I mentioned Allan Jones, MBE in an earlier post. I thought I'd expand on him, who I met this last year at UCLA at a conference. The reason is, that there is a tendency to think that there is no way to change anything, and throw up one's hands in frustration. Also, that there is no solution to anything that does not cost a billion dollars for marginal returns. Allan Jones was knighted forby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteplawrence QuoteKen M Why is LV in trouble? Or maybe they're in trouble because they're trying to build a gigantic oasis in the middle of a desert with excessive amount of golf courses and other high water users. (By the way, can't their water pipes be extended downward, deeper into Lake Mead? It's not like this lack of rain affecting the Colorado River watershed happened within a oby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
So you are saying throw LV over the side of the boat? My point is that once water goes past a point, it is no longer available to that point. That can happen for a lot of reasons, and one of the reasons is electric generation. which was the point of my original statement. If Hoover dam did not have to generate electricity, the lake would be full, and all the users of downstream water would bby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
The problem you don't understand, Dave, is that we are not one great big family, we are divided into discrete political units. Those discrete political units have legal rights established through law. So you may have access to water from the Colo R. But once it is downstream of your intake pipes, like Las Vegas, it doesn't do you any good. Why is LV in trouble? They have three intakeby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on Mr. Ken, thanks for the discussion and the insights and docs about trail building. The work above begs the question(s) (well... from me) ... why are we building trails for stock? Why do we spend so much time and energy making a trail suitable for stock? Why do we need to have stock in the backcountry? Are pack outfitters doing way too much damage? I think without questiby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteparklover I am skeptical about that amount also. Sure, as you said, there is some lost when the water is used to make steam but how much can that possible be. The water from hydroelectricity plants that don't use steam goes back in to the source it came from. I am sure that some of it is lost during the process but what is left is a large percentage. Example :Water used to produce electrby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteDave QuoteKen M.....But also consider: "Lastly, the largest single use of water in the United States is by electrical power plants. By making a home more energy efficient, California home builders are indirectly helping to reduce nationwide water consumption" I am highly skeptical of that claim. Is the water unusable for anything else after it goes through a turbine? The plantsby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteeeek But still they are whining at us to turn the water off while brushing our teeth. Point of that, is that is a total waste of potable water. While the amount of water is probably not particularly significant in the big picture, it represents the mindlessness of much waste. Once one becomes more aware, then one tends to see more opportunities.by Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteparklover QuoteKen M Quoteparklover No. According to an article I read in the paper last week, S. CA reservoirs have enough water in them and the other water sources for another year. The drought is affecting water sources more in N. CA then in S. CA. However, S. CA is also being requested to reduce their water usage. Currently The DWP is not planning to make any changes in how they obtaiby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Good observation. The "preferred" final top surface of a trail is dirt, even when we've put in a deep layer of broken rock to provide excellent drainage so that the trail won't wash out, and that is generally what's done. However, there are a few exceptions, and you probably hit on one of them: we are supposed to be "naturalizing" the trail setting. If the setting is aby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Just to give people an idea of what can, and is done by experts, here is a project done by a couple of my mentors: https://www.wilderness.net/toolboxes/documents/tools/trail_work_H-T_dolly.pdfby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Great discussion. Chick, it is difficult to evalauate a trail job from a photo, perhaps from the wrong angle. Rockwork is very difficult and time consuming. Why a crew would put in steps is sometimes difficult to fathom. You really have to understand the dynamics of what is going on, particularly with water, at that point. Also something that hikers frequently miss, is that many trails areby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Royalist, The LADWP is constrained by Court Order. It sort of doesn't matter what they want to do, they are limited in what they can take, by law. So no, LADWP has no plans or contingencies to take more water from the LA Aqueduct. If I missed a context, its because Parklover did not post the link to the article he was speaking ofby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
The whole concept of capturing rainwater is a great one. This short video shows one way, that a real visionary in Tuscon has achieved, where his examples have changed what the city does in a major way: "Free Water" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aQrZtG-LVg Here are some great books on the subject: http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/by Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteparklover No. According to an article I read in the paper last week, S. CA reservoirs have enough water in them and the other water sources for another year. The drought is affecting water sources more in N. CA then in S. CA. However, S. CA is also being requested to reduce their water usage. Currently The DWP is not planning to make any changes in how they obtain water. this is totallyby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
eeek is correct. The Los Angeles Aqueduct is the two channels from the Owens valley, and that is totally gravity fed. However, the one I'm talking about, the California Aqueduct, brings water from Sacramento (which is about 75 miles from the ocean, for desalination purposes) In the article you linked, Parklover, it says: "The State Water Project's California Aqueduct, which extendsby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Wow, some great discussion! The issue of chainsaws always generates discussion. The law that governs this is the Wilderness Act, which contains language that requires the "minimal tool" required for doing a job safely: "PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN USES (c) Except as specifically provided for in this Act, and subject to existing private rights, there shall be no commercial enterpby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
One problem with desal that is almost never mentioned, is that it done at sea level, unlike the water from snow, that comes down from the mountains. This means that it has to be pumped UPHILL, at the cost of enormous amounts of energy. For example, the water that is sent to southern cal has to be pumped over the Tehachipi Mts. That uses 10% of ALL the power used in the State. Imagine ifby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Fresno Bee: Why we are losing our trailsby Ken M - General Discussion
http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2014/01/24/why-californias-trails-are-disappearing-from-our-maps/ideas/nexus/by Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
This issue of groundwater overdraft, causing subsidence (lowering of the land) Here is a picture of the greatest lowering in the US: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gwsanjoaquin.jpg The sad thing about it, is that such lowering is PERMANENT, such that the capacity of the land to absorb and store water is lost for eternity.by Ken M - General Discussion
Dave, Although I live in LA, I have been a volunteer wilderness ranger on the Sierra NF for several years, and have led trail crews for the FS for over 10. I enjoy it a lot. I really like the idea of doing that kind of work, as well. I will look into it.by Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Dave, Thanks for the work you and the other lookouts do! It's a real service. I find it sobering that a number of lookouts in SoCal have burned down in the last decade!by Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
That is really beautiful and inspiring.by Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
There is a silver lining in the concept of a drought. Very often, it takes a crisis to produce a transformational change in what people do. In most of these "drought ravished cities", they have abundant water available that they don't take advantage of, because it was easier (although not cheaper) for larger public works structures to be built. For example, in many of these citby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
"It's not hard to figure out. Many of the law enforcement rangers in the Park are seasonal. Knowing that fact leads one righ to the answer, or at least what I assume is the answer; lack of LE to partrol the road." That doesn't quite make sense. Obviously, if the snow were there, there would be LE for the road, and that was budgeted, and the people already hired. In snow operationsby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Actually, LA is somewhat amazing, in this regard. LA has the lowest per capita water usage of any large city in America. In terms of total water usage, we use about the same amount as we used FORTY years ago, in spite of population increase. Water seems always to be in the news, so there is a high awareness of water issues. I see changes in what individuals do at their homes in neighborby Ken M - General Discussion
I find it somewhat surprising that the road would be closed due to LACK of snow! This continues my ongoing criticism of the Park Service for lack of communication on this, and other issues. There must be more to it, such as sequester financing requiring cuts in SOMETHING, and they decided to layoff the people that would have to be up this road if it were open, rather than have cuts in serviceby Ken M - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Dave, I understand your sentiment, it can be very discouraging at times. However, I detect a tone of change in the air, with respect to public perceptions such as yours, and even among politicians and managers. One major shift that I've detected is that when most water policy was first created, it was for the purpose of protecting people from water. Most don't know that drowning from floby Ken M - General Discussion
Published by Time Magazine: http://ideas.time.com/2013/10/11/how-los-angeles-can-become-water-independent/ As a nation, we dream of energy independence. But in Los Angeles, we wouldn’t dream of water independence. Our local groundwater resources, in this partial desert with Mediterranean weather, provide only 13 percent of what we need. State politics are now consumed with a proposal byby Ken M - General Discussion