the super rich who have so much money they don’t need to balance their checkbook.”

The Golden State has always been a symbol for an America that does not have to live within natural limits. And now? I remember when I lived in Dallas, north Texas was suffering a very severe and prolonged drought. It was hard for us to think about having to seriously change our lifestyles because there wasn’t enough water to support our living as we wanted to live. That drought ended, but if the climate change forecasts are correct, drought will become a way of life for California and the American Southwest. Humankind is paying the price of believing that freedom means liberation from all limits.

Or maybe I’m just moralizing meteorology…

UPDATE: JamesP writes, worryingly:

I read that unless the rainfall and snowfall increase dramatically, the state has enough water only for two more years. This is a disaster for the state, for banks who will be sitting on billion$ in failed mortgages once the population has to leave to survive, for Americans who eat fresh fruit and vegetables, for the wine industry and treasured vineyards. How will the US economy absorb tens of millions of displaced and unemployed people? What happens when SF and LA become the next Detroits? (AZ, NE, and NM aren’t far behind.) What happens to politics when all of those blue state Californians move to other states? Will they make Texas purple or outright blue, or will they make the East Coast bluer than blue? Does Silicon Valley move to Austin and Seattle? This could really, really, really happen. If it happens in short order, we are looking at National Guard operations to distribute food and water and to deal with sanitation until folks can be moved out. Welfare will balloon. If I lived in CA, I’d have an escape plan in place right now, which would include renting until things resolve one way or another, or probably just getting out. Huge desalination plants are in the works, but not enough or soon enough. This situation is a national threat in so many ways.

When Jared Diamond picks up and leaves California, you’ll know it’s time to go.

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