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posted by cmn32480 on Sunday November 29 2015, @11:05PM   Printer-friendly
from the time-for-the-rain-dance dept.

The Guardian has an article on an unexpected effect of the Californian drought:

In some parts of the valley, the land is sinking at a rate of 2in (5cm) a month. About 1,200 square miles, roughly bounded by interstate 5 and state route 99, is collapsing into what scientists describe as a "cone of depression".

[...] The sinking is a consequence of farmers' desperate efforts to stay in business after California began cutting off their access to rivers and reservoirs because of the drought.

The farmers began a literal race to the bottom, going underground, drilling new and deeper wells, and pumping so much water from the layers of sediment, sand and clay that it is causing the ground to collapse.

If only Lex Luther had thought of this, he could have saved himself the trouble of stealing those nukes.


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  • (Score: 2) by opinionated_science on Monday November 30 2015, @12:16AM

    by opinionated_science (4031) on Monday November 30 2015, @12:16AM (#269550)

    for the superman reference. We don't have anywhere near enough Life imitating Art....!
    I guess I imply /s

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday November 30 2015, @05:07AM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 30 2015, @05:07AM (#269607) Journal

      If only Lex Luther had thought of this

      (you insensitive clod.... you mistake me for that king of yours, what's his name... ah, yes... Martin.)

      Name is Lex Luthor

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 2) by Jaruzel on Monday November 30 2015, @07:58AM

        by Jaruzel (812) on Monday November 30 2015, @07:58AM (#269630) Homepage Journal

        Typo on my part, Apologies. :)

        --
        This is my opinion, there are many others, but this one is mine.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2015, @12:38AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2015, @12:38AM (#269554)

    PBS Newshour [pbs.org]

  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday November 30 2015, @12:41AM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Monday November 30 2015, @12:41AM (#269556) Homepage Journal

    pesticides too I expect. It's not safe to drink, there are places in the San Joaquin Valley where one must drink bottled water.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by pinchy on Monday November 30 2015, @01:39AM

      by pinchy (777) on Monday November 30 2015, @01:39AM (#269561) Journal

      so long clean prehistoric water. every square inch of the planet has a touch of the homo sapien

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2015, @01:11AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2015, @01:11AM (#269559)

    Its pretty bad here. Hopefully this el nino (accent ommitted) helps things.

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by PinkyGigglebrain on Monday November 30 2015, @01:40AM

      by PinkyGigglebrain (4458) on Monday November 30 2015, @01:40AM (#269562)

      From what I've heard CA would need ~2.5 times its "normal" annual rainfall just to get back to what the reservoirs where at before the drought started.
       
      And even if it gets that it wont do anything about the subsidence from the aquifers collapsing. Pumping water back is not an option, the porous rock where the water was has been crushed without the water to help hold it up. There is nothing left for the water to go back into.

      --
      "Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2015, @01:59AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2015, @01:59AM (#269568)

        That's OK, it'll be a new great lake after el nino fills it up.

        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday November 30 2015, @04:59AM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 30 2015, @04:59AM (#269605) Journal

          That's OK, it'll be a new great lake after el nino fills it up.

          Buy as much commercial fishing licenses in Mojave Desert as you can now, they'll be expensive later.
          (grin.... no, scratch that... mwahahaha).

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 2) by istartedi on Tuesday December 01 2015, @12:08AM

          by istartedi (123) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @12:08AM (#269963) Journal

          You mean the lake will come back. [wikipedia.org]. OK, not the whole valley but a noteworthy bit of it used to be a lake. Also, the great flood in the 1960s was said to have turned the valley into temporary lake. History may look at the valley as North America's version of the Nile delta--a natural marsh, bottom-land with some sustainable agriculture destroyed by the desire to make it do things it couldn't do in the long run.

          --
          Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
      • (Score: 3, Informative) by Whoever on Monday November 30 2015, @03:12AM

        by Whoever (4524) on Monday November 30 2015, @03:12AM (#269579) Journal

        From what I've heard CA would need ~2.5 times its "normal" annual rainfall just to get back to what the reservoirs where at before the drought started.

        During the last really big El Nino winter ('97-'98), the nightly news was full of stories about how the reservoirs were over-full and the likely problems as the water levels increased. Rain (snow, really) levels of 1.5 times normal will suffice as long as the following winter is normal.

      • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Monday November 30 2015, @06:07AM

        by mhajicek (51) on Monday November 30 2015, @06:07AM (#269612)

        Water and Power:
        http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114614/ [imdb.com]

        --
        The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
    • (Score: 2) by davester666 on Monday November 30 2015, @08:52AM

      by davester666 (155) on Monday November 30 2015, @08:52AM (#269642)

      nope, California as an excellent system of canals to make sure rainwater quickly gets back to the Pacific Ocean...

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Monday November 30 2015, @01:43AM

    by hemocyanin (186) on Monday November 30 2015, @01:43AM (#269563) Journal

    Farming in the desert isn't infinitely sustainable. Who woulda thought?

    • (Score: 5, Informative) by PartTimeZombie on Monday November 30 2015, @01:56AM

      by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Monday November 30 2015, @01:56AM (#269567)
      Farm subsidies don't help. I found this [ewg.org] from 2009, which shows cotton and rice being subsidized in California. (PDF alert).

      The only reason anyone would grow low value crops like rice or cotton in a high wage area like California is sweet, sweet tax payer cash.

    • (Score: 1) by WalksOnDirt on Monday November 30 2015, @04:20AM

      by WalksOnDirt (5854) on Monday November 30 2015, @04:20AM (#269594) Journal

      The San Jaoquin valley isn't really a desert.

      • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Monday November 30 2015, @04:53AM

        by hemocyanin (186) on Monday November 30 2015, @04:53AM (#269603) Journal

        Fair enough, some of it isn't desert, some is grassland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Valley_%28California%29#Environment [wikipedia.org]

        But look at this satellite image [google.com] and take one guess which areas are irrigated and which are the natural brown of desert.

      • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2015, @02:17PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2015, @02:17PM (#269725)

        Quite a bit of California didn't used to be desert before the farmers came and started irrigating like the water supply was infinite. Also right over in Nevada is Las Vegas, which back when it was founded was known for it's natural springs before they dried up from overuse.

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday November 30 2015, @05:55PM

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 30 2015, @05:55PM (#269810) Journal

          Ditto with Arizona. Driving I-10 today, you would think Arizona was nothing but desert. It once had a rich mix of plant life. The farmer's plows took care of that. Bare soil can't resist erosion from either wind or water, and once the soil is gone, bare rock won't hold moisture.

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by coolgopher on Monday November 30 2015, @04:49AM

      by coolgopher (1157) on Monday November 30 2015, @04:49AM (#269600)

      If they could cry you a river, they wouldn't have these issues you know...

      • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2015, @09:38AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2015, @09:38AM (#269650)

        But that's saltwater

        • (Score: 4, Funny) by arulatas on Monday November 30 2015, @06:07PM

          by arulatas (3600) on Monday November 30 2015, @06:07PM (#269815)

          But tears have the electrolytes plants crave.

          --
          ----- 10 turns around