(Newswire.net — March 15, 2015) — A NASA scientist claims that California is running out of water due the driest period in history writes Jay Familglietti in a column for the LA Times. He wrote that according to NASA satellite data, the storage levels have hit their lowest since 2002.
“California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought like this one (let alone a 20-plus-year mega-drought), except, apparently, staying in emergency mode and praying for rain,” said Familglietti. “In short, we have no paddle to navigate this crisis.”
Since the launch in 2002, the NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellite (GRACE) is constantly recording the water level dropping in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins. According to the GRACE data, the basins were 11 trillion gallons (41.6 trillion liters) below normal seasonal levels.
According to data from the USGS website, Californians each use an average of 181 gallons of water each day and a total of around 2.5 trillion gallons a year.
In a column written for the LA Times, Familglietti urges Californians to take his claims seriously, and immediately begin to ration their water usage for domestic, municipal, agricultural and industrial uses.
Other solutions to rationing are desalination plants, like one in San Diego that is currently under construction. Reportedly, the San Diego desalination plant is largest ocean desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere.
This $1 billion dollar project will deliver 50 million gallons of drinking water a day and is scheduled to open in 2016. Additionally 15 other smaller plants are planned along the coastline from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Basin.
According to experts, there is a major setback. For getting 50 million gallons of fresh water, the San Diego plant requires more electricity than any other water source. In addition, in order to get 50 million gallons of drinking water it has to process 100 million gallons of seawater, which once returned to the ocean has double the saline level, which on a longer scale could seriously damage sea life.
The greatest concern, however, is the fear desalination plant could not be finished and operational in time.
“This plant can’t come online fast enough,” Bob Yamada, water resources manager at the San Diego County Water Authority, told the Sacramento Bee. The Authority serves 3.1 million people and is buying all of the plant’s freshwater production. “It’s drought-proof. That’s one of the most important attributes. It will be the most reliable water source we have,” he added.