Water Down the Drain

January 22, 2011
 SoCal squanders badly needed rainwater, but there are solutions

by Sarah (Steve) Mosko, PhD

Appeared:

Southern Sierran, Jul-Aug 2011, p. 6
Fullerton Observer, Early Mar 2011, p. 20
Surf City Voice, 21 Jan 2011

Linked rain barrels reap even more rainfall

What’s wrong with this picture? Southern California (SoCal) imports about half of its water from northern California and the Colorado River while flagrantly neglecting to put precious local rainfall to use.

This misguided water policy contributes to the now threatened ecosystems of both those distant water sources as well as global climate change via the enormous energy expended in transporting water over such distances.

What’s more, SoCal manages its rainfall through a storm drain system that directly contributes to ocean pollution.

No wonder northern Californians are reputed to be less than enamored with their neighbors to the south.

The heavy downpours which made December 2010 one of the wettest in SoCal history serve as a reminder that, despite being semi-arid, the region’s rainfall is by no means inconsequential and might be put to better use than overwhelming sewer systems and polluting coastal waters.

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2 Comments | California, global warming, Orange County, pollution, sustainable living, waste | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah (Steve) Mosko

No Such Thing as a Green Lawn

December 10, 2009
ciStockphoto.com/dbuffon

©iStockphoto.com/dbuffoon

by Sarah (Steve) Mosko, PhD.
Appeared in:
  • El Cuervo de Orange, Feb 14, 2012
  • Vall-E-Vents, May 2010.
  • E-Magazine’s ‘Our Planet Weekly,’  April 8, 2010.
  • Fullerton Observer, early March, 2010, p. 17.
  • Orange Coast Voice, Dec. 7, 2009.

Which consumes more fossil fuels, lawn maintenance with gas-powered tools or lawn watering? For residents of Southern California, the correct answer is watering because of the energy it takes to transport water to the region.

Southern California (SoCal) is a semi-arid desert. Rainfall averages only 15 inches per year, for example, in the Los Angeles area.  Local water sources have fallen far short of meeting the region’s water needs for more than a century.

With 2/3 of the state’s rainfall in Northern California and 2/3 of the water demand in SoCal, the State deals with this imbalance by pumping in half of SoCal’s water supply from sources hundreds of miles away, the Colorado River and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

The Water-Electricity Relationship

Piping water long distances is costly in terms of electricity, especially water imported from the Delta which has to be pumped uphill 2,000 ft to get over the Tehachapi Mountains.

In a first ever analysis of the energy embedded in bringing potable water to residential faucets and hoses in SoCal, a 2005 Calif Energy Commission analysis calculated 11,111 kWh/MG  (kilowatt hours per million gallons), three times costlier than in Northern California. Most of the electricity is for water transportation, much less for water treatment and maintaining water pressure. Every 100 gallons of imported water eats up enough electricity to keep a 100 W bulb lit for 11 hours.

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6 Comments | California, energy, global warming, green business, pollution, science, sustainable living, toxics, waste, wildlife | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah (Steve) Mosko