Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
California
Related: About this forumCalifornia is pumping water that fell to Earth 20,000 years ago
http://www.revealnews.org/article/california-is-pumping-water-that-fell-to-earth-20000-years-ago/By now, the impacts of Californias unchecked groundwater pumping are well-known: the dropping water levels, dried-up wells and slowly sinking farmland in parts of the Central Valley....
As California farms and cities drill deeper for groundwater in an era of drought and climate change, they no longer are tapping reserves that percolated into the soil over recent centuries. They are pumping water that fell to Earth during a much wetter climatic regime the ice age.
Such water is not just old. Its prehistoric. It is older than the earliest pyramids on the Nile, older than the worlds oldest tree, the bristlecone pine. It was swirling down rivers and streams 15,000 to 20,000 years ago when humans were crossing the Bering Strait from Asia.
Tapping such water is more than a scientific curiosity. It is one more sign that some parts of California are living beyond natures means, with implications that could ripple into the next century and beyond as climate change turns the region warmer and robs moisture from the sky.
As California farms and cities drill deeper for groundwater in an era of drought and climate change, they no longer are tapping reserves that percolated into the soil over recent centuries. They are pumping water that fell to Earth during a much wetter climatic regime the ice age.
Such water is not just old. Its prehistoric. It is older than the earliest pyramids on the Nile, older than the worlds oldest tree, the bristlecone pine. It was swirling down rivers and streams 15,000 to 20,000 years ago when humans were crossing the Bering Strait from Asia.
Tapping such water is more than a scientific curiosity. It is one more sign that some parts of California are living beyond natures means, with implications that could ripple into the next century and beyond as climate change turns the region warmer and robs moisture from the sky.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
9 replies, 2509 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (10)
ReplyReply to this post
9 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
California is pumping water that fell to Earth 20,000 years ago (Original Post)
KamaAina
Mar 2015
OP
We need to learn to live within what we have, not what we can drill from the depths.
CaliforniaPeggy
Mar 2015
#1
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,657 posts)1. We need to learn to live within what we have, not what we can drill from the depths.
How stupid of us.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)2. Well, think about it this way...
This is the natural look of the Santa Monica Mountains at Point Mugu, a few miles northwest of Malibu:
This is a scene from Bel Air, a little bit north of Santa Monica, within the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains:
Specifically, the Bel Air country club, one of over one hundred gold courses in the Greater Los Angeles area.
How much water do you suppose it takes to turn the first image into the second, and keep it that way indefinitely, hundreds of times over?
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)4. "gold courses"?!
Freudian Post o' the Month!
antiquie
(4,299 posts)3. Tragic, so I repeat myself.
4139
(1,893 posts)5. But they will have multi billion dollar high speed rail that no one will use :)
In a heartbeat.
And how does that impact the water issue? Gov. Brown has a plan just as grandiose to dig a tunnel under the entire Delta.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)6. Pray harder.
2naSalit
(86,685 posts)7. I get the feeling
it will also help bring forth "the BIG ONE" sooner rather than later too.