Comments on: California Levees In Trouble From Drought

By: Brainstorms

Brainstorms — Wed, 26 Aug 2015 22:09:34 +0000

From http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/19/us-usa-drought-california-idUSKCN0QO2AU20150819

“Parts of the San Joaquin Valley in Central California are sinking faster than ever due to excessive groundwater pumping as the state deals with a devastating drought, a NASA report released on Wednesday said.

“Some areas are experiencing nearly 2 inches (5 cm) of sinking per month, a trend that could damage infrastructure such as bridges, roads and aqueducts, the California Department of Water Resources said in a statement about the report.

“The department said long-term sinking has already destroyed thousands of private and public groundwater well casings in the agriculture-dependent valley, adding that over time more sinking could permanently reduce how much water can be stored in the underground aquifer.”

By: Brainstorms

Brainstorms — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 12:47:11 +0000

Because their antiquated & insane “water rights” laws are screwed up. And no one in the legislature has the balls to stand up to the property holders and rewrite them (to be more like every other states’ laws).

Once we pump all the water out and the pore space goes flat, that’s it: it’s permanent; no possibility of recharging our groundwater. They think things are bad now?

By: Pepsi_dude

Pepsi_dude — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 05:51:59 +0000

And every step of the way….what did the state authorities do? Nothing. This isn’t something that just occurred in 2015. There’s been indicators and signals going on for at least two decades….maybe longer. The state chose to look the other way and invest in other things (rapid-rail for example). The sad fact is that if they did something….they would have been sued by various environmental groups and a simplified three-year repair plan would gone on for two decades in some court. The state, in all ways, is screwed up.

By: Brainstorms

Brainstorms — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 23:33:59 +0000

“In fact, 75% of the land subsidence across California is accredited to oxidation of SOC.”

In fact??

“More than 80 percent of the identified subsidence in the United States is a consequence of human impact on subsurface water, and is an often overlooked environmental consequence of our land and water-use practices.”
http://water.usgs.gov/ogw/pubs/fs00165/

And in the San Joaquin Valley of Central California, this is a *serious* problem: “Between 1926 and 1970, groundwater pumping caused widespread aquifer compaction and resultant land subsidence in the valley. Subsidence in some areas exceeded 28 feet.

“At the center of the subsidence bowl near El Nido, more than 21 inches of subsidence was recorded between the two years. The rate of subsidence in this area – nearly 1 foot a year – is among the highest ever measured in the San Joaquin Valley.”
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3731

Where did Vahedifard, Aghakouchak, and Robinson get their comparative data on SOC subsidence to make that claim?