Let’s be honest: Reading about California’s “fourth year of unprecedented drought” is just depressing. Yes, the rain gods haven’t smiled on the Golden State in quite a while. And neither have the snow gods.
Urban users point to agriculture as the devil. Agriculture (well some in agriculture) point to politicians as the culprit. Municipalities are upping their water rates because people have conserved so much water that utility service providers can no longer afford it. They’re running in the red instead of in the black. Families are losing their livelihoods. Fish are chocking on air. Trees are dying. The state’s water days are numbered. The ground is sinking because aquifers have been overdrawn.
OK, I’ll stop.
But Ken McCalip wrote a commentary about something this week that could be a small, albeit expensive, ray of hope in a drought-soaked and dusty future. It’s right next door if you want to take a peek at the words, page 15.
Desalination plants. Take that salty, fish-poop infused ocean water and turn it into liquid gold, the kind of wet that’s potable. Texas is building 44 of them. Israel’s been doing it for years and even produces enough water to sell out-of-country. Drought’s still on, but there’s plenty of water for all!
I mean, the ocean is huge: 96 percent of the planet’s water is just sitting right there, unused. The possibilities are limitless. So much water, just for the land-living animals of the world to consume. Amazing.
Just for fun, let’s ask this question: Who’s monitoring that water we take out of the ocean? As part of the same game, let’s ask another question: What happens when it runs out?
I know, you think this bird’s gone batty. That’s not going to happen anytime soon. Not to worry, though. My feathers are still yellow and shiny and my beak’s on straight. Just like any resource on this planet—fresh water, oil, coal, shale, sand, natural gas, game, trees, the list goes on and on—sea water, too, won’t last forever.
So what happens when we start sucking water out of the oceans? I guess sea levels are on the rise, so maybe we need to take a little out … but still, what about the fishies? Call me a bleeding-heart liberal if you want, but eventually the way we use that precious resource will catch up with us, just like the drought smacked us across the face.
Is there a point where we learn from our mistakes, or do we just move from one resource to the next and let the future figure out how to fix them? I know I’m not offering up any solutions here, and McCalip does have a point, but we need to see the big picture and not just the quick fix.
The Canary is pining for that beach-infused saltwater smell. Contact her at canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 25 – Jul 2, 2015.