The Drought.
We are so fucked by this drought that we can't even begin to comprehend how fucked we are. The LA Times is here to scare the shit out of us:
Right now the state has only about one year of water supply left in its reservoirs, and our strategic backup supply, groundwater, is rapidly disappearing. California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought like this one (let alone a 20-plus-year mega-drought), except, apparently, staying in emergency mode and praying for rain.The article goes on with some suggestions that are so stupid and painfully obvious it's insane we aren't doing them. Like mandatory rationing. NO FUCKING SHIT.
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| Picture from the same LA Times article. I have no idea what this is. Perhaps this is our New God that we must worship to get delicious water. |
EDIT/UPDATE: Almonds are bad, but you know what else? Fucking WALNUTS take almost FIVE GALLONS of water apiece to grow. For one stupid walnut! Walnuts are fucking disgusting anyway. We could lose walnuts today and be better as a society and a people. If you think you like walnuts, you've been tricked. Walnuts are a fucking scam. If you really sat down and tasted one, you'd be like "Ugh, I can't believe I've been putting this garbage food into my mouth. I feel like throwing up just thinking about the number of times I've eaten this tree jizz. Yuck. I would rather die than eat another walnut." BAN WALNUTS.
UPDATE #2!!!!: Thanks to loyal reader Rusty Staples I have learned that "Trader Joe's is recalling walnut products due to the potential health risk from Salmonella"!!!!! SEE I TOLD YOU! Walnuts aren't just gross as fuck, they also give you salmonella. FUCK WALNUTS.
Also, Palm Springs, this is your fucking fault. From the same Mother Jones almond truther article linked above:
Holy shit, Palm Springs! That's what you get when your economy is built on golf and swimming pools. Both golf and swimming pools should be banned. There should be one golf course, that's it. If you want to play golf, get in line. Or get a drier hobby, like sand painting. Also, Tahoe City is apparently full of people washing their cars too much. So here's the deal for you, Tahoe City: you can use whatever snow you can melt from your backyard to wash your cars. THAT'S IT.
Everyone says we should just build desalination plants! OH SURE NO BIG DEAL LET'S JUST BUILD SOME DESALINATION PLANTS. We have to have a fucking ballot measure to build a 4-story building so, sure, I don't see any problems in building an industrial plant right on the ocean. Maybe nuclear powered!
To sum up, we should all probably move.
(Incidentally, vis a vis earthquakes, yep, we're also fucked there too.)
Since this is the Internet, we need to come up with a way to publicly shame businesses that make it a practice of hosing down the sidewalk. I walk by the Lyft office on 19th and Harrison several times a week, and several times a week someone is POWER WASHING the ENTIRE BLOCK around the building.
ReplyDeleteIf there's puke outside your front door on a Sunday morning, then fine, I guess. But it should not be regular practice to move cigarette butts into the storm drain using several thousand gallons of water.
Rice is another crop that requires a megaton of water, and yet we insist on growing it in an area that doesn't get enough rain etc to supply it.
ReplyDelete"A translucent freshwater bryozoa is illuminated by the rising sun on the receding banks of Folsom Lake, which was 35% of capacity as of Sept. 30. One of the lake's five boat ramps remains in operation and boaters are restricted to 5 mph."
ReplyDeleteWalnuts make my tongue itchy. Fuck walnuts, plus they look like tiny brains. Nothing with a brain that small is that smart.
ReplyDeleteBan Lawns in SoCal. No one needs them.
ReplyDelete