Jump to content






Photo
* * * * - 1 votes

Folsom Lake Level Discussion - Mormon Island Exposed

yes its officially drought

  • Please log in to reply
194 replies to this topic

#31 chris v

chris v

    Living Legend

  • Premium Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 4,373 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Broadstone

Posted 24 December 2013 - 10:55 AM

Thank you for your opinion fellow citizen/ wanna be water cop. Lol

I haven't received the notice that you all are talking a out, guess I'll have to go on down to the PO to pick up my mail.
As for showers, thats right, I'm not giving up long showers. I like to stand there until all the hot water runs out....JK!!

Just curious, how many minutes does the average water-saving shower last? what does the govt recommend? do you time it?

However, I never said what else I might do.....that thinger-ma-jig that Cal mentioned sounded interesting. I am considering changing out the toilets for water conserving models. And when I put in the new landscaping, it will be on drip. Not sure how the new pool will affect water conserving though...


I challenge you to take a one minute shower. Water on, get in get wet, water off. Soap up, then water on and rinse. No warming up, just do it, because it's the responsible thing to do. I always find it funny when I hear people taking about their long showers and how awesome they are. I grew up with one minute showers because we had a poor producing well. It's like I tell my kids, there is no need, ever, to just stand under running water.

#32 The Average Joe

The Average Joe

    Hopeless Addict

  • Premium Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 7,155 posts

Posted 24 December 2013 - 11:35 AM

Instead of squabbling over how much we conserve, lets look at the root of the problem. We have only built 9 dams in all of CA over the last thirty years. In the 10 years prior to that, we built 19, and 54 were built the ten years before that!.  Despite the fact that our population is expanding tremendously, and the demand for water is increasing, there have been no significant infrastructure improvements to accommodate such. Just as our city has done on the micro scale (selling out water to developers without requiring new sources), the state has done on a much larger scale. Add in the environmental lobby, and "suddenly", there is never enough water. The same can be said of our power grid. They want you to use less instead of producing more to meet demand. Dams are a win-win-win for everybody. They provide flood control, they provide water storage, they provide clean power (you do realize hydroelectric is not considered green energy...thanks green lobbyists) and they provide recreational opportunities.

 

All that said, I am a conservative in the literal sense of the word. My sprinklers have been off for months, and will continue to be for months. I keep showers short and yell at the kids to do so as well. I cringe to top off the pool thinking of how may gallons that takes. I don't hose down sidewalks or driveways, etc. With power, I turn off lights, put others on timers, and use CFL's (though I hate them) in high usage areas. I CONSERVE where I can. However, the state's job is to provide the services I cannot for myself. They are FAILING to do so. Insisting I minimize my usage because THEY failed to plan for adequate supplies is wrong. There is no "need" to stand under a 7 minute shower just as there is no "need" for a 2000 square foot house, or "need" for a car with 200 horsepower.  I don't want my neighbors or the state deciding how much of anything I "need."  And yet, I will bend over and take it until I retire and get out of this politically corrupt nanny state.


"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive" -- C.S. Lewis

 

If the only way to combat "global warming" was to lower taxes, we would never hear of the issue again. - Anonymous

 

"Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one" — Thomas Paine, 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 (1776)

 


#33 camay2327

camay2327

    GO NAVY

  • Moderator
  • 11,481 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Folsom

Posted 24 December 2013 - 01:10 PM

I got use to the 1 minute showers while aboard ship in the Navy.  We had

very limited water. The evaporators could only do so much.

 

Speaking of evaporators, why doesn't the state of California and the United

States do more on desalination of water. Plenty of water in the oceans.

 

Instead of piping water, build a bunch of desalination plants


A VETERAN Whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount "up to and including their life". That is HONOR, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it. -Author unknown-

#34 ducky

ducky

    untitled

  • Premium Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 9,115 posts
  • Gender:Female

Posted 24 December 2013 - 01:53 PM

I agree with Average Joe 100 percent.  Camay, I don't know why they can't do the desalinization instead of using the money to build tunnels to drain more from Northern California.

 

Regardless of how we got here, it is looking pretty dire out at the lake.  We went out this morning and the photos don't do it justice.

I knew unless we got some rain it would be bad this year.  I let my garden go in October.  Turned off the sprinklers for the lawn about then, too.  I was already only watering the potted stuff about three times a week so I'll just knock it down to two.

 

Let's all hope for a really rainy spring.



#35 FolsomEJ

FolsomEJ

    All Star

  • No Politics!
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 277 posts
  • Gender:Male

Posted 24 December 2013 - 02:08 PM

Desalination takes a lot of energy.  You are boiling water, capturing the steam and condensing it.  The Navy has no choice - you can't take the water with you for a whole cruise.  You have to make it.  (How do I know: former nuke sub sailor, qualified on ERUL watch, including operating the evaporator.)

 

Don't get me started on how all this "conservation" is a bunch of hooey.  Tell me exactly how we destroy water by taking it into our house and then back out down the drain.  It is actually VERY difficult to make water disappear on a state wide basis.  Think about it.



#36 MikeinFolsom

MikeinFolsom

    Living Legend

  • Premium Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 2,198 posts

Posted 24 December 2013 - 02:12 PM

Problem is, when it does rain a bunch, we just watch water run through the dam, down the river, and eventually out to the ocean. We need more storage. I remember many a year driving over the bypass and seeing so much water out there people could wind surf. Parkways does a good job with short watering cycles on the front yards, but the sprinkler heads jam a lot of water on the sidewalks and down the gutter. Another thing.....why wait until 20% for the watering restrictions? Sounds like we're past a crisis level and into emergency levels.

#37 cw68

cw68

    Hopeless Addict

  • Premium Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 10,370 posts
  • Gender:Not Telling

Posted 24 December 2013 - 02:19 PM

Counter to all of this is that we, on average, live an unsustainable life in these parts. We try to have English lawns instead of climate appropriate vegetation. We want to be able to a sickening amount of water on a daily basis.

Many of the same people who want the government to disappear are the same ones who expect them to provide them with an unlimited supply of resources, no matter what the cost. You want to be self sufficent from the gov't? Want to be as wasteful as possible? Make your own water and your own energy. The water that is in Folsom Lake isn't yours. You complain that it goes down south but it didn't originate here either - it came from the Sierra. You have as much right to claim it as your own as anyone downstream from the mountains.

Regardless, bitching will do nothing. Unless we all take action, it's going to be like SoCal in the 70s.

#38 4thgenFolsomite

4thgenFolsomite

    Hopeless Addict

  • Premium Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 5,979 posts

Posted 24 December 2013 - 03:27 PM


Regardless, bitching will do nothing. Unless we all take action, it's going to be like SoCal in the 70s.

 

 

Actually, its going to be like northern California in the 1976-1977 period.  Back when we had all those fun sayings like, "save water, shower with a friend" and "if its yellow its mellow, if its brown....."  well, you get the picture.


Knowing the past helps deciphering the future.

#39 The Average Joe

The Average Joe

    Hopeless Addict

  • Premium Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 7,155 posts

Posted 24 December 2013 - 06:11 PM

My dream home does make its own electricity and capture as much water as possible. A good well would be nice, although the government can regulate your use of those as well.  I would love to be independent. However, the government will not allow me to contain water on my own property, nor will it allow me a passive (small hydro system) on any water flowing through my property. Some states do allow diverting a stream, but not damming it. You need about 8 feet of head (drop) to run a decent size generator.

As the powers that be have decided they are the only ones to provide those services, I expect them to manage them appropriately. I don't want the government to disappear, I just want it to be very limited to those things that we cannot do for ourselves, and to efficiently do the things they have determined are under their purview.

 

As for Socal, I remember plenty of drought years. That's probably where I became conscious of using less water. We (norcal) didn't build in a semi-arid area, they did. We didn't build in the desert, they did. They did all that building, then they tried to figure out how to get the water. It's not bitching to state the facts.


"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive" -- C.S. Lewis

 

If the only way to combat "global warming" was to lower taxes, we would never hear of the issue again. - Anonymous

 

"Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one" — Thomas Paine, 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 (1776)

 


#40 ducky

ducky

    untitled

  • Premium Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 9,115 posts
  • Gender:Female

Posted 26 December 2013 - 05:44 PM

On the Facebook page of The Folsom Telegraph is an invitation to join a walking tour on December 28th at 3:00 p.m. of Folsom Lake.  They are meeting at Green Valley Rd. and Sophia Parkway (we park on Sophia and use the crosswalks to be safe.)   It really is a sight to see and sobering to see how little water there is.  It's amazing how much it is going down every day.

 

We saw a bald eagle today.  There's dredger tailings, old iron bolts, cable.  We made sure we didn't leave with anything except for photographs.  Pretty cool.  I recommend people go out and take a look.



#41 caligirlz

caligirlz

    Living Legend

  • Moderator
  • 3,163 posts
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:Folsom

Posted 26 December 2013 - 08:45 PM

In reviewing the recommendations, I see that they are targeting landscaping, not showers, but watering is still allowed 2 days/week. I was initially under the impression that watering wasn't to be allowed at all.

http://fox40.com/201...duce-water-use/

http://www.sacbee.co...ercent-cut.html

 

In talking with my mom down in the Central Valley, she said the farmers water rations are being restricted also. So either they plant drought resistent crops or they don't plant. Unfortunately, that means our stores will be buying produce from out of state and pass the higher costs on to the consummer.



#42 caligirlz

caligirlz

    Living Legend

  • Moderator
  • 3,163 posts
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:Folsom

Posted 26 December 2013 - 08:49 PM

 

As for Socal, I remember plenty of drought years. That's probably where I became conscious of using less water. We (norcal) didn't build in a semi-arid area, they did. We didn't build in the desert, they did. They did all that building, then they tried to figure out how to get the water. It's not bitching to state the facts.

Yep, me too. Do you remember when it was recommended that we only flush once a day? fun times!



#43 cw68

cw68

    Hopeless Addict

  • Premium Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 10,370 posts
  • Gender:Not Telling

Posted 26 December 2013 - 10:28 PM

My dream home does make its own electricity and capture as much water as possible. A good well would be nice, although the government can regulate your use of those as well.  I would love to be independent. However, the government will not allow me to contain water on my own property, nor will it allow me a passive (small hydro system) on any water flowing through my property. Some states do allow diverting a stream, but not damming it. You need about 8 feet of head (drop) to run a decent size generator.
As the powers that be have decided they are the only ones to provide those services, I expect them to manage them appropriately. I don't want the government to disappear, I just want it to be very limited to those things that we cannot do for ourselves, and to efficiently do the things they have determined are under their purview.
 
As for Socal, I remember plenty of drought years. That's probably where I became conscious of using less water. We (norcal) didn't build in a semi-arid area, they did. We didn't build in the desert, they did. They did all that building, then they tried to figure out how to get the water. It's not bitching to state the facts.


The Sacramento area isn't exactly lush. Five months out of the year Folsom gets from .06" to .67" of rain with only 25" for the year. The landscaping we want/plant do not match that. Look at all of the Sequoias around - they are not meant to live here.

As for water, you can contain water in a rainwater collection system. If I owned my house that would be one of the first things I would set up.

Bottom line, IMHO, isn't so much what LA does, it's what we do, and don't do. In general, we aren't very good stewards of our land. Personal freedom vs sustainability and respect for the natural land often at at odds.

#44 4thgenFolsomite

4thgenFolsomite

    Hopeless Addict

  • Premium Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 5,979 posts

Posted 27 December 2013 - 03:58 AM

Experts predict that if gov. brown is able to build his tunnels taking water to southern California then Folsom Lake will never be full again. And we can't stop them.
Knowing the past helps deciphering the future.

#45 The Average Joe

The Average Joe

    Hopeless Addict

  • Premium Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 7,155 posts

Posted 27 December 2013 - 10:59 AM

In general, we aren't very good stewards of our land. Personal freedom vs sustainability and respect for the natural land often at at odds.

 

While somewhat true that there can be conflicts, I am living proof that all those priorities can coexist. I have an intense desire for personal freedom, and sustainability. I also have a deep respect for nature. Why? Because I (like many) not only believe in personal freedom, but also believe in personal RESPONSIBILITY.

I believe in using our resources, but doing so responsibly. Simple.


"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive" -- C.S. Lewis

 

If the only way to combat "global warming" was to lower taxes, we would never hear of the issue again. - Anonymous

 

"Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one" — Thomas Paine, 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 (1776)

 





0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users