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Page added on May 6, 2015
California Adopts “Unprecedented” Restrictions On Water Use As Drought Worsens
Early last month we warned that California’s drought was approaching historic proportions and that if climatologists were to be believed, the country may see a repeat of The Dirty Thirties as experts cite “Dust Bowl” conditions. Governor Jerry Brown has called for statewide water restrictions aimed at reducing consumption by 25%.
Now, the conservation calls are getting much louder as the state’s water regulators have approved “unprecedented” measures aimed at curtailing the crisis.
Via AP:
California water regulators adopted sweeping, unprecedented restrictions Tuesday on how people, governments and businesses can use water amid the state’s ongoing drought, hoping to push reluctant residents to deeper conservation.
The State Water Resources Control Board approved rules that force cities to limit watering on public property, encourage homeowners to let their lawns die and impose mandatory water-savings targets for the hundreds of local agencies and cities that supply water to California customers.
Gov. Jerry Brown sought the more stringent regulations, arguing that voluntary conservation efforts have so far not yielded the water savings needed amid a four-year drought. He ordered water agencies to cut urban water use by 25 percent from levels in 2013, the year before he declared a drought emergency…
Despite the dire warnings, it’s also still not clear that Californians have grasped the seriousness of the drought or the need for conservation. Data released by the board
Tuesday showed that Californians conserved little water in March, and local officials were not aggressive in cracking down on waste.
A survey of local water departments showed water use fell less than 4 percent in March compared with the same month in 2013. Overall savings have been only about 9 percent since last summer.
Under the new rules, each city is ordered to cut water use by as much as 36 percent compared with 2013.
And more color from The LA Times which reports that California will begin cracking down on “wasters” via the imposition of stiff fines as millions of trees die out in National Forests, raising the risk of wildfires :
“Right now we’re scared. Right now we’re in the denial stage. We have to get into acceptance, and we have a relatively short period of time to do it.”
Others were more skeptical, citing new data showing that California’s hundreds of urban water suppliers assessed only 682 penalties to water wasters in the last several months after receiving more than 10,000 complaints.
The enforcement data demonstrate the “need to make enforcement a true deterrent to water wasting,” said Mark Gold of UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. “People don’t park in posted street sweeping parking spaces three weeks in a row. The vast majority of people in California are not looking at this as a dire situation, yet.”
Years of extremely dry conditions are taking a heavy toll on forest lands across California and heightening the fire risk as summer approaches.
“The situation is incendiary,” William Patzert, a climatologist for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told The Times recently. “The national forest is stressed out”…
A new study by the U.S. Forest Service tried to assess the scope of the problem. Researchers estimated that the drought has killed off at least 12.5 million trees in California’s national forests during the drought.
The scientists expect the die-off to continue. “It is almost certain that millions more trees will die over the course of the upcoming summer as the drought situation continues and becomes ever more long term,” said biologist Jeffrey Moore, acting regional aerial survey program manager for the U.S. Forest Service.
* * *
Of course, cutting back will come at a steep cost for utility companies who will promptly attempt to replace an estimated $1 billion in lost revenue by raising prices for consumers. Between rising utility costs and fines of up to $10,000 for egregious violations of the state’s conservation efforts, hydration just got a lot more expensive in California — unless you’re a MotherFracker, in which case none of this applies.
67 Comments on "California Adopts “Unprecedented” Restrictions On Water Use As Drought Worsens"
redpill on Wed, 6th May 2015 7:55 pm
We got lucky last year, but I fear this year’s fire season is going to be a bitch.
I hear we managed to get CO2 levels worldwide to breach 400ppm for the first time in a couple of million years. Go humans!
Thankfully that “stuff” has nothing to do with that warmist conspiracy theory we hear about. Just makes your tomatoes grow bigger is all.
paulo1 on Wed, 6th May 2015 10:04 pm
Even up on Vancouver Island we are bracing for a bad and dry summer. Our snow pack is extremely low and the rest of May looks very dry. June is usually a wet month but all bets are off. The rivers and creeks are very low for this time of year.
I lived in California until I was 12, and still remember how hot and dry it was. My Dad used to drive across state for his business and I remember he would drape a wet cloth over his head…(bald). Then, we got a swamp cooler that plugged into the cigarette lighter. When we left in 68 the car had an air conditioner. Virtually no houses had them, though.
If you guys run low on power I don’t think it too likely that BC will sell you anymore after the lawsuit demanding a roll back in charges. Plus, we may have low water in our hydro systems and none to spare. Time will tell.
penury on Wed, 6th May 2015 10:12 pm
I heard an interview this AM and the woman personality being interviewed stated she lived in L.A. area had a large house, green lawn and a swimming pool took long daily showers and her water bill is less than two dollars a day. She also stated that the fines were a joke. people will just pay them. Drought what drought? Rich people will allways have water.
dohboi on Wed, 6th May 2015 11:47 pm
Fire.
clueless on Thu, 7th May 2015 1:06 am
As i kept warning…California will be the first to go. Neighboring States like Nevada,etc.will be next, and so on and so forth. Jade Helm is the precursor, and all close down WalMarts will serve as camps for FEMA. There’ll be total chaos soon. Leave as soon as possible.
I already left California for good.
apneaman on Thu, 7th May 2015 2:00 am
Will there still be Greeters at the Walmart FEMA camps?
Davy on Thu, 7th May 2015 6:36 am
Paulo, around here in the MO Ozarks it has been the most pleasant spring I can remember. It has been cool and dry. It is a little too dry but there has been enough moisture to keep soil moisture decent for fields and garden. Everything including the animals are happy. Today I will finish planting grapes and some blueberries. Garden will be complete. I have a triad of orchard, grape vines, and veggies. It is my food bank. I have money in the bank for what that is worth. Climate change may end all this happiness at any time. Summer may turn out to be a light switch to hot with soil moisture low.
Davy on Thu, 7th May 2015 6:47 am
California could be our crisis switch. The state is too big to decouple from. This is true of the US and the global. It takes just a little growth drop to rattle the global interconnected markets. Rattled markets affect confidence adversely. Adverse confidence leads to liquidity issues. Liquidity issues now with the oil sector will compound an already sick and troubled industry. Supply and demand destruction of the oil sector is the brick wall for BAU’s train wreck.
As you can see from my above snowball description BAU can decay quickly. We have thus far not had that kind of decay during my 50 plus years. Growth, innovation, and development has always dominated. We can’t count the 30’s depression because that was not a resource issue that was purely an economic issues. In the 30’s populations were low and resources ready for exploitation. We were not in the vicinity of overshoot with a generational bottleneck possibility before us.
California with its slow motion natural disaster ahead will be the first test if the rains don’t come. We can watch what happens there for how the country is going to handle liquid fuel shortages and food insecurity and shortages. These events are just ahead. Globally the situation is much the same in dispersed and far flung examples. China has its own snowball issues of entropic decay of their complex system.
If I have an optimism it is crisis will change attitudes and lifestyles. Crisis will initiate plan B’s by necessity and stealth. TPTB will not realize it but once BAU goes into full blown descent there is no turning back. They will unwittingly contribute to this descent with failed policies and dysfunctional political networks.
Let us hope some beneficial policies supporting collapse plan B’s and preparations for the end of BAU will start. California, the nation, and the globe has a number one task ahead of preparation for the end of BAU. That is the return of people to the land in huge numbers to begin a hybrid mixture of production AG and small permaculture farms. Production Ag can focus on grains and other monocultures. The small permaculture farms can focus on animals, grains, vegetables, and fruits.
We have so little time and a window ahead like a space craft seeking a return to earth. I am not optimistic of an effective hybrid policy of BAU agriculture and the permaculture of the pre fossil fuel past but that is the answer. This is the primary policy that should be in motion now. No other policy can come close to importance and relevance. Hungry people are not stable people. All other efforts will be in vain if food insecurity and hunger is present.
California could initiate this change over by eliminating large amounts of vegetables and fruits. Most of these cannot be replaced by type but local fruits and vegetables can be produced. Let us hope there is a silver lining to all this. Many times sickness changes one’s life for the better.
Kenz300 on Thu, 7th May 2015 7:04 am
Too many people and too few resources… yet the world adds 80 million more people to the planet every year…….. Endless population growth is not sustainable.
paulo1 on Thu, 7th May 2015 8:35 am
It will be interesting to see how this could unfold in Bowllywood State. Will people just leave and beat the rush, agriculture dwindle, or will many towns and cities end with a Sao Paulo crisis? I suspect all of the above.
Sao Paulo will be a real window to possible events.
Meanwhile, in our green land, cougars are once again a threat. My morning walk with the dog is very restricted and I often pack a gun keeping a fence line alongside. A week ago one went up on my neighbours porch and attacked his dogs….(big dogs). He managed to fight it off and got the dogs in. The next morning I stumbled into it (same one) with my dog on our walk…we just backed away. The deer have all been taken, there isn’t a squirrel or racoon to be seen in the last week, and the elk are off calving. Cougars are even going into the nearby city (75 km away) of 35,000 pop. My buddy had one in his yard in town!!! Anyway, rifle is by the bedroom door and shells on the window ledge!! As I write this I scan the river bank for him.
steve on Thu, 7th May 2015 8:52 am
Davy, I hate to say but it will just initiate more calls for solar and solar power cars etc..wind power….I hope for the stair step down but I look at the interconnected system all based on cheap energy and I just see one big drop and I have no idea where that floor will be.
shortonoil on Thu, 7th May 2015 9:09 am
My friends in Northern Florida tell me that the cougar population is exploding there. They see them in their back yard frequently. They seem to be losing their fear of man. Apparently, the top predator is losing its 100,000 year position. Maybe, the cougars have heard that some changes are coming?
Davy on Thu, 7th May 2015 9:40 am
Cougar will be on the menue before long when the locust effect kicks in. Folks remember when it gets bad most any meat can be eaten including organs.
Davy on Thu, 7th May 2015 9:46 am
Steve, I vacillate between extreme doom and moderate doom. I also vacillate on time frame. I feel BAU has momentum and brittle sustainability. This will allow some carry on effect by shear inertia to change both physical and human attitudes. I am between 5-10 years before the ugly.
Once in full blown descent mode of 5-10% drop in economic activity as a possibility BAU will self destruct quickly I imagine. Who knows really but I enjoy the mental exercise of following this most amazing of human happenings. That is at least while I am safe and comfortable.
ghung on Thu, 7th May 2015 9:53 am
This is the time of year that I stop worrying about the bigger picture so much and focus on individual/local response. We’ve had abundant rain so far and finally got a dry spell. Saturated soil delayed grading the site for our new 70′ x 32′ green house, but we got it done. I also had the contractor muck out the pond near the garden; mined tons of nice silt which I’m mixing with organic matter (mostly leftover hay from last year’s cut, and chicken/horse litter). Nice to get these major projects underway while fuel prices are relatively cheap. I built this pond at the bottom of the watershed to salvage soil washed down from the property. We have no erosion problems but it’s still remarkable how much soil and organic matter a small farm pond can collect. Properly amended, it makes great growing medium. No sense sending it down stream. Someday we may have to ‘mine’ it using buckets and wheel-barrows, but at least it’ll be there.
The water system for the garden (spring-fed with the pond as backup) is upgraded and producing plenty of crystal water. The new Chinese submersible pump is chugging along happily when the sun shines. Perhaps I’ll order a couple of spares, considering the low price, if this one lasts. I also finished and installed the small solar electric system for the greenhouse (240 watts PV, 40 amp charge controller, 1500 watt inverter, two group 24DC batteries (almost all from my collection of ‘junk’), enough power to run some tools if needed and our electric tiller/cultivator; tested and functioning nicely. That said, I plan for about 1600 square feet of no-till beds for the greenhouse; drip irrigated, local compost fed. I expect that having some control over the growing environment will provide an advantage, year-to-year, for subsistence growers. Still, plenty of space outside the greenhouse for other stuff.
No hand-wringing here over the situation in CA or Sao Paulo. Seems like a waste of energy. I feel for those folks, but there’s little we can do about it, and we’ll be seeing a lot more of these things. Best to stay busy avoiding the rush to adapt. For the sake of efficiency, profit, convenience, complacency, lack of situational awareness, or just fate, these people, collectively, have sacrificed any level of deep resiliency. Their default Plan B will be to move somewhere else (where they may not be welcome). That’s not me.
Time to go turn some big piles of dirt while diesel’s still affordable.
Northwest Resident on Thu, 7th May 2015 10:23 am
ghung — I’m with you — focusing on what I can do on my own local level and getting it done. The situation in major parts of California as described in this article is one where we have a real life “cliff hanger” — with not only the state of California but the entire nation balanced precariously between getting by for another few years (maybe) or suddenly finding themselves in a situation where drastic measures must be taken to survive. It is just one of many real-life dire situations in the world today, but one that has immediate and catastrophic implications for those of us living in the continental 48 states. Where are all those Californians going to relocate if they run out of water? They will NOT be welcome anywhere and will get the same (or worse) treatment than the dust bowl migrants who WENT to California a la Grapes Of Wrath.
In a world that is coming unglued, with flocks of black swans circling overhead like buzzards waiting for us to die and with their number increasing on what seems like a daily basis, all I or you or anyone can (and should) do is focus on what I can do to be self-sufficient today — and on what preparations and cautions I can take now to prepare for the coming hardships in order that I and my family and friends might carry on past the bottleneck that is surely coming, and into a future for humanity that we will collectively have some large part in creating.
ghung on Thu, 7th May 2015 12:00 pm
NWR: I think the authorities, at least on a level not being shared with the public, definitely have concerns about the fragility level of our society; not only regarding the physical and economic aspects of life as we’ve known it, but in sociological terms. I’m sure they have people studying such things: the number of people surviving on public aide; the number of people just scraping by due to middle class decline; the overall sense of entitlement that permeates American society along with a general lack of preparedness. As I’ve said; when things start to break down, most Americans won’t handle it well at all. They’ve been programmed to view all things as confrontational and any sense of basic courtesies is superficial at best. I even see it when going to places like Home Depot; folks blocking isles with their carts and ignoring a simple “excuse me”. Yesterday I had to deal with an asshole who made a scene because I was paying with a check (not the first time I’ve had this happen). In short, people don’t seem to give a shit about each other or interacting in a civil manner. I think some are plain scared.
Anyway, our local and State agriculture people are really working the small farm, local production/ subsistence thing. Seems they have marching orders from somewhere to promote such things; making funds available for small farm infrastructure and development, and following through to make sure those monies are well spent. They seem to like guys like me because they get a high level of confidence that that investment will be useful going forward.
Climate change, locally resilient food production, sustainability, etc., get mentioned in some of the classes I attend. They, of course, want to see folks succeed, but I think there may be more to it than that. One of our local ag agents mentioned he’d be out of town attending a FEMA meeting. Made me curious, as do things like this ‘Jade Helm’ thingy, especially the reactions we’re seeing.
My response is to fly under the radar, keep my hand to the plow so to speak, and build social capital locally, while teaching my children and theirs as best I can.
Plantagenet on Thu, 7th May 2015 12:07 pm
Still no water restrictions on California’s oil biz or agribiz.
How much money do Gov. Jerry Brown and the Ds get from big biz, anyway?
Dredd on Thu, 7th May 2015 12:56 pm
Huh!
That is nothing!
My man Mitch McCon is introducing a bipartisan bill to celebrate global warming induced climate changes as it should be celebrated!
The greatest jobs bill of all time (Will This Float Your Boat – 8).
Davy on Thu, 7th May 2015 1:44 pm
G-Man, I see the social situations you mentioned above in St. Louis. My wife used to live in St Louis and now lives on the farm. We shared an apartment in St Louis that was in fact 4 blocks from where the riots took place on South Grand. The area is a mix of people and ethnicities. These people genuinely want to see an urban renewal and are highly involved and motivated. Then you have some other folks both white and black that could give a shit. These people are rude and obnoxious. I notice these things there because I live on the farm in the Ozarks of MO where the people are very friendly and courteous. It is worlds apart here in Missouri urban to rural.
G-man, I like your Modus of “fly under the radar”. This is what I am doing also. I “keep my hand on the plow” and do very little other than hang out with the family. Sometimes I worry about all the Davy doom salad rants I do here wondering if the authorities are going to keep a tab on me as subversive. “Authorities” if you are listening now I am too old to cause shit. If you want me to shut up I will. Just let me know when free speech is not allowed anymore so I can go off line and blend into the fields and draws of my farm.
Yea, G-man, I am doing my best to teach other family and friends prep. I am dooming lite with family and friends because they can’t handle much without anxiety from cognitive dissonance. I especially want to tech my 7 yr. old boys about prep. They are going to need it more than I.
Northwest Resident on Thu, 7th May 2015 1:59 pm
Davy — Relax, bro. On a scale of 1 – 10 subversiveness, you don’t even register. When TSHTF, you’ll be so far down on the priority list that they may never get to you — they’ll have far bigger fish to fry. There are plenty of anti-government radicals they’re keeping track of right now, people who are actively advocating overthrow of the government, armed resistance, etc… The fact that most of those are geezers and morons and their inbred offspring is beside the fact. All we’re doing here is discussing fact and reality — and occasionally disputing idiocy as so frequently spouted by one or two of our resident trolls. When the day comes that they come for me because I’m speaking the truth and discussing facts, I guess that will might be a good day to go down in a blaze of glory. Till then, and most likely, they’ll need as many of us self-sufficient, hardworking, honest and smart people as they can keep alive. That’s what I think and hope, anyway.
Lawfish1964 on Thu, 7th May 2015 2:07 pm
I’m with all of you. Figuring out how to survive on less and provide for oneself is an exciting challenge. I constantly re-think my strategies. For example, I bought 30 acres of hardwoods a mile north of river near here last year. My intention was for that to be my doomstead. But the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that I’m best trying to convert my existing house into a true urban homestead.
My house was built in 1931, well before air conditioning. It was built in the shadow of 3 giant live oak trees, which shade the house completely. Doesn’t bode well for my ability to do rooftop solar, but it does bode well for my ability to stay cool in the summer without AC. Literally, on the hottest days of summer, without AC, it gets to maybe 80 degrees in there. Open the windows for a little breeze, and I’m sure it would drop 5 degrees.
The house was also built atop a steep hill, giving me several advantages. First, it’s easy to defend. I have a sweeping view of all possible enemies from my sun porch. Second, it was built into the hill with a true basement, 8 feet deep with concrete and brick walls. The temperature down there remains a constant 72 degrees. The perfect root cellar and the perfect “cool storage” place for food.
I don’t have a lot of land, but what I do have, I’m getting more and more proficient at using to produce food. I now have 8 chickens and a nice coop, a pig who provides endless fertilizer, fruit trees, etc. If I keep tweaking this place, it should be very self-sufficient by the time I’m gone. And the lot next door is vacant and owned by a local bank heiress. I’m sure if the SHTF, she will allow me to share-crop that property. I could grow enough food there to feed 2 families easily.
I wouldn’t describe the place as urban either. It’s mid-town in a medium town in Florida. But my little enclave neighborhood has 1 street in and 1 out with privacy walls on the outer perimeter of every parcel on the outside. In other words, very easy to defend if the community bands together. Add to that the ability to walk to any places of business that will spring up after the big collapse and I think I’m far better off here than out in the country (plus, I’ll have an endless, renewable supply of firewood if I can get myself to my land and no one has beaten me to it).
Northwest Resident on Thu, 7th May 2015 2:25 pm
Lawfish — I endorse your approach. I also thought long and hard about moving out to the boonies to get a remote “doomstead”. The advantage would be isolation from crowds and starving neighbors. The disadvantages are isolation from regular people and being a potential prime target for roving bands of scavengers, most of whom will be thinking that the food is out in the countryside somewhere. I decided that converting my large backyard into a maximum-production food operation was a better choice. I plan on having the seed and the knowledge to be able to set up local neighbors with their own food production situation, if it comes down to that. And as you mention, when TSHTF, there will be probably a lot of people in the neighborhoods who either bug out or check out for various reasons, leaving a lot of front and back yards to expand into.
Just one thing — using pig manure for fertilizer? You better be very careful how you do that. Have you read about how to use pig manure for fertilizer. You do not want to just mix raw pig poop into your growing soil, do you???
Davy on Thu, 7th May 2015 2:30 pm
Thanks, NR, in this case it is nice to be called a nobody. I hope you are right.
LAW, nothing wrong with your description of your home in a semi-urban environment. It will be community that makes a difference.
I believe you are in the Panhandle of FLA. I know the area well. My bothers in-laws are from Eufaula, AL. I have taken many a boat ride down the Chattahoochi to Apalachacola to eat some oysters and shrimp. Tough swamp people down there. Anyway, Florida is a good up north. I have little good to say about south Florida at least in regards to doom and prep.
Don on Thu, 7th May 2015 2:43 pm
Hey Law, I know you’re a lawyer so I shouldn’t have to mention this, but, most cities in Florida do not allow chickens and pigs in residential areas. Jax just started a program for up to 5 hens but you still have to get approved and permitted. Just wanted to make sure you don’t get yourself in trouble.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/184855257/2013-415-E-Final-Language
drwater on Thu, 7th May 2015 3:05 pm
I hate to disappoint all the posters today, but the CA drought is at about the same point this year that it was last year – bad, but not the end of the world unless you happen to be in the southern or western San Joaquin Valley or in the Southern California pine forests. Most of the municipal water agencies actually have access to more water than Gov. Brown is allowing them to provide. I still find it interesting that he is just throwing the whole water rights system out the window as far as municipal agencies are concerned. Let the local water agencies deal with their own problems instead of state mandates and grandstanding.
apneaman on Thu, 7th May 2015 3:14 pm
Davy, everything is sitting on a server farm somewhere, so everything is on the Radar, but it’s a big lumbering Radar. The biggest concern should be if you have teenage daughters with a web cam. The clowns at Booz Allen Hamilton spend most of their time turning on teenage girls web cams and jerking off. And spying on their ex girlfriends and wives. I think half the reason Snowden left was because he could not stand being around such scum. The private contractors make up about 70% of the security state and they are as incompetent as all the other big bureaucracies out there. Talk about your tax funded useless eaters. There’s another group who will be offered up as scapegoats when the SHTF; the mob must have their pound of flesh in the end. Don’t get me wrong – they are dangerous, but the only thing they are good for is ruining decent peoples lives to protect an ever more paranoid elite/1%/MIC/security state.
Just now they passed a Draconian bill here in Canada. If you do not wave the flag and tow the party line – your an “enemy of the state”. It will get worse before it gets better, if that ever happens. I imagine they will be locking up old hippy grandmas at environmental protests and such. They will turn it all into a wasteland for the last drop before they ever give up and anyone in the way will be crushed – sooner or later. Wonder why I’m a Doomer?
Bill C-51 passes in House of Commons
Passed third reading by a margin of 183 to 96
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bill-c-51-passes-in-house-of-commons-1.3064235
GregT on Thu, 7th May 2015 3:15 pm
Anybody living in an area where their community doesn’t take care of each other already, shouldn’t be expecting the situation to change for the better when things go south. Especially if people don’t have the arable land, tools, and knowledge to grow enough food locally. Most urban environments will not fare well.
apneaman on Thu, 7th May 2015 3:23 pm
Davy., it’s an old story we have played out since time immemorial and it’s happening in different countries at different steps right now. Jay Hanson describes with great clarity and simplicity in his Overshoot behavioral loop.
Here is a synopsis of the behavioral loop described above:
Step 1. Individuals and groups evolved a bias to maximize fitness by maximizing power, which requires over-reproduction and/or over-consumption of natural resources (overshoot), whenever systemic constraints allow it. Differential power generation and accumulation result in a hierarchical group structure.
Step 2. Energy is always limited, so overshoot eventually leads to decreasing power available to the group, with lower-ranking members suffering first.
Step 3. Diminishing power availability creates divisive subgroups within the original group. Low-rank members will form subgroups and coalitions to demand a greater share of power from higher-ranking individuals, who will resist by forming their own coalitions to maintain power.
Step 4. Violent social strife eventually occurs among subgroups who demand a greater share of the remaining power.
Step 5. The weakest subgroups (high or low rank) are either forced to disperse to a new territory, are killed, enslaved, or imprisoned.
Step 6. Go back to step 1.
http://www.dieoff.org/
I think before this century is out there will come a point where step 1 is no longer possible.
GregT on Thu, 7th May 2015 3:37 pm
Jeez Apnea,
Thanks for the update on C-51. The family has been down in Cozumel for the last ten days so haven’t heard much news. It is a very sad day indeed for Canadians. The country is going to shit.
Lawfish1964 on Thu, 7th May 2015 3:46 pm
NWR, I don’t put fresh pig poop in my soil, I compost it. You’d be amazed how quickly it breaks down. He’s a Vietnamese potbellied pig, so not too gigantic.
Don, thanks for the heads-up. Our city ordinances allow for the keeping of hens in the city limit without a permit. The pig is an exotic animal, being a “mini,” so he’s legal. Plus, the neighbors don’t complain, because he’s totally cute and doesn’t bother anyone.
Northwest Resident on Thu, 7th May 2015 3:58 pm
Lawfish — That’s a relief! Chicken poop + potbellied pig poop, composted to perfection = a lot of nitrogen. Good job!
apneaman on Thu, 7th May 2015 4:07 pm
Hey, Greg. Then there is this.
‘The Texas of Canada’ Just Elected A Left-Wing Government
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/06/3655798/canada-did-what-now/
I don’t know how much is economics and how much is environment/climate change, but the flood a couple of years ago shook them up in Calgary. I was there last summer and the guys were their usual swaggering selves, but my female cousins and Aunt were scared – very scared. Even if they come up with massive emissions reductions and such, it won’t make a difference at this point as far as climate disruption. Were already fucked big time with CO2 in the pipe and the dozens of feedback loops underway. I hope the country does the same thing in the federal election. I despise the neo liberal Harper gang and I want myself and my family and your family to at least live under a less repressive government – even if it is only for awhile until the crunch comes. I think that’s worth it.
Davy on Thu, 7th May 2015 4:22 pm
Ape Man, I am not too worried because as the grid destabilizes this vast server farms will become dysfunctional. Government is going broke so it will be problematic to throw more money at mass surveillance when it is well know it’s effectiveness is only as good as the ability of humans to digest it. Like you say Ape Man the people tasked with that duty are not up to task.
On a happier note planted 6 blueberries bushes and 24 grape vines. I now have 54 grape vines. I Feel good about that. Strawberries are going to overwhelm me soon and I plan on gorging like a bear on them. I love to eat right out of the garden.
apneaman on Thu, 7th May 2015 5:14 pm
In vino veritas, Davy
apneaman on Thu, 7th May 2015 5:26 pm
California’s Great Wilting — Lake Mead Heading Toward Rationing Line, Extreme Fire Hazard as 12.5 Million Trees Stand Dead, Agriculture Under Threat
https://robertscribbler.wordpress.com/2015/05/07/californias-great-wilting-lake-mead-heading-toward-rationing-line-extreme-fire-hazard-as-12-5-million-trees-lay-dead-agriculture-under-existential-threat/
steve on Thu, 7th May 2015 7:00 pm
Ha! Ha! this has been a funny read…I can just see our re-education camps now! I just hope that Davy doesn’t end up in one with Noony!
Davy on Thu, 7th May 2015 8:06 pm
Steve, can you imagine the NOo as my prison guard. He would only let me read Econ 101 books and no dooming allowed in the NOo’s ward.
Perk Earl on Thu, 7th May 2015 8:45 pm
Davy, I’ve been keeping this from everybody on peak oil dot com because is didn’t want them to know just how bad it is here in CA. We may have to pack and leave for who knows where.
http://icons.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/l/Leia/552.jpg
http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/technology/future_tense/2015/02/140212_FT_Megadrought_04.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wwZTpZP7BF4/TLPrF5XI0MI/AAAAAAAAGWo/9sVHpMreXDo/s1600/IMG_2535.JPG
apneaman on Thu, 7th May 2015 8:56 pm
Nony will be commandant of FEMA camp South East – Colonel Klink and his alter ego marm will be Sergeant Schultz. Sergeant Schultz – poster boy of denial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34ag4nkSh7Q
apneaman on Thu, 7th May 2015 8:59 pm
Military Could Step in Over Brazil Drought Chaos
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Military-Could-Step-in-Over-Brazil-Drought-Chaos-20150506-0040.html
BobInget on Thu, 7th May 2015 9:03 pm
Fuss all you like about teenagers taking 30 minute
showers. All that water could and will someday be recycle
Agriculture, including ranching, dairy, uses 80% of California’s allocated water.
Davy on Thu, 7th May 2015 9:05 pm
Perk, amazing pics, man, scary! It would not be so bad if the population in California was near what it was in 1900. Good luck friend. You are doom and prep motivated so maybe you can take steps to adjust and adapt while others must leave because they have no clue how to adapt.
Davy on Thu, 7th May 2015 9:08 pm
Ape Man try this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34ag4nkSh7Q
BobInget on Thu, 7th May 2015 9:17 pm
The drought in the Brazilian metropolis of Sao Paulo has become so severe that local authorities are considering bringing in military personnel to cope with the possible social chaos.
This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Military-Could-Step-in-Over-Brazil-Drought-Chaos-20150506-0040.html. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. http://www.teleSURtv.net/english
That’s rich. No army can control 11 million dirty, thirsty people.
So many questions. Where will Brazil feed and house, let alone provide water for eleven million?
How much EXTRA water does an occupational army need ?
Ever big water stressed city needs to repair leaky water mains, for starters.
Recycle ALL waste water for agriculture and fire fighting.
Build pipelines, solar and wind power desal plants yesterday.
Act locally. Divert your gray water for garden use.
Perk Earl on Thu, 7th May 2015 9:21 pm
Thanks for the pep talk, Davy. Where there’s a will there’s a way!
Northwest Resident on Thu, 7th May 2015 10:48 pm
Perk — I know people in California who already had to bail out of their property due to inconsistent water access. That was several years ago when their 800 foot well went dry. I imagine a lot of people are going to be in dire straights if things keep getting worse in California. And not just Californians either.
JuanP on Fri, 8th May 2015 9:36 am
I will continue taking 30 minute showers until I can’t since I don’t see the point in trying to save water when I am surrounded by retards that don’t. I gave up trying to save the world decades ago when I realized it made no frigging difference.
On the other hand, this week I am spending some of my time and money in upgrading the hoses and sprinklers over at my city’s community gardens because I can’t suffer the waste of water there any longer. I am fixing every leak I found in the gardens, almost 100. I tried to get the city to buy the parts since it was in their best interest because they are the ones that pay the water bills but they just ignored me. RETARDS! They probably pay more money every month in wasted water than it will cost to fix the systems, but those bureacrats are full of shait and can’t think straight. My fellow gardeners are equally stupid and waste unbelievable amounts of water. People driving by probably think that is a water park because there’s water flying all over the frigging places all the time.
California and Sao Paulo are royally screwed if they don’t get rain, they will be forced to save water. Such a drastic thing as forcing imbeciles to save water is very likely to lead to riots and whatnot. Most people seem to think that wasting unlimited amounts of water is their God given right or human right or something.
I will repeat myself once more for emphasis, they are all a bunch of RETARDS and, IMHO, they deserve what’s coming. This kind of shait makes me sick.
JuanP on Fri, 8th May 2015 9:38 am
I will clarify that I am only fixing those hoses because I don’t want the city to shut the water off and close the gardens. I am doing this for purely selfish reasons.
American Idiot on Fri, 8th May 2015 10:30 am
This is like some bad sci-fi novel.