# CA's water troubles....



## Dave Martell (Apr 19, 2015)

How is the water troubles in CA affecting you guys who live out there? 

I don't want a political discussion here, just curious if this situation is impacting any of our members and how.


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## USC 2012 (Apr 19, 2015)

I actually haven't seen a huge affect. But one obvious thing is that all restaurants i go to won't serve water unless you ask for it.


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## MyScarGo (Apr 20, 2015)

I am guessing that Boating will suck!
I live in Oregon and just drove past Detroit lake and was SHOCKED at how little water the was. What was normally a full wide lake was nothing but a tiny river with a huge bank.
I am guessing lake Oroville and Shasta are much the same.


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## MontezumaBoy (Apr 20, 2015)

We live in a desert, they have added H2O and call it an oasis ... still a desert ... any reduction in consumption (by existing infrastucture) is just met with growth and use ... it is still a desert ... Quite the joke ... more building permits (I get the reasons ... but the result is the same) - just too funny 

Then people wonder why things burn down ...

To answer your querry though - In general there has been NO impact - just the notional understanding that things are bad yet they still water the highway landscapes ... really ?! Even reclaimed water shouldn't be wasted on highways ... but it just continues ...

Restaurants (IMO) are just 'taxed' more through additional H2O costs ... and if you are silly enough to reduce your consumption then the water company charges you more ... LOL

TjA


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## knyfeknerd (Apr 20, 2015)

I just got back from San Diego after a 2 week trip. Not too noticeable, but most people are fairly conscious of the problem. We drove to the Sequoia National Forest for a few days and definitely saw some effects driving through on the 5. The Kern River(no relation to Travis) was totally dry through Bakersfield. It did rain like crazy when we drove back on the Grapevine(right outside of Tejon Ranch). Beautiful drive except for the insanely unexplainable traffic through LA! 
Cali is so beautiful and there's soooooo much to see and do.....I'm having weird dreams about Pyramid Lake for some reason. I'm trying to talk the wife into transferring to S.D. I really wish I could live there!
The produce was kinda expensive, proteins not so much.


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## harlock0083 (Apr 20, 2015)

knyfeknerd said:


> I just got back from San Diego after a 2 week trip. Not too noticeable, but most people are fairly conscious of the problem. We drove to the Sequoia National Forest for a few days and definitely saw some effects driving through on the 5. The Kern River(no relation to Travis) was totally dry through Bakersfield. It did rain like crazy when we drove back on the Grapevine(right outside of Tejon Ranch). Beautiful drive except for the insanely unexplainable traffic through LA!
> Cali is so beautiful and there's soooooo much to see and do.....I'm having weird dreams about Pyramid Lake for some reason. I'm trying to talk the wife into transferring to S.D. I really wish I could live there!
> The produce was kinda expensive, proteins not so much.



I think LA traffic has always been God awful.


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## mhlee (Apr 20, 2015)

harlock0083 said:


> I think LA traffic has always been God awful.



It has always been bad, but there was noticeably less during the recession, and noticeably more now. It's worse than pre-recession.


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## knyfeknerd (Apr 20, 2015)

It should take about 2 hours to hit LA from Encinitas on the 5. Yeah it was more like 4 hours. Serious bummer as I had to skip my trip to LA. I was hoping to get to JKI to meet the Broidas. 
Definitely next time!


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## Zwiefel (Apr 20, 2015)

knyfeknerd said:


> It should take about 2 hours to hit LA from Encinitas on the 5. Yeah it was more like 4 hours. Serious bummer as I had to skip my trip to LA. I was hoping to get to JKI to meet the Broidas.
> Definitely next time!



That sucks. My trip to LA from LJ took a lot of extra time due to traffic, but I was lucky to get some good advice on timing and it was the only thing I was planning on doing that day. Jon was awesome...hope you get another chance.


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## JBroida (Apr 20, 2015)

yeah... our traffic blows... thats why i live 8 blocks from work


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## apicius9 (Apr 20, 2015)

Interestingly, Honolulu is right behind LA as the city with the 2nd worst traffic - maybe because we only have room for 3 highways 

Stefan


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## CaremeFraiche (Apr 27, 2015)

Back in the 90's we had water rationing but it's not there yet. I think people may be watering their lawns less during the day(to avoid the wrath of bored neighbors)


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## Dave Martell (Apr 27, 2015)

I read that LA is looking at a forced 30% reduction in usage.


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## CaremeFraiche (Apr 27, 2015)

It will be a little while before it comes to the residential level and people start acting like it's the end of the world lol


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## HelplessCorgis (May 8, 2015)

Not much has changed yet here in the San Francisco Bay Area. We talk about it often, my family's been very mindful of the length of our showers, restaurants don't automatically place water on your table, and my little lawn is quite brown now from conserving these past two years.


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## Artichoke (May 8, 2015)

I live in Orange County. Our local water district has imposed odd/even landscape watering restrictions as well as limiting the time that sprinklers may be on. 

They are currently offering up to $2.00 per square foot to remove turf. We are in the process of re-landscaping our front yard. We are removing all of the turf as well as all of the trees and shrubs. The new landscape will be drought tolerant stuff with drip irrigation. Most of the plants will not much irrigation once established.

Our area is inland and we have very hot dry summers.


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## Keith Sinclair (May 9, 2015)

Dave Martell said:


> How is the water troubles in CA affecting you guys who live out there?
> 
> I don't want a political discussion here, just curious if this situation is impacting any of our members and how.



Water is one of the most political issues out there:soapbox:


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## mhpr262 (May 10, 2015)

There is a huge thread on the drought on "my" motorcycle forum. More than 2700 posts and some very informed stuff (and some uninformed, too). It is in the church, state & money off topic section where discussions can get rather, uh, heated, so I think you have to sign up for the forum to be able to read, but it's worth it. Lots of pics, too, from various members (with 270,000 people who like nothing better than getting on their bike and looking at stuff you have one near EVERYTHING).

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=942898&page=182


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## CutFingers (May 10, 2015)

It's very serious and our counties are making conservative efforts. They are thinking putting in place a tiered pricing structure which basically punishes the rich and penalizes the poor. I know you didn't want to go into politics, but that's what's being considered now.

I love growing heirloom tomatoes and this year I plan to heavily mulch with straw. I'll likely limit water to 1/2 gallon per plant.


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## boomchakabowwow (May 11, 2015)

i live here. smack dab in the middle of the dryness. i took my front lawn out and did a "garden" of drought tolerant plants. establishing the plants took a surprising dose of water. i lost a few plants pushing the envelope. 

i remember when it was really bad. mid 90's? we would share a toilet full of water. multiple pee-loads per flush. odd, but we got used to it. i can still hear my roomies yelling.."anyone have to pee before i flush?" this was in San Francisco. 
SF is a weird city. rich as eff..they treat the waste water and put it out to sea. i would use it to plant water..or treat it further and put it back into the potable water system. surface runoff goes into the waste system and ends up at sea.

in EL PASO..where i grew up, they treated the water completely and made it potable. California needs to rethink things. treat it like a desert. really amp up the water treatment.


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## WildBoar (May 11, 2015)

boomchakabowwow said:


> SF is a weird city. rich as eff..they treat the waste water and put it out to sea. i would use it to plant water..or treat it further and put it back into the potable water system. surface runoff goes into the waste system and ends up at sea.


Sounds like a combined sewer, which is not uncommon to still find in some of the older and larger cities. The cost for separating the systems is staggering, and the construction work takes many years (over a decade is not uncommon). Just imagine almost every street needing to be partially torn up and rebuilt. That is why it is not so easy to separate combined sewer systems into sanitary and storm sewer systems.


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## boomchakabowwow (May 11, 2015)

WildBoar said:


> Sounds like a combined sewer, which is not uncommon to still find in some of the older and larger cities. The cost for separating the systems is staggering, and the construction work takes many years (over a decade is not uncommon). Just imagine almost every street needing to be partially torn up and rebuilt. That is why it is not so easy to separate combined sewer systems into sanitary and storm sewer systems.



yea, i get it.

i'm a civil engineer. you cant dig five feet here in the city and not hit some utility. it is criss-crossed hell down there.

but, truly reuse is a good way to generate clean water. too bad it will cost more than bringing in water from afar. (which isnt cheap either)


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## CaremeFraiche (May 12, 2015)

In the mid 90's I think Beverly Hills was the only place exempt from water rationing, funny enough. There was also the saying "Yellow is mellow, but brown is down". I hope we don't hear that again


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