The Balancing Act - "Fear & Loathing in the Central Valley', or "Talk about a REAL letdown!"

This is a weighty post, but please give it your attention;

from our Roving Correspondent, C. Brooks Nielsen: 

Please note the photo and its caption below.

Perhaps this fuels Senator Feinstein's argument for ending irrigated farming.  I have noted concerns, also, that irrigation matters deplete the ocean. Meanwhile, I worry about losing our produce.

I'm wondering now if this water issue of ours might be an excellent illustration of the balancing act human beings are charged with in the matter of remaining fit to survive?  As such, I see some great contradictions with regard to current healthcare concerns.  On one hand, the government seems to want to protect us from the cost of healthcare for the old and the fat while, on the other hand, frantically mandating protection for all from a "pandemic" flu.  And then there is the question of another all-time population leveler - war.  As for those who build their reputations on the nobility of equitable distribution of wealth, why bother with such trifles until we save the planet from ecological destruction?

I suppose it's no wonder we live in such interesting times.

GROWERS PROTEST WATER RELEASES
Reprinted from The Madera Tribune
October 2, 2009
By Don A. Wright

The first release of San Joaquin River water for salmon restoration is slated to begin this month. In response, about 50 people gathered Thursday afternoon at the foot of Friant Dam for a press conference by Families Protecting the Valley.

The association argues that the water release is a threat to farming on the San Joaquin Valley's east side equal to the economic setbacks experienced by Westside farmers.

Madera grower and FPV member Denis Prosperi told those gathered that 200,000
to 300,000 acres in the Friant delivery area are threatened by the releases.

The one-million-acre Friant area includes Chowchilla and Madera at its northern end and extends to Kern County following the Friant/Kern Canal down the Valley's east side.

"You see those brown hills behind us," asked Prosperi. "That's what the Valley floor will look like. Today's releases are only the first step if the Westlands model is followed."

Clovis grower and packer Bob Smittcamp echoed Prosperi's sentiments, "People are starting to get it. There is a zero water allocation projected for 2010. You ain't seen nothing yet."

I passed on this message to my Bay Area contact and appreciate his thoughtful reply.

Incredible photo if it’s accurate.   Shows the paradox of a lot of things.  Unregulated use of land and water resources.  What’s the incentive for any individual property owner not to pump groundwater when the impacts are felt by everyone?  Overpumping allowed a lengthy period of prosperity/yield, but overtime the underlying aquifer gets smaller (squished) and the water levels go down making it harder to pump and more expensive. 

Seemingly the argument now is ? ? ? that because the aquifer pumping can’t continue like it has that the surface water being released to the rivers for ecological reasons should be diverted to maintain the unsustainable amount of agriculture produced through groundwater pumping of an ancient aquifer?  That doesn’t make a lot of sense either.

The sprawl creep going on around Exeter Visalia (everywhere in the valley really) is another paradox.  All those extra people and houses and lawns, take water too.  Flat farm land is easy to develop into houses and the local governments see the quick profit from converting ag land to residential/commercial (people have to live somewhere, right).  Then the new homeowners, don’t like being next to farms (smell funny, pesticides, dust, etc) and the land values of the nearby farm land go up and encourage the next guy to sell to developers.  Pretty soon everyone has a cheap house, but no job and water is scarce.   How to control?  Through government?  Seemingly only way, but that would be telling private property owners what they can and can’t do . . .

No easy answers.
  

Since I have never seen easy answers to anything important - or a bottom line from any one person, I am always grateful when the conversation keeps going. I sure wish we could count on that from our all public servants!cbn

~

Thanks, C. That photo is worth it's weight in gold! I've tried to hammer this in, and folks are watching, listening and searching for answers like we are.
After a weekend of hearing all about D. Letterman & how "noble" his "openness" is, I'm ready to gag. He wouldn't have been open if it would have been cheaper to pay the extortionist off.

But, this is about Water.

USGS is "studying" the problem of ground water depletion and subsidence. Apparently, those who're "studying" have never looked at what happens to a sponge as it dries. Being a mineral & geology enthusiast, I know how aquifers work. Depletion not only dries out formations, it changes the chemistry of the very rocks.
 Remember what happened in 3rd grade science class when the teacher poured vinegar into the glass with the sodium bicarbonate? Many of the same sort of reactions take place as depletion occurs, porous limestone formations alter, and sedimentary collapse occurs.

Immediate dangers are well known, and virtually ignored by Politicians & Bureaucrats. Ask any chemist or geologist, and they'll tell you that things get very sketchy when you remove water from limestone, sandstone and fluid filled formations. Combine this with radical changes in alkaline/acid balance, and you're going to see disasters that I'm not qualified to predict.

I'm getting over my head already. Even without assessing the possible effects on tectonic faults , limestone & calcium carbonate structures will be damaged in bizarre & disastrous ways. Search "geology of sinkholes" & "limestone caverns" and you'll get some idea of what is being precipitated below our very feet.
The geology of the eastern valley is such that limestone.calcium carbonate formations tend to outcrop on the surface, evidence of surface/near surface deformation ("crumpling") as the eastward moving crustal plate sub-ducts (moves below) the North American plate, continuing the lifting of the Sierra Nevada. I know this is getting a bit thick, but bear with me.

I've spent a great deal of time pondering and discussing geology over the past few weeks. The conclusions I'm drawing is that, even though the "Environmentalists" DON'T know how to "Save the earth," they DO know how to work with Politicians to create a constant "State of Crisis." And, as we know, Statist Politicians LOVE "a GOOD CRISIS." Remember, in the (sadly, all too) mortal words of R. Emmanuel, "NEVER let a good crisis go to waste!"

Here's the outcomes:

1. Ground Subsidence (GS) will cause deterioration of the California Aqueduct, and all other concrete structured canals that are not on granite bedrock, i.e: ALL VALLEY CANALS. Sectional leakage will necessitate a "crisis" requiring drastic water rationing and extreme measures to get water to SoCal. If you need an example, think of a road with "frost heaves." Can you say, "LEAKS!"

2. Effects of subsidence upon fault structures are totally unpredictable. The effect of shifting of literally Billions of TONS of silt, gravels & sedimentary structures in so short a time are unknown, though I'm investigating what has occurred in the Owens Valley. The depletion patterns are similar, save for the fact that water replenishment levels are drastically different, due to a vastly different structural base. (There's no way to say it simply, and I don't know if you have the vocabulary to understand the nomenclature.)
Try to imagine what would happen if you build a house of cards, park a truck on the roof, then slam a door. The resultant disaster would be mild compared to the devastation created by what is happening, where water bearing structures have acted like shock absorbers. Remove the water and you get a multiplication of earthquake effects.Think of putting that house of cards on one of those Circus "balance boards," only we're the Clowns.
Subsidence could not only cause earthquakes, it could make the damage in the Central Valley vastly more severe than it has historically been.

3.  Sinkholes. Caverns. The effects of groundwater subsidence include these and much worse. See Homeowners Blame Water Agency for Damaging Their Homes. Think of this on a level almost beyond belief. Who do we sue to get our lives back? Personally, I'm tired of seeing Lawyers become Politicians, then stall until a situation has been made that mainly supports the continued livelihood of more LAWYERS. Most Lawyers THRIVE on others MISERY!

C., these are just three small facets of the potential problem. What really, truly frightens me are the things that I simply haven't imagined. What happens when, due to a lack of drinking water, refugees stream into the Valley? What happens to San Francisco when "their" water pours into the Bay after the Hetch Hetchy tunnel collapses in "The Big One?"

I'm ready to go lock myself in the bathroom, throw up for awhile, then spend a few hours screaming into my pillow ... it's truly that frightening.

But I can't do that. So, lets "go to Press," and lay on the pressure. I'll get the Tribune piece into the Register, get some additional stuff to you, and you run with it. Get this and other facets to your contacts in the Bay Area, since they're the most exposed to the worst threats from this, and most able to sway their Politicians.

The Big Link is from Geology.com : "Groundwater subsidence in the Central Valley" search results. Please spam everyone, Nunes, Applleton, Inga, Paul R. etc.
Everyone.

Keep your chin up, and remember, we can always move away.

Sincerely,
                 Kris
P.S: If anyone thinks that I'm just trying to scare them, well "DUHHHH!!!"
How stupid & blind do we have to be to see the Forest for the fire?

 ~

P.P.S: The "Simple Answer" really is simple:

Do what works! If we want to have better control over water, build more Dams & Canals. Upgrade sewage systems, and clean runoff before returning it to the rivers. Make Business true partners, rather than fee-ing & taxing until they leave. 

Stop giving in to anti-abundance, "Environmentalist" forces. They refuse to negotiate in "good faith," so don't negotiate with them.

Americans are starting to notice that they aren't getting the choice produce from NObama County anymore. They're starting to pay attention to us ...

UP THE VOLTAGE!