In this dangerous ecological moment the State of California is mandating that our City permit the construction of 8895 unnecessary new units that will supposedly increase our population about 20% over the next eight years. Depending on how those nominal 18,000 people are housed and their demographics, we can expect the water consumption of our 91,000 person city to rise between 17 and 23% from 2019’s potable water demand of about 11,030-acre feet. According to the City’s 2021 Draft Water Management Plan, the following populations and water demand requirements are anticipated without adjusting for additional conservation measures:
Until it rains again, all the western states (including California) are being fried by a deadly drought. We have seen this before: seven years ago we had to reduce the entire State’s water consumption by 20% to get through that crisis. No one knows how long this newest drought will last. But we all know the symptoms: super heated air setting temperature records everywhere (116 degrees in Portland, Oregon), ash and air pollution […]
I totally agree with you Stephan. I knew 50 years ago we would be heading toward this type of problem. I still believe the best solution is to use the ocean water to make our wellbeing a reality.
I can’t begin to imagine creating policy that addresses the scale of rapid change. Whatever the issue is, there are so many many factors that weigh in. Factors that shift numbers, geography, health, profit loss, Storage, pollution, etc. And that doesn’t include population shifts due to climate refugees. I know that approx. 10 years ago, Los Angelenos began shifting from water hungry green lawns to landscaping that was closer to desert/rock scaling with plants that thrived in extreme heat.
Actually, it was approx. 5o years ago that I assembled global research on Climate Change for an Italian think tank.