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California’s Waterpocalypse: Not as Bad as it Seems? Worse?

Sometimes you have to question the motivation of media outlets that spread fear, sensationalism, and so much other extreme emotion-based responses from the masses.

It’s quite possible (read my subtle snarkiness here) that they are motivated by nothing more than “the bottom” line, click rates, metrics that will justify advertisement revenue, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, one such example of this could be the alarming “news” of the state of California and its pending “Waterpocalypse”.

I’ve seen clickbait posts which read “RIP California,” etc.

 

R.I.P. California (1850 – 2016). If California dies, what will you miss most? (Besides George Clooney)P.S. Tag your California loved ones to keep them aware of this serious drought issue.

Posted on Thursday, April 2, 2015

The post author was basing this on a blog post here that starts off saying:

Last week when NASA announced that California is on its death bed and has only 12 months of water left, the news hit like a punch to the gut. “Data from NASA satellites show that the total amount of water stored in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins — that is, all of the snow, river and reservoir water, water in soils and groundwater combined — was 34 million acre-feet below normal in 2014. That loss is nearly 1.5 times the capacity of Lake Mead, America’s largest reservoir,” writes Jay Famiglietti of NASA.

However, in an article in the Los Angeles Times, states:

In an interview Thursday, Famiglietti said he never claimed that California has only a year of total water supply left.

He explained that the state’s reservoirs have only about a one-year supply of water remaining. Reservoirs provide only a portion of the water used in California and are designed to store only a few years’ supply. But the online headline generated great interest. Famiglietti said it gave some the false impression that California is at risk of exhausting its water supplies.

The satellite data he cited, which measure a wide variety of water resources, show “we are way worse off this year than last year,” he said. “But we’re not going to run out of water in 2016,” because decades worth of groundwater remain.

While there are plenty of articles and posts from the media spelling the doom and gloom for California, why is information about possible solutions (already underway) not going viral? Here is some news about a desalinization plant in Carlsbad, CA to could be good news:

Meanwhile, here’s another viewpoint on desalinization that doesn’t view it favorably because of environmental concerns. The comments are interesting.

Make no mistake, there is a serious drought in California, and it warrants serious action and attention. But sensationalism in the media usually has one motivation, and it’s not for the betterment of mankind or the environment, is it?

Apparently, there are many things to consider, before we decide it’s all over for California:

What do you think? Are the environmental concerns enough to stop this method of providing fresh water to California? Is desalinization a good method of dealing with the water crisis? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.


Joshua Graham is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, winner of the International Book Award and Forward National Literature Award. His thrillers include DARKROOM, LATENT IMAGE and BEYOND JUSTICE, and TERMINUS. Graham's works have been characterized as thought-provoking page-turners.

Legal Notice: All information on this website and blog are from Mr. Graham's personal experience and insight and should not be viewed in any way, directly or inferred, as qualified professional advice.

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