California Drought

[Ziggy]

So reading the news the other day I learned something I'd never known about NorCal, Sacramento in particular. Residents are just now getting water meters installed at their homes. Until sometime recent, everyone paid a flat fee of some sort, regardless of useage. That kinda took be aback. What was explained is it was a policy from back in the 1800's Gold Rush days....blah, blah. They figured their supply was endless. Other NorCal areas have adopted meters over the past few decades but Sac has been the last holdout.
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The other big thing in this article is that NorCal'er households use twice as much water than the average SoCal'er, still. Being unmetered and unworried about drought they have not accustomed themselves to be conservative like the SoCal'ers, who have dealt with drought, rationed water use and dead/dry lawns for decades.
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just some interesting tidbits I thought share-worthy and perhaps worth conversating;) about.

[GRADS]

Yes, we just started paying for metered water a couple of years ago after the meters were installed. And as far as using twice as much....well it is our water after all. ;) You should be thankful we give you enough to flush. :D

[hpboats83]

Didn't realize that, very interesting.

[Wendi]

So reading the news the other day I learned something I'd never known about NorCal, Sacramento in particular. Residents are just now getting water meters installed at their homes. Until sometime recent, everyone paid a flat fee of some sort, regardless of useage. That kinda took be aback. What was explained is it was a policy from back in the 1800's Gold Rush days....blah, blah. They figured their supply was endless. Other NorCal areas have adopted meters over the past few decades but Sac has been the last holdout.
.
The other big thing in this article is that NorCal'er households use twice as much water than the average SoCal'er, still. Being unmetered and unworried about drought they have not accustomed themselves to be conservative like the SoCal'ers, who have dealt with drought, rationed water use and dead/dry lawns for decades.
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.
just some interesting tidbits I thought share-worthy and perhaps worth conversating;) about.
Very interesting. I do believe that Grads started the bathroom ritual of "If it is yellow let it mellow", at least he said he was going to do that. I hope he doesn't run the water while he is brushing. He should also be taking 5 minute showers....

[Ziggy]

Yes, we just started paying for metered water a couple of years ago after the meters were installed. And as far as using twice as much....well it is our water after all. ;) You should be thankful we give you enough to flush. :D

So what did you pay for water when charged the flat fee? Curious.

[GRADS]

So what did you pay for water when charged the flat fee? Curious.

About $15 a month

[HB Vic]

About $15 a month

I will gladly pay you $30/mo for your share of water if you can deliver it to my house :D

[GRADS]

By the way SoCal, I don't know what you do to our water but the stuff coming out of your tap taste like crap. Up here it is hard to tell the difference between bottled water and tap water.

[HB Vic]

By the way SoCal, I don't know what you do to our water but the stuff coming out of your tap taste like crap. Up here it is hard to tell the difference between bottled water and tap water.

That's why I only drink beer or Vodka :D

[GotHalos]

33946



Sent from my Kyocera.

[GRADS]

Folsom is the same way...stumps everywhere.

[ChumpChange]

About $15 a month

How much since being metered? My minimum is 10x that and summer I'm over 20x!

[GRADS]

The most I've seen it since being metered is $30 and that's with a big leak in the swimming pool.

[icb1]

How much since being metered? My minimum is 10x that and summer I'm over 20x!

Im right there with you, Damn ...we are getting screwed....

[Wendi]

I pay $98.00 a month of water, trash, sewer! Norcal folk have it cheap. Mateo you are getting SCREWED!!!!

[ChumpChange]

I pay $98.00 a month of water, trash, sewer! Norcal folk have it cheap. Mateo you are getting SCREWED!!!!

Damn straight I am. I don't have a pool and I don't even shower at home. Golden State Water sucks! Claremont is trying to take over the system but that won't help anything. Mine doesn't include anything but water either! I hate water!

I almost broke $400 per month during the summer. And I keep my law watering, although a large yard, to a minimum.

[hpboats83]

Damn straight I am. I don't have a pool and I don't even shower at home. Golden State Water sucks! Claremont is trying to take over the system but that won't help anything. Mine doesn't include anything but water either! I hate water!

I almost broke $400 per month during the summer. And I keep my law watering, although a large yard, to a minimum.

There are quite a few rebates through metropolitan water dist. to help with updating irrigation systems, if you're interested, let me know and I'll help you out as I sell irrigation products. www.socalwatersmart.com

[glamis0812]

There's a lot of city's in California that are going threw the flat rate to meter situation mostly from Bakersfield and everything north.


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[glamis0812]

Damn straight I am. I don't have a pool and I don't even shower at home. Golden State Water sucks! Claremont is trying to take over the system but that won't help anything. Mine doesn't include anything but water either! I hate water!

I almost broke $400 per month during the summer. And I keep my law watering, although a large yard, to a minimum.

I feel your pain I'm $500+ during the summer because of 35 sprinkler zones.


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[GRADS]

I almost broke $400 per month during the summer. And I keep my law watering, although a large yard, to a minimum.


I feel your pain I'm $500+ during the summer because of 35 sprinkler zones.


That is only water? :yikes:

[glamis0812]

Yeah, I have a little over 2 acres all landscaped and pool


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[Mrs.K034]

Oh wow!! Very interesting thread.

[Wendi]

Up to 500.00 fines for water wasters. The yards are dying in my neighborhood. B this drought really sucks. We need the monsoon rain that I had in Earp last week.

[HB Vic]

That's why I only drink beer 42954


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[Paul65K]

And as far as using twice as much....well it is our water after all. ;) Technically it IS our water legally......thanks to Mr. Mulholland and is cronies back in the 1920's. While true that physically the water we use here does come from Northern Cal because you do get more of it with your shittier weather....... So Cal is legally entitled to it.....so please be careful with how much of our water you waste up there :D

[Wendi]

What's the deal with opening the spillways at parker dam on the 22nd. Why are they doing that?

[SBS933]

Blazin my R.C. boat in the aquaduct. GLASS starting to wonder if the drought is ever gonna go away, the aquaduct never stops rolling HHMMMMMM.

[Ziggy]

Blazin my R.C. boat in the aquaduct. GLASS starting to wonder if the drought is ever gonna go away, the aquaduct never stops rolling HHMMMMMM.
I seen what you talkin' 'bout.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/16/suranygu.jpg

[RioShock25]

Every drop of the CRA water is getting used. We are using the heck out of DVL water too
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I seen what you talkin' 'bout.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/16/suranygu.jpg

[Ziggy]

Every drop of the CRA water is getting used. We are using the heck out of DVL water too
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Im one of the users living in socal.

[John]

Yes, we just started paying for metered water a couple of years ago after the meters were installed. And as far as using twice as much....well it is our water after all. ;) You should be thankful we give you enough to flush. :D

When grads turns the shower on in his guest bath, you can actually see the water level at Folsom go down. I swear. That shower has more water pressure and uses more water than any shower in SoCal.

[C-2]

Any of you ever see "Cadillac Desert" by Marc Reisner on PBS? There are some spinoff's on Youtube. Interesting stuff, Floyd Dominy and his battle with his arch nemesis David Brower of the Sierra Club.

Mulholland...the pilfering of the Bishop/Owens Valley water resources, the collapse of the dam where Magic mountain now stands...I love reading about the local water wars.

Did you know, MWD was created specifically to manage California's share of the Colorado River system?

[thatguy]

We have a kick ass well, part of the Cottonwood water basin, about 1/2 mile from Sac River.

I water the yard at an obscene rate, as do all my neighbors.
Got a 2" drop line in the well for the field sprinklers too.
Tried to pump it down once for a recharge test...2" pump wouldn't do it.
Pay irrigation tax because of our location, but we only see an electric bill increase with more water use.

Oh yeah, 38,000 gallon pool is auto filled from the well also...
Poor bastards.

[thatguy]

Any of you ever see "Cadillac Desert" by Marc Reisner on PBS? There are some spinoff's on Youtube. Interesting stuff, Floyd Dominy and his battle with his arch nemesis David Brower of the Sierra Club.

Mulholland...the pilfering of the Bishop/Owens Valley water resources, the collapse of the dam where Magic mountain now stands...I love reading about the local water wars.

Did you know, MWD was created specifically to manage California's share of the Colorado River system?

Yeah, I've read all about the water wars. Interesting stuff!
Funny thing, it's still going on.
Hard to believe that Mulholland was cleared of wrongdoing
In the dam disaster, even though he was forced to resign.
He SAW the corrosion but said it was no biggy.

[riverrunner1984]

I heard a study on the radio (I'll look for the article later) that said we have the same water reserves that we did in the 70's. The only issue is that is the 70's CA only had 20 million people. Now CA has 38 million people. Subsequently enough, more people = more water consumption. Without turning this political at all, why do we not build more water reservoirs or a desalinization plant instead of a "High Speed Rail" that really doesn't go anywhere?

In the same study it said the last century has been the "wettest" in the last 7 centuries.

[Paul65K]

I heard a study on the radio (I'll look for the article later) that said we have the same water reserves that we did in the 70's. The only issue is that is the 70's CA only had 20 million people. Now CA has 38 million people. Subsequently enough, more people = more water consumption. Without turning this political at all, why do we not build more water reservoirs or a desalinization plant instead of a "High Speed Rail" that really doesn't go anywhere?

In the same study it said the last century has been the "wettest" in the last 7 centuries.

Good question.....probably because it would make sense :D


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[SBS933]

Damn straight I am. I don't have a pool and I don't even shower at home. Golden State Water sucks! Claremont is trying to take over the system but that won't help anything. Mine doesn't include anything but water either! I hate water!

I almost broke $400 per month during the summer. And I keep my law watering, although a large yard, to a minimum.Golden Shower Water hoses everyone.

[C-2]

We have a kick ass well, part of the Cottonwood water basin, about 1/2 mile from Sac River.

I water the yard at an obscene rate, as do all my neighbors.
Got a 2" drop line in the well for the field sprinklers too.
Tried to pump it down once for a recharge test...2" pump wouldn't do it.
Pay irrigation tax because of our location, but we only see an electric bill increase with more water use.

Oh yeah, 38,000 gallon pool is auto filled from the well also...
Poor bastards.

Yup. we have a water well at our horse property (we live in a regular tract house, not at the horse property). The well was hand dug by miners and is a shallow water well at 30'. Why only 30' I always wondered...why didn't they dig deeper? Turns out the laws of physics dictate you can only pull water 26 head feet. Anything further then you have to push and pull. Crazy old bastards knew a thing, or two. I had a water sample analyzed and the water is somewhat brackish, but is free from pollutants; and the nitrates are fine (suggesting no pollution from fertilizer or waste). Now, if I can only find all the gold they mined at Mt. Whitney...which is rumored to be buried on our property. :D

Riverside has a high water table and mostly relies on its own wells for water, and we sell the excess to other cities. The city is reluctant to renew any gas station leases for that reason (there are only 3 gas stations in our zip code).

Like others, I don't understand why we don't build a kick ass desalination plant.

[riverrunner1984]

They are going to ejemacate us on how to use water lol
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-California/2014/07/17/Water-School-Opens-in-Santa-Cruz-Erases-Fines-for-Overuse


SOME CALIFORNIANS CAN ATTEND 'WATER SCHOOL' IN LIEU OF $500 FINE

On Tuesday, the California State Water Resources Control Board voted to approve fines of up to $500 a day for overuse of water, in an effort to penalize those who do not conserve amidst the state's crippling drought. Now, Santa Cruz residents with hefty water fines can attend the Santa Cruz Water School, a free, one-time class that, if completed successfully, eliminates all water penalties outright.
"We don't want to penalize people," Santa Cruz Water District spokeswoman Eileen Cross told KSBW. "We want to educate people, because water is so precious and we all need to do everything we can to conserve, and so it's an opportunity for us to educate the public."
The class runs for about two hours and, like traffic school, erases fines in exchange for education. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, areas of focus include instruction on finding water meters, the severity of California's drought, and "Basics of Municipal Utilities Services."
"We're encouraging people to attend water school," instructor Amanda Bunte told KSBW. "Having a bill that daunting when they're used to a $200 bill would be kind of an economic scare."
One resident had a $4,400 fine for overuse of water due to an unknown leak, according to the report. However, after two hours in water school, the fine was gone.
"Most of the information that we're teaching people they were not aware of prior to the class," Bunte said. "They're definitely very relieved to get these penalties removed, and a lot of them take away some good conservation tips."
According to the Chronicle, Santa Cruz has some of the strictest water rationing regulations in all of California. Most households are allowed 249 gallons of water a day; in the first month that new regulations went into effect, 1,635 account violations led to $341,000 worth of fines citywide.
Toby Goddard, the city's Water Conservation Manager, came up with the idea for water school.
"Thousands of dollars in penalties are being removed in exchange for an hour and a half or two hours of education," he told the Chronicle. "We want to redirect the anger over penalties and turn it into a positive experience."

[hpboats83]

I heard a study on the radio (I'll look for the article later) that said we have the same water reserves that we did in the 70's. The only issue is that is the 70's CA only had 20 million people. Now CA has 38 million people. Subsequently enough, more people = more water consumption. Without turning this political at all, why do we not build more water reservoirs or a desalinization plant instead of a "High Speed Rail" that really doesn't go anywhere?

In the same study it said the last century has been the "wettest" in the last 7 centuries.
The desal plant in Carlsbad is scheduled to be online October 2015. The big problem with building desal plants is with the crazy laws in CA, it takes 20 years to get one built according to the guy in charge of San Diego County Water Authority.

[riverrunner1984]

The desal plant in Carlsbad is scheduled to be online October 2015. The big problem with building desal plants is with the crazy laws in CA, it takes 20 years to get one built according to the guy in charge of San Diego County Water Authority.

Business as usual in CA. The new desal plant in Victoria Australia only took 5 years to build from conception to being operational with only 2 years of actual construction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_Desalination_Plant