"California has a decision to make. We either brace ourselves for long-term [water] cuts that threaten our economy and our very way of way of life, or we invest in a solution to fix the
[San Francisco Bay] Delta and expand our
water toolbox so we can meet future challenges head-on.”
[more inside]
posted by salvia
on Sep 16, 2007 -
41 comments
"It's filthy. It's toxic. But it's water. And as we know in California, people are fighting over it." It's North America’s most polluted river, made up of 70% waste material and raw sewage. The
New River, which starts in Mexicali, Mexico, flows past homes in the California border town of Calexico and winds up in the Salton Sea. The river contains a
nightmare stew of about 100 biological contaminants, volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, and pesticides including: DDT, PCB, selenium, uranium, arsenic and mercury. The scary part? It's enough water for about 300,000 homes. Filthy or not, that’s real water. So L.A.’s Metropolitan Water District has
filed a claim on New River water.
posted by thisisdrew
on Jul 6, 2006 -
38 comments
Eighty years ago,
William Mulholland completed his final project:
the St. Francis Dam, which converted San Francisquito Canyon--about 5 miles northeast of what is now
Santa Clarita, California--into a 38,000 acre-foot reservoir for Los Angeles/Owens River aqueduct water.
You're probably familiar with
Mulholland's name --he designed and built the
Los Angeles Aqueduct and the beginning of the
system with which Los Angeles is supplied water from the Central Valley--and as a gesture of gratitude, the city named
its most scenic highway in his honor. Mulholland, the
California Water Wars, the aqueduct, and the dam were also referenced and alluded to extensively in Roman Polanski's
Chinatown.
But
the man who helped build an immense metropolis by bringing water to the desert has only a
small fountain as a memorial to his legacy.
Three minutes before midnight, on March 12, 1928...
posted by fandango_matt
on Mar 13, 2006 -
20 comments
Good news on the pollution front.
Town in Northern California finds a way to turn its sewage into non-polluting water and make a wildlife refuge. If you live in Arcata, you can flush your toilet with pride! Quick overview
here or the
full flush.
posted by keithl
on Mar 12, 2002 -
8 comments
