California has abundant water
An open letter to Arnold Schwartzennager, honorable Governor of California
Did you know that the #1 occupation on Earth is carrying water! If it was the gold rush 168 years ago that popularized Calfornia as a coastal paradise, it will be the green rush that will save it from running short of water..
A while back I rode the Pacific Coast Bike Trail past Crescent City, California, through the redwood mountains in a driving rainstorm. From an overlook I watched millions of gallons of fresh water plunging into the Pacific below.
600 miles south, tens of million of Southern Californian's are huddled along the coast and they have nearly perfect climatic conditions, exept they have a ravenous appetite for fresh water. So here's the deal. California designs and implements a pilot project to collect (using gravity) the water falling and stores it in giant water balloons.
These balloons, once full, would be towed (by tugs or by a self contained solar engine) south along California coastal waters. With substantial help from the prevailing currents, these giant water containers could be nested at high tide in position for solar powered pumps to drain them into waiting reservoirs. This is an elegant but by no means a new idea. The Sierra Club has already staked out a position on the matter:
Sometimes the greatest good must be considered and we believe that re-distribution of water that is currently lost to the Pacific is a small price to pay for a renewable source of water for Southern California.
The Otay Lakes and Sweetwater Reservoir in San Diego would be one example of a place to put California's water. Obviously we are talking big water balloons and they can be designed to be hydrodynamic and even to be saddled by their own solar powered engines.
Using gravity and solar power we can create a true "aqueduct" along California's coast and decrease dependence on the Colorado River. Call me a vidiot!
Did you know that the #1 occupation on Earth is carrying water! If it was the gold rush 168 years ago that popularized Calfornia as a coastal paradise, it will be the green rush that will save it from running short of water..
A while back I rode the Pacific Coast Bike Trail past Crescent City, California, through the redwood mountains in a driving rainstorm. From an overlook I watched millions of gallons of fresh water plunging into the Pacific below.
600 miles south, tens of million of Southern Californian's are huddled along the coast and they have nearly perfect climatic conditions, exept they have a ravenous appetite for fresh water. So here's the deal. California designs and implements a pilot project to collect (using gravity) the water falling and stores it in giant water balloons.
These balloons, once full, would be towed (by tugs or by a self contained solar engine) south along California coastal waters. With substantial help from the prevailing currents, these giant water containers could be nested at high tide in position for solar powered pumps to drain them into waiting reservoirs. This is an elegant but by no means a new idea. The Sierra Club has already staked out a position on the matter:
Sometimes the greatest good must be considered and we believe that re-distribution of water that is currently lost to the Pacific is a small price to pay for a renewable source of water for Southern California.
The Otay Lakes and Sweetwater Reservoir in San Diego would be one example of a place to put California's water. Obviously we are talking big water balloons and they can be designed to be hydrodynamic and even to be saddled by their own solar powered engines.
Using gravity and solar power we can create a true "aqueduct" along California's coast and decrease dependence on the Colorado River. Call me a vidiot!
Labels: hydro engineering California water supply imagineering
posted by Vid Opiná at
12:54
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