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Saturday, April 14, 2007

Pssst, Put Out The Cat. Puuuutttt Outtt the Caaattttt

Once again, ITWS – It’s The Water, Stupid – that’s the key. Recent UN report points to severe, Dust Bowl-like drought conditions in the southwest by 2050, a group of states and Mexico who are already fighting over what we now have. And, wasn’t that T. Boone Pickens last seen buying up the water rights in vast stretches of West Texas. Houston? We have a problem. And here we are contemplating building our own wasteWATER system with the real question being, Will we build for the 19th century or the 21st century, take your pick.

From a recent email:

Date: April 13, 2007 9:52:34 AM PDT
Subject: Tap, tap. Time to wake up.

Leaked document reveals bulk water exports to be discussed at continental integration talks
OTTAWA, April 13 /CNW Telbec/ - The leaked document of a prominent Washington-based think tank obtained by the Council of Canadians reveals that government officials and business leaders from Canada, Mexico and the United States are scheduled to discuss bulk water exports in a closed-door meeting at the end of the month as part of a larger discussion on North American integration.

Titled the "North American Future 2025 Project," the initiative being led by the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Conference Board of Canada and the Mexican Centro de Investigacisn y Docencia Econsmicas calls for a series of "closed-door meetings" on North American integration dealing with a number of highly contentious issues including bulk water exports, a joint security perimeter and a continental resource pact.

According to the document, a roundtable on the "Future of the North American Environment," is planned for this Friday April 27 in Calgary, and will discuss "water consumption, water transfers and artificial diversions of bulk water" with the aim of achieving "joint optimum utilization of the available water."

"This is just the latest in a series of closed-door meetings that grant the business sector privileged access while shutting out the public," says Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians. "The document is damning not just because it outlines a process that lacks transparency and accountability," says Barlow, "but also because of what is being discussed by governments and so-called corporate stakeholders."

The document also reveals that "trilateral coordination of energy policy" and the development of "North American security architecture" are being discussed by high-level government officials from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

The Council of Canadians is demanding that the Canadian government cease all further participation in such talks on North American integration until there is parliamentary debate and meaningful public consultation on the issue.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2007/13/c4857.html
UPDATE: The Vancouver Sun is covering it at length.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=ed8a30ad-053f-4b31-bae7-f1692dbcd156&k=36445


From the Vancouver Sun article [ ] above.

Canada has 20 per cent of the world's water "if you drained every lake and river" - but actual available supply amounts to only about seven per cent, she said.

The outline notes that "fresh water is running out in many regions of the world," particularly the U.S. and Mexico, while "Canada possesses about 20 per cent of the Earth's fresh water."
It goes on to say Canada, the U.S. and Mexico must discuss such solutions as bilateral agreements on "water transfers" and the diversion of water.

The outline notes "the overriding future goal of North America is to achieve joint optimum utilization of the available water."

Pressure on Canada from the U.S. will be intense, according to the UN report.

It warns that drought might cut by 40 per cent a key Texas aquifer that supplies water for 2 million people, and decimate the Ogallala aquifer, which underlies eight U.S. states.
The Ogallala Aquifer (click on accompanying image)

CAPTION: "The Ogallala aquifer underlies portions of eight states. This image documents the decline in the level of water in many areas for the period 1980-1995. Source: USGS"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogallala_Aquifer

Maybe we will someday go to war with Canada after all. Over water.
=

30 comments:

Mike Green said...

Well Ann, since you are casting your net farther afield here is some more "puzzlin evidence"
(in case that doesn't ring a bell, its a song by "Talking Heads").
This too concerns water, but closer to home.
If anyone has been paying attention to articles in the Triv. you may be a little confused about this issue, namely the new marine "parks" just decreed off our shores.
For starters here is a letter posted by Mr.de la Motte on the local fish report site, perhaps you will recognize him by his numerous letters to the Triv.

"Friends: First a brief comment on the decision by F&G Commission. The system was rigged from the start. Mike Chrisman lied to us when he appeared in Morro Bay and assured us that the process would be transparent. We knew it was a joke then ... and nothing changed from start to finish. What a pathetic public employee. The people who served on the stakeholders group know how public opinion (after a year of hard work) went directly into the trash can. Chrisman was the Governor's lackey in this process and the recently appointed Commissioners were completely GUTLESS! Richard Rogers was a total disgrace. His 180 degree change from the July 2006 meeting to the August 2006 meeting showed that he was bought-and-paid-for ... another lackey for the Governor.

The RLFF, Pew and Packard boys bought this process and we were all naive in thinking that the public would have any input. All the alleged "public comment" was just a sham, a farce. It was business as usual ... Big money environmentalists bought off the process including Mike Chrisman, Fish & Game and the Commission. A lot of these Commissioners and Fish & Game staffers talk like they are concerned ... but it is all rigged ... just as we suggested all along. The anti-fishing environmentals are elated and jubilant ... while the fishermen get shafted again."

Remember the article recently published about local fish populations? A study done by Cal Poly (Interestingly the ONLY one that has been done since the State regulatory body is too broke to do such stuff) completely refutes any need for these "parks"

A government regulatory body ignoring hard evidence in order to impose it's supposed mandate.
Sound familiar?

Sorry for the long post.

Anonymous said...

Mike:

This stupidity in setting up marine parks with no fishing is going to cost the tourist economy in Morro Bay, San Simeon, Avila, and Santa Barbara a fortune. Consider the loss to the boats who take out a multitude of fisherpersons, this old lady included. Consider the loss to the marina's and boat dock operators and fuel stations up and down the coast. The boats will move up to Oregon or Washington. Fishing tackle stores will close.

And now we will all pay more for imported fish.

I never saw one case where the environmentalist (feely good crowd) ever considered people along with the environment.

At the same time parents will have a hard time seeing their kids catch their first salt water fish.

The seals, who destroy schools of fish will continue their destruction. Laws and marine parks do not stop them. The cute little sea ottors cleaned out all the pismo clams and abalone in a short period and now have moved on.

In the meantime there has been no effort to build artificial reefs.

We will see where this leads. But once these laws and regulations are in place, it is almost impossible to get them reversed.

I blame Maria Shriver, she has the governers balls in a jar!

Anonymous said...

Crappy, whose balls do yo have in a jar? JUST CURIOUS!

Anonymous said...

The "JUST CURIOUS" anon shouts:

"Crappy, whose balls do yo have in a jar? JUST CURIOUS!

6:59 AM, April 15, 2007"

4crapkiller replies: "yo balls"!

Anonymous said...

Ann makes some very valid observations and even gives us source material for potential water problems that future generations of Americans may possibly face.

Well, we had the foresight to build the California water system. This, of course, was when dams were seen as worthwhile, and diversion of water seen as a necessity for food production and growth.

The two most plentiful liquids on earth are water and petroleum. However, environmental thought has brainwashed us to resist developing the resources within our own country. Laws have been passed to restrict supply. Otherwise, legal obstruction has prevailed.

No dams, no oil or natural gas drilling off our coast, no new nuclear power plants, no new refineries, and a law to prevent the importation of foreign gasoline and diesel products into California.

We all pay a very high price for the lack of foresight of those who do not understand that technology advances while antiquated laws and ignorance hold it back.

The population keeps increasing while the infrostucture decays.

Worse than this, we waste more of our water resources than we consume. Every other year the Mississippi and the Columbia floods more water into the sea than we would consume for drinking water as a nation in ten years.

I understand that we have the third largest coal reserves in the world, and yet no new coal fired electrical generators are being built. Same for nuclear power plants, and coastal nuke plants could certainly distill ocean water with excessive heat now passed on to the ocean or athmosphere. The Morro Bay power plant could supply a large amount of Morro Bay's water by using waste heat.

Well my answer for the problem is found in effective utilization of resources, conservation, and recycling. People come first, but we need to conserve the environment. We can take care of both, if reason can prevail.

War with Canada over water....I do not think so.

Anonymous said...

Mike Green:

Back to the fishing problem and artificial reefs.

Lets go with a step steg system, pull the old septic tanks which Ripley admitted that 90% would have to be replaced, and make artificial reefs out of them.

What dump can handle 4000 septic tanks?

Anonymous said...

Make that 4000 "contaminated" concrete coffins

Anonymous said...

Pump and crush and fill. Immediately stopping discharge.

Mike Green said...

My vote is for the mothball fleet in SF bay. huge unused old ships, some from ww2.
It's already been done down south.
Of course when you look at the recent near shore closures, surprisingly we get the brunt of them regardless of data, while way overfished areas in populace SC get the pass, go figure.

Churadogs said...

Crapkiller sez:"Well, we had the foresight to build the California water system. This, of course, was when dams were seen as worthwhile, and diversion of water seen as a necessity for food production and growth."

Alas, we're still stuck in the 19th century. We have based our water systems on the assumption that the weather would stay the same. It won't. No snowmass in the Sierras, no water in the canals. No snowmass in the Rockies, no water in the Colorado River to argue over. Oh, darn, there goes State Water, there goes the All American Canal, there goes the bread baskets of the Imperial and Coachella Valleys and northern Baja, Mx. & so forth.

Anonymous said...

ANN:

The weather never stays the same. That is why we build dams, irregation, and flood control projects.

There is no doubt that the earth is warming and so is Mars. But slightly! The sun goes through cycles. What is this year may not be the next. In the meantime, this weekend, there is widespread flooding on the east coast. Lots of fresh water heading for the sea.

20 years ago we were all worried about the beginning of a new ice age. Now we are worried about water being released from glaciers and polar caps making the sea rise.

If you want to worry about food production, worry about how it will effect third world countries, and the starvation which is already rampant for the past ten years.

Farmers are paid here NOT to grow crops. I call it farmer welfare.

Nice if we could get farmer welfare for our sewer system. Look at the ammendments (pork) added to the troop funding bill by the democrats for payoff for votes!

This year the water problems of southern CA will become severe. Very little rain. Fires way early.

Seems like this happens every ten or twelve years, and has been going on for a very long time.

We are not dodging pieces of sky, chicky. Maybe seagull poop.

Anonymous said...

Ann sounds like she should be in favor of nuclear power to help eliminate the need for fossil fuel plants?

Mike Green said...

Let me tell you a little secret, there are only two forms of energy available on this planet.
Solar and nuclear
Oil IS solar energy, geothermal IS nuclear energy
hydroelectric IS solar energy.

E=MC2

How we utilize it is what makes the difference

The more efficient the better.

Mike Green said...

Oh, and SOLAR IS NUCLEAR ENERGY

Anonymous said...

Let me see if I understand.

Oil is Solar Energy, so it's a good thing.

Geothermal is Nuclear Energy and is a bad thing.

Hydro is Solar Energy and is a good thing.

So, we extract and burn all the oil and coal because it's good and makes a nice grey sky like a greenhouse. But we don't want geostuff to leak out of the center of the earth because it would warm up the greenhouse. I am somewhat confused about Hyro though, to use Hydro, we have to dam up rivers and the last big one out west is the Colorado flowing through the Grand Canyon.

Isn't life so simple if there aren't any people to create drill rigs and cars and big power plants. And without electrical power we wouldn't have these computers to impress one another with how little we know.

Maybe Skeeter Calhoun could conjure a world without the need for oil, suv's and sewers. Maybe a way to return Mother Earth to a time without humans?

Anonymous said...

Excuse me?

All septic tanks are NOT made of concrete. Some are made of polyethylene, fiberglass, wood or steel.

Sure, the concrete septic tanks will sink, but can one imagine a bunch of floating fiberglass and polyethylene septic tanks? Or rotting wood permeated with effluent, floating on the surface of the ocean?

How completely stupid.

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm, another lost humor soul and a name caller too! Poor thing needs reprogramming. Any volunteers?
REVOLUTION

Anonymous said...

OK Smart Ass, we'll have the non-concrete tanks delivered to your home. Oh, that's right, you're a renter.

You really need counciling for your lack of social skills!

Anonymous said...

The vast majority of septic tanks in LO are concrete. They will be replaced when we install our STEP STEG system. The newer tanks will not need replacement. So the reef would only use the old concrete tanks.

Actually this is a cool idea. I wonder if it is possible. What would it take to clean the tanks to a condition that they could be used? What are the standards used in other areas for artifical reefs? I worry far more about petroleum industry structures used for this same purpose.

Anonymous said...

No one's stepping on my property to replace a septic tank only to replace it with another.....septic tank. 'Ain't gonna happen.

Churadogs said...

4crapkiller sez:"The weather never stays the same. That is why we build dams, irregation, and flood control projects."

You build a dam because you think you're going to fill it with water. What happens when there IS no water, or snow mass, etc. Dam's useless. Irrigation only works if you don't have to transport the water too far (also requires enormous amounts of power to get it over hill and dale, plus the further you send it the more you lose via leakage and evaporation,etc.)

The problem with global warming, isn't simply the rising seas, it's that the sky will be falling, (i.e. changing weather patterns putting more or less rain/snow in different places,) which will cause no end of trouble.

Anonymous said...

Dear 8:46 -I'm a home owner who thinks that a reef is a good idea but your "stupid" comment ranges in the area of a poor sense of humor because the poster who suggested it was being creative, humorous and a visionary. You're response resounded of the "kill-joy" mentality.

I'm not sure how much "couciling" costs but if it's cheaper than "counseling", we could get the town a great group rate. Many are in dire need for proper and supplemental support for additional ego development. We have rampant abandonment issues. So much so that many won't let go of their septic tanks. We could raise them and turn them into conatiner gardens with much residual muck to utilize. I could use a nice contained garden plot.
Then, the person who lives by me who bypasses their septic with a hose attached to their washing machine that drains into my back yard won't be polluting my little attempts at a garden anymore.

Anonymous said...

Ann: this planet is 4/5 water. This is a water world. If the planet warms even slightly beyond expectations due to the recent sun cycle, there will be greater evaporation from the oceans. This will condense into even more rain.

Where do you think the principle source of the rain comes from? There are exceptions to this like lake effect. We have had a cold winter here in California with less evaporation and therefore less rain.

If you take a hard look at the Ogallah aquifer, the water came from glacial melt after the last Ice age. True, the water is not being replaced because surface water cannot penetrate clay subsoils. However, there was far more water in the aquifer during the dust bowls (caused by poor farming techniques) than today. The aquifer was basically untapped for irrigation. It is irregation that is causing the drop in water levels. A dust bowl situation again is very unlikely due to irregation and improved farming techniques. There is one thing that is certain, and that is that farming and irregation techniques change according to circumstances. Right now the farmers are using spray irregation that much water is lost through evaporation. You do not see much of this in California. Vineyards are now mostly dripped, giving us superior grapes, through complete control of moisture. Most grain is dry farmed. If there is any one thing the farmers fear more than any other it is too much rain. Hard to plant a crop in mud.

There is nothing you or anyone else can do about global warming except adapt or pray to AL GORE who controls the weather.

Of course, you could take a trip to the sun and do personal inspection. You could go at night and not worry about getting burned up.

In the meantime after pipes freezing and plants getting frost burned and avocado trees in a bad way, it seems to me that we are entering another ice age!

By the way, there is always trouble with the weather. Weather runs in cycles. Al Gore interprets these cycles and blames mankind. I blame the interpreter who has a definite political agenda.

I remember the last big water shortage in California. I also know how the draught was broken.

Silver iodide was the name of the game, and it was kept very quiet to stop obstructionists.

There are lots of people who complain but then work hard to stop any solution:

1. They complain about the highest gas prices in the nation but don't want the taxes removed. They resist any new refineries, and heaven forbid a nuclear power plant. They push for laws stopping the importation of refined petroleum products. Heaven forbid we should tap the gas and petroleum reserves off our coasts.

Heaven forbid they would ever consider using sewage effluent as a source of potable water. Of course, they never consider what those in the space station drink.

As to anon, 9:38: great post!

Anonymous said...

Warmer temperatures may bring more rain, but it is the snow that provides California with its water. Warmer temperatures, no snow. No snow, no snow pack. No snow pack, no water to get use through the hot summer months.

Anonymous said...

Great thought and logic not usually shown on this blog.

This winter we had colder temperatures and less snow.

Sometimes we get less rain and the rest of the country gets more, and then it goes the other way. It has been happening like this for millenia.

However the higher elevations will get more snow. Do you think 1/2 a degree will stop the snow at the higher elevations? It snows on the mountains (volcanos) on Hawaii (Big Island).

Even one degree? Sure, less powder, but more wet snow. In the meantime 1/2 of a degree wordwide would be a lot. Have you ever considered how cold it is in the depths of the oceans at the equator?

There is no hard science on this. Nobody can measure the temperature of the earth. How do you measure the temperature of the earth?

We can see glaciers receed, polar ice caps get less thick, but this is a very slow process. It is an indication of local warming, but then there comes buildup of ice and glaciers increasing. Cycles, cycles. Nothing to get worried about within 20 decades. We have only started to plot cycles within the last 60 years. 20 years ago everyone became concerned that we were going into a new ice age.

Has AL GORE ever considered that our greenhouse emissions have saved us from freezing? Maybe they were right 20 years ago. Ever hear him say that? This whole thing is about: US consume less, give more to the poor countries and the UN.

Like we don't give entirely too much. Less money means less corruption because they need to watch it more.

In the meantime I always have great interest in what Al Gore says. I can be assured that whenever he talks of global warming in the wintertime a big snowfall will occur. It is no lie that AL Gore controls the weather.

The whole spat is about the Koyoto accords and the transfer of wealth.
The wealth will come from us. You will start the transfer when the democrats undo the tax breaks given to us by the Republicans. Get ready to pay more for nothing!

Just like the Los Osos sewer. We are paying now on our tax bills but have nothing!

Anonymous said...

Talk about political agendas! You should publish your solutions on a much larger venue than this paultry blog. The world needs your guidance.

I guess you haven't been following the world news lately. Your heros are in great decline! Get over it!

Churadogs said...

4 crapkiller sez:"If you take a hard look at the Ogallah aquifer, the water came from glacial melt after the last Ice age. True, the water is not being replaced because surface water cannot penetrate clay subsoils."

That question remains: Who relies on tht aquifer now? What happens when it runs out, which it will?

One of the problems in a "water planet" (calling Kevin Costner!) is Where IS the wter. More often than not, it's in some damned spot that is simply too costly to get at so people have to move to the water. There's also the problem of synergy. It isn't simply a temperature rise, it's a temperature rise AND the acification of the seas, for example. Or temperature rise AND weather pattern changes that make make whole swaths of the U.S. unliveable. Or this synergy can result in a process being speeded up so that a critical tipping point is reached and ka-boom. Heck, the Sahel may bloom again! What's fascinating to me is how many people somehow think that all this will happen to The Other Guy, but not to themselves and that, being Americans, our children and grandchildren will be immune so why worry. Strange.

Anonymous said...

ANN:

The areas of the US that you consider to be unlivable harbor lots of life. Some of it human. Ever been to Scotties Castle in death valley?

Water, cheap and free, has always been sought for agricultural production. The situation is that people move and live in areas that offer convienience and work.

Weather is always in a flux. Patterns always change and from one year to the next. Take a look at the Ogallah aquifer. Look to the satalite maps. Then take a look at where our vast coal reserves are found.

Well, Pickens is not about to get his hands on the water, and El Paso will just have to suffer limited growth, same for some of the other Texas cities looking for water from Pickens.

The water may not run out if conserved. Even if it is used at current rates there are a few hundred years of water there.

Farmers may switch to drip. Coal may be strip mined and lakes produced to feed the aquifer.
The coal is below the clay layers.

All is speculation, but people follow the water and weather.

Do not be concerned with cycles in weather. As far as ka-boom: one big blast from a volcano (we have plenty of them) will push billions of tons of dust and ash into the athmosphere and the earth will be shaded and cool. More speculation!

FYI The Sahara does bloom! Aswan irrigated millions of acres with water being lost to the sea. Israel was mostly desert and now blooms.

We do not live in the fifteenth century. We can dig really big ditches. We have really big machines to do so. Our explosives are awesome. We have the wealth to divert water. Not only that, we have the technology to recycle water.

And yes, possibly, we will have ferns growing in Antartica. However, the sun may explode before then, or we may be hit by an asteroid. Flying saucers may land and evacuate us to another planet, and some feel that the end of the world will come shortly, which will make this entire discussion mute.

Don't drink any cool aid. Yet!

Churadogs said...

Crap killer sez:"Don't drink any cool aid. Yet!"

I wasn't suggesting we do. I was merely pointing out how many people seem to assume that whatever bad things are coming with the weather changes won't hapen to them but to The Other Guy. So, it'll be o.k. Such way of thinking is just human nature, I'm sure. One thing is fore sure, the worst suffering (for the Other Guy, not me or you, remember) will come because of lack of planning NOW and IF synergistic effects kick in to speed a process way faster than the sanguine thought. That will be the real doozies that have nothing to do with Martians landing, just the law of unexpected consequences, which, of course, always happen to The Other Guy, so it's o.k.

Anonymous said...

ANN:

You are correct. Sort of like the problems in Los Osos. The lack of planning as to stopping the sewer has
brought the district to it's knees. It is just a matter of time before the blade decends, and off with the head.