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Real Name: Vincent Leeds Address: S.W. Bakersfield Bakersfield, Ca 93311 Gender: male Date of Birth: January 22, 1955 Member Since: March 29, 2007 Last Signed In: September 03, 2008 Profile Views: 567 Blog Views: 1795 Help I need a job or bye bye to my house MCCain Shoes!!!?? 25 things you dont know about McCain, come on !!!! I need your opinion AKA at Amigos Cantina 9 1 07 No Bank has ever lost money on a foreclosure Its wrong what the Californian is doing regarding foreclosures Prisoners of Love at Amigos Cantina 8 18 07 The Spazzmanians at Amigo's Cantina 8 11 07 The Voodoo Dogs at Amigos Cantina 8 4 07 May 07 June 07 July 07 August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 
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What water shortage?
Yes, we have a shortage of water, Well, California, or this area I mean, has never had much water ever. In my research I have discovered that in a Large city like Los Angeles , the residential water usage is only about 4.5% of the total water, So if everyone in L. A. stopped all usage they'd gain less than 5% more water, That's nothin', its just a political football they kick around to show they're doin' something, but in fact its a complete deception. Here in Bakersfield, lets say the residential usage is, say 8%, so if everyone completely stopped using water, stopped using any water, they'd gain 8% more, That's crazy, so Please don't say, we the people are using too much. Farming, Ranching, commercial, the city, and the state use 90% of the water, Just think, have you ever seen a car wash shut down in a water shortage? (And we have to stop waterin' our lawns!) No, because all u need is money to get all the water you want. So, we the residents of Bakersfield, don't use enough water to make any difference at all, but still they tell us tips how to save 1/2 a gallon here or there. For what?! Vincent Leeds, P. S. if you know the exact percentage of residential usage please let us know! 11 comments from 7 users
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posted by
jwparnell
on Jun 15, 2007 at 07:09 AM
You're right! Farming does use much of Kern County's water supplies. It's used to provide food and fiber to a large part of the world. It's used to employ thousands of Kern County residents. It's used to fuel hundreds of millions of dollars of Kern County's annual economy. Without imported water supplies from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, 750,000 acres of California farm land would go fallow. Food prices would skyrocket, since demands would far exceed available supplies. This is a very serious issue. In the short term, it will probably be resolved in a few weeks. But the long-term implications of repeated pumping shutdowns in the future are those described in the paragraph above. New facilities are needed to improve the way water is moved from northern California to the south. Efforts are currently underway to revive the Peripheral Canal, a facility that will move water around the Delta, providing protection to endangered species and by-passing the fragile Delta levees that are on the verge of failure. Such a failure will dwarf the damages caused by Katrina. This is not, I repeat, NOT a political issue. It is a quality of life issue. Water is the most valuable resource on the planet, and should be viewed as such! It should not be taken for granted. posted by
tempinsane
on Jun 15, 2007 at 08:45 AM
I wrote about this years ago. Actually two crops, alfalfa and rice consume almost 40% of the water used in California. And residential consumption state wide is closer to 4%. That inclusede EVERY household and man, woman and child. To put the onus on us is ridiculous!
posted by
marsh
on Jun 15, 2007 at 09:03 AM
If farmers converted to dripline usage, we could dramatically save water. Unfortunately, installing these systems is expensive, and with any system, there can be problems. Still, I would approve of it, as a fiscal conservative, for the state to give low interest loans with generous (easy) terms to farmers who would use the money for such a conversion, in cases where it would be practical. Why isn't this proposed in the legislature? It would be a fine use of funds and help conserve much greater amounts of water--which we'll need if this drought persists. posted by
anonymous
on Jun 15, 2007 at 09:14 AM
Kern County's farmers are some of the most efficient in the state of California. Drip irrigation is widely used on permanent crops like grapes, almonds, pistachios, citrus, etc. Low interest loans for those who are not currently using drip irrigation for permanent crops is a great idea. Get to work elected officials!
posted by
jfrancais
on Jun 15, 2007 at 09:59 AM
The reality is that we don't have a sound environmental ethic and we are paying the price. If water is imported into Kern County we are robbing Peter to pay Paul. Someone will have to lose water to keep the status quo. Current irrigation methods aren't sustainable over the long term. Dripline usage is a new technique worth trying but the reality is that Kern County is a dry Arid area that happens to be inhabited by peoples that come from agrarian societies (Basques, Okies, Arkies, Southern Blacks, Hispanics, etc.). The land here in the valley is great for farming but the status quo is just not sustainable .
posted by
marsh
on Jun 15, 2007 at 10:00 AM
Good to hear your comments, anon. I have penned a letter to Senator Ashburn and mailed it already, today! Perhaps this will have some effect, let's hope!
Marshall posted by
steveeswenson
on Jun 15, 2007 at 10:10 AM
The last official study of water use in Kern County showed agriculture used 85 percent and urban users accounted for 15 percent. Most of the urban use is for watering lawns.It is true that Kern ag is among the most efficient ag water users in the state. We have about 32 to 35 million acre feet of groundwater, meaning that even in the worst droughts of California, we are in excellent shape in Kern. We clearly are not as dry as some people think. posted by
anonymous
on Jun 15, 2007 at 10:41 AM
Efficient compared to what?
posted by
jfrancais
on Jun 15, 2007 at 10:44 AM
...I guess compared to everyone else in the state but that doesn't make everything ok.
posted by
tempinsane
on Jun 15, 2007 at 01:16 PM
Wrong as usual Steve S. The L.A. Times reported a few years ago that ag uses 85% of water, everybody else uses 15%, the catch is this includes manufacturing, industry, commercial AND the general public of 38,000,000 people. The private users ,the family, uses about 4% a year! Divide that by 38,000.000 and I will wash down my sidewalk all day long! Just as bad as the fireplace ban....put the onus on us and take away another little part of our liberties!
posted by
theworldgame
on Jun 18, 2007 at 12:34 AM
Tempinsane: Was the L.A. Times reporting about Kern County specifically, or about California? There's a big difference. Steve, I'm surprised at that. In my last place, the biggest water users were the two oil refineries in the area. Does our petroleum industry here not use a lot of water?
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