Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Tuesday July 20 2021, @11:41AM   Printer-friendly
from the Dam-it! dept.

Drought Threatens to Close California Hydropower Plant for First Time:

A California power plant likely will shut down for the first time ever because of low water during a prolonged drought, squeezing the state's very tight electricity supplies, state officials said yesterday.

The Edward Hyatt power plant, an underground facility next to Oroville Dam in Butte County, is expected to close in August or September, said John Yarbrough, California Department of Water Resources assistant deputy director of the State Water Project. The plant has run continuously since opening in 1967. It receives water from Lake Oroville, and that reservoir has dropped because of the drought, as CNN previously reported.

[...] In addition, "high heat events in California and the rest of the West have begun earlier than usual and have exceeded historic temperature levels," the California Energy Commission and California Public Utilities Commission leaders said in a July 1 letter to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the grid manager.

The state's power system expects to lose about 1,000 megawatts of power generation as a result. While that's a fraction of a system with daily peak demand of 44,000 MW, supplies already are tight, said Lindsay Buckley, a California Energy Commission spokesperson.

"Based on our May projections, we really didn't have 1,000 megawatts to lose," Buckley said in an interview.

[...] The loss of generation at the Hyatt plant would occur if the lake levels fall to around 630-640 feet of elevation, due to lack of water to turn the plant's hydropower turbines, said Yarbrough with the California DWR.

Lake Oroville is currently at 666 feet of elevation with 1.015 million acre-feet of water storage, which is 29% of its total capacity and 37% of its historical average. Over the last week, the reservoir has decreased from 673 to 666 feet, he said.

Hyatt is designed to produce up to 750 MW of power but typically produces between 100 and 400 MW, depending on lake levels, Buckley said. The state DWR expects the plant this year to generate about 20% of what it generated last year.

[...] Environmental laws restrict how much water can be released from the system into reservoirs. Water releases to the Feather River are required for water supply, environmental and fishery needs; for health and safety; and to prevent salinity intrusion, Yarbrough said.

Oroville–Thermalito_Complex entry on Wikipedia.


Original Submission

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
(1)
  • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @01:00PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @01:00PM (#1158236)

    Who's up for a game of cowboys and Indians?

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:00PM (1 child)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:00PM (#1158271) Journal

      You mean cowboys and Native Americans.

      It's not the Native Americans' fault that some European didn't know where he was when he mistakenly thought he had gone around the world but had actually only gone less than half way around.

      He should have used GPS.

      Wars WILL be fought over water. Even without Native Americans being involved. You can watch privileged white people fight other privileged white people because their lawn MUST be watered!

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:52PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:52PM (#1158341)

        No, you brain washed race traitor, Mongoloid hunter gatherers are not any more native than the Columbus wave of Europeans and in many areas had probably exterminated (or bred out) small civilizations of Whites before the Europeans did it to them later.

  • (Score: 1, Funny) by PiMuNu on Tuesday July 20 2021, @01:06PM

    by PiMuNu (3823) on Tuesday July 20 2021, @01:06PM (#1158237)

    > high heat events ... have begun earlier than usual

    Unbiased version:

    low heat events have ended less late

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @01:15PM (18 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @01:15PM (#1158239)

    I have spoken of the rich years when the rainfall was plentiful. But there were dry years too, and they put a terror on the valley. The water came in a thirty-year cycle. There would be five or six wet and wonderful years when there might be nineteen to twenty-five inches of rain, and the land would shout with grass. Then would come six or seven pretty good years of twelve to sixteen inches of rain. And then the dry years would come, and sometimes there would be only seven or eight inches of rain. The land dried up and the grasses headed out miserably a few inches high and great bare scabby places appeared in the valley. The live oaks got a crusty look and the sagebrush was gray. The land cracked and the springs dried up and the cattle listlessly nibbled dry twigs. Then the farmers and the ranchers would be filled with disgust for the Salinas Valley. The cows would grow thin and sometimes starve to death. People would have to haul water in barrels to their farms just for drinking. Some families would sell out for nearly nothing and move away. And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way.

    - John Steinbeck, East of Eden, 1952

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by PiMuNu on Tuesday July 20 2021, @01:41PM (15 children)

      by PiMuNu (3823) on Tuesday July 20 2021, @01:41PM (#1158244)

      Nice quote and data supports that this is a year-to-year oscillation:

      http://oroville.lakesonline.com/Level/ [lakesonline.com]

      (Compare 2021 with e.g. 2019, when it was "full" i.e. 900 ft)

      • (Score: 5, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday July 20 2021, @02:15PM (12 children)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @02:15PM (#1158253) Journal

        Except that now maybe it empties quicker than before? 'Cause, you know, moar water drinkers and toilet flushers and lawn waterers and irrigation [google.com] and all that?

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @02:37PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @02:37PM (#1158265)

          Not really different. Steinbeck's Okies are today's H1Bs... vermin spoiling an otherwise idyllic state.

          • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:11PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:11PM (#1158276)

            Meh, another A/C colonic irrigation bag.

            Let me point to you those H1Bs are less environmental vandals than the whitey 'murikan borns, they don't need water when they shit.

        • (Score: 2) by slinches on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:29PM (8 children)

          by slinches (5049) on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:29PM (#1158282)

          It wouldn't, if they built more base electric generation capacity and reservoirs. But those things harm the environment, so they stopped building that infrastructure in California. Yet they continued to pave over more and more land for sprawling cities.

          California made their own problems.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:45PM (7 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:45PM (#1158315)

            Urban sprawl is completely unique to CA, you're right.

            • (Score: 4, Insightful) by slinches on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:11PM (6 children)

              by slinches (5049) on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:11PM (#1158356)

              Urban sprawl is not unique. However, CA leads the pack in terms of the lack of water and power infrastructure development to go alongside the sprawl.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:14AM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:14AM (#1158572)

                Because libs, you're right.

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:40AM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:40AM (#1158585)

                  The example of Texas shows you to be a partisan fuckwit xoxo

              • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday July 21 2021, @08:13AM (3 children)

                by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Wednesday July 21 2021, @08:13AM (#1158697) Homepage
                Haven't we had *2* (energy) infrastructure-related disaster stories from Texas already this year? Why are you singling out Cali to criticise?
                --
                Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
                • (Score: 2) by slinches on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:06PM (2 children)

                  by slinches (5049) on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:06PM (#1158747)

                  Because the subject of the article and discussion is the problems in California. But yes, Texas has its own unique issues as well.

                  • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday July 22 2021, @07:38AM (1 child)

                    by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Thursday July 22 2021, @07:38AM (#1159066) Homepage
                    Scroll up. Notice "CA leads the pack"? The singling out that I focussed on above. There's a reason why I focussed on it, it's because it's important. With the introduction of that phrase, the discussion has been drawn towards the comparison of CA against other states, so no, the discussion is *not* "the problems in California" any longer.
                    --
                    Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
                    • (Score: 2) by slinches on Thursday July 22 2021, @03:20PM

                      by slinches (5049) on Thursday July 22 2021, @03:20PM (#1159131)

                      If you want to use that as an opening to harp on Texas for their issues, go for it. That still doesn't make the statement wrong.

        • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:44AM

          by Reziac (2489) on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:44AM (#1158588) Homepage

          And more water being flushed out to the ocean, cuz of the supremacy of bait fish.

          --
          And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @02:48PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @02:48PM (#1158269)

        This event is exceptional, never happening in over half a century

        will shut down for the first time ever
        ...
        The plant has run continuously since opening in 1967

        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:31PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:31PM (#1158310)

          54 years. The West has had some pretty severe droughts in cycles that occur over longer timespans than that. Some people just don't know how much drought is an essential part of the West. The arid West is not, generally speaking, a dependable climate. You must be prepared to outlast the bad times.

    • (Score: 5, Informative) by Sourcery42 on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:41PM (1 child)

      by Sourcery42 (6400) on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:41PM (#1158314)

      Interesting quote and a fine point. I've read some articles in the past that suggest that it wasn't indeed always this way. For the last 150 years California's climate may have been unusually wet; wetter than the last 2000 years anyway. Paleoclimatologists suggest that what we're calling a drought might be more of a return to a more normal pattern for the region. I can't find any references to it other than this one at the moment https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=13274. [ucanr.edu]

      I'm reminded of a Sam Kinison bit, "YOU LIVE IN A DESERT!! UNDERSTAND THAT? YOU LIVE IN A FUCKING DESERT!!" That's a little extreme for most of California, it's not all Mojave, but a lot of it is a coastal steppe at best. Climate change aside, history alone tells us that 40 million people might be a little much for the region to sustain.

      • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:17AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:17AM (#1158574)

        Ok genius, so how many does "history tell us" it can sustain. Aren't you just full of bullshit.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @02:31PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @02:31PM (#1158260)

    As long as the trains are running, it keeps on putting out power.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by DannyB on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:03PM (1 child)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:03PM (#1158273) Journal

      Clean coal will provide immediate power while worsening the situation.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:19AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:19AM (#1158576)

        And creating jobs for voters in mmmh months time. Why. Do. You. Hate. America. Sir.

  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @02:34PM (10 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @02:34PM (#1158261)

    As long as the nitwit hippies don't close it down, it keeps on putting out power.

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:07PM (8 children)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:07PM (#1158274) Journal

      One problem with nuclear, even the best and safest tech, is what to do with the spent fuel.

      We could bury it. But some people won't allow this. It seems the best solution. (Or speak up if you know one better.)

      That is the only thing holding back modern nuclear. We could also build some large solar farms in the southwest.

      Oh, I know! Send the spent nuclear fuel to Nuclear Disposal Areas on the far side of the moon!

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 2, Informative) by khallow on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:30PM (7 children)

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:30PM (#1158283) Journal

        We could bury it. But some people won't allow this. It seems the best solution. (Or speak up if you know one better.)

        Recycle it.

        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:38PM (5 children)

          by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:38PM (#1158286) Journal

          Care to provide any details?

          --
          People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
          • (Score: 5, Informative) by turgid on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:04PM (2 children)

            by turgid (4318) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:04PM (#1158298) Journal

            There are a few things you can do with high-level nuclear waste, particularly plutonium. Since it's fissile, you can use it to enrich natural or depleted uranium for use in conventional nuclear reactors, effectively taking the place of the U-235. This has the advantage of consuming the plutonium and turning it into less unpleasant fission products. In the UK we developed some nuclear fuels based on this principle.

            Plutonium can also be used as the fuel in a fast reactor, where the chain reaction runs on fast neutrons alone. We built and operated a couple of those in the UK too.

            I'm sure there are other things you could do with nuclear waste to use it up and to generate more power. Someone who's still in the industry might be able to tell you.

            • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:15PM

              by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:15PM (#1158300) Journal

              Thank you

              --
              People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
            • (Score: 2) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:20PM

              by Beryllium Sphere (r) (5062) on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:20PM (#1158303)

              Not only that, it's better than a gold mine. It's a rhodium mine. $18,000 per ounce, more than commercial quantities, and usable after a cooling-off period the oldest spent fuel has already reached.

          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:16PM

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:16PM (#1158409) Journal
            In addition to turgid's reply, there's a convenient gap in half life between the isotopes that can be used in a reactor and the shorter lived fission products. The latter has half lives of under a century.

            So, for example, one could take a used fuel rod, let it sit for about a year to allow for the really short lived stuff to decay, then chemically extract the remaining fuel and put it back in fuel rods. The decades to centuries long isotopes can then be buried or used and you're back in business.
          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:42PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:42PM (#1158429)

            >> Care to provide any details?

            Put it in barrels, ship it overseas... same way we recycle plastics.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:19AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:19AM (#1158578)

          Yeah, they should bury it under the highways and runways up north to keep the snow off

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by Tork on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:58PM

      by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:58PM (#1158294)

      As long as the nitwit hippies don't close it down, it keeps on putting out power.

      So long as those in charge of the plant don't have an incentive to cut corners, like because they want a new addition to their house or something.

      --
      🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
  • (Score: 2) by MIRV888 on Tuesday July 20 2021, @02:59PM (3 children)

    by MIRV888 (11376) on Tuesday July 20 2021, @02:59PM (#1158270)

    She's good to go.
    ;-)

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:09PM (1 child)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:09PM (#1158275) Journal

      It won't stay above the intakes.

      It will fall below the intakes.

      It will fall below intakes even more quickfully if the intakes are active.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 2) by MIRV888 on Wednesday July 21 2021, @11:01AM

        by MIRV888 (11376) on Wednesday July 21 2021, @11:01AM (#1158712)

        That's the joke.

    • (Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday July 21 2021, @01:15PM

      by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday July 21 2021, @01:15PM (#1158734)

      Also don't forget max outlet temperature.

      The plant will be pretty happy with a trickle of 75C water coming out the heat exchanger but the EPA will shit a brick.

      Also note that low water conditions usually come with high air temps and high water temps so they're already limited.

      Then again the ocean is an infinite heatsink but has its own problems as the Japanese discovered.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:13PM (25 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:13PM (#1158277) Journal

    Without water, without electrical power as we have known it, can South West states remain inhabitable?

    I mean large scale inhabitable with a 20th century style of life.

    It seems without power, one of the first things that goes is probably automobiles (fuel pumping). Air conditioning. Internet.

    Without water, if there is any at all it would be carefully rationed. (OMG, a government plot to take away my rights!)

    This seems unthinkable. But could it happen?

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by khallow on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:40PM (21 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:40PM (#1158288) Journal

      Without water, if there is any at all it would be carefully rationed. (OMG, a government plot to take away my rights!)

      I wouldn't call it a plot. Rather emergent phenomena of bad governance.

      Without water, without electrical power as we have known it, can South West states remain inhabitable?

      Of course not. The solution is to just not run out. Humanity is really good at that sort of logistics.

      And let us note that the Southwest state with that problem is California. And that's because they're idiots. My take is that the disease is the cure. Sure, you'll have a few idiots swearing that California is just resting. But it'll be a great example of what happens when one doesn't have the right priorities for their civilization.

      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by DannyB on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:19PM (15 children)

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:19PM (#1158301) Journal

        California has it's bad governance problems, and its consequences.

        Just as Texas did last winter.

        Global warming and bad governance are happening on a larger scale. And there will be larger scale consequences.

        Or do you think bad governance and its consequences happens only in California?

        --
        People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
        • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:53PM (4 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:53PM (#1158318)

          Giving $4B to the welfare states annually is pretty bad.

          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:29PM (3 children)

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:29PM (#1158418) Journal
            How much of that $4 billion ends up in the pockets of California businesses? I bet a lot of database and IT work ended up in the pockets of Silicon Valley, for example. The ROI on giving money to red states might not be so good these days, but that's California's fault.
            • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:45PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:45PM (#1158431)
              "Those Shelbyville kids think they're so hot, but you know what? They're not."
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:44PM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:44PM (#1158750)

              lol CA loses again. I guess it cant do anything right, amirite?

              • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday August 01 2021, @03:21AM

                by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday August 01 2021, @03:21AM (#1161860) Journal
                Missed this one.

                lol CA loses again. I guess it cant do anything right, amirite?

                So when is the last time California did something right with respect to what's been brought up in this thread?

        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:41PM (7 children)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:41PM (#1158336) Journal

          California has it's bad governance problems, and its consequences.

          Just as Texas did last winter.

          The difference are those consequences. Texas is on track to bypass California as the largest state by population in 20 years.

          Global warming and bad governance are happening on a larger scale. And there will be larger scale consequences.

          Funny how most of the consequences of global warming show up in the regions with bad governance.

          • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:04PM (2 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:04PM (#1158353)
            > Funny how most of the consequences of global warming show up in the regions with bad governance.

            Not that many people are willing to trust Republicans with large cities. Ask Miami residents how they feel right now.
            • (Score: 0, Troll) by khallow on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:17PM (1 child)

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:17PM (#1158358) Journal

              Not that many people are willing to trust Republicans with large cities. Ask Miami residents how they feel right now.

              Ok. Miami residents, how do you feel right now?

              • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:46PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:46PM (#1158752)

                I want gay sex and free abortions and druuuuugs. How about you?

          • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:20PM (3 children)

            by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:20PM (#1158359) Journal

            Funny how most of the consequences of global warming show up in the regions with bad governance.

            <sarcasm>
            I'm sure you won't be affected at all by any of these things that are happening. Consequences of bad governance of both blue and red states, as well as the nation, stay confined strictly within the borders of those jurisdictions.
            </sarcasm>

            --
            People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:32PM (2 children)

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:32PM (#1158421) Journal

              I'm sure you won't be affected at all by any of these things that are happening.

              I'm already being affected. I'm in the lower part of the higher latitude region where global warming presently is the most pronounced.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @09:17PM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @09:17PM (#1158443)

                Funny how most of the consequences of global warming show up in the regions with bad governance. ... I'm already being affected. I'm in the lower part of the higher latitude region where global warming presently is the most pronounced.

                ... ummm.... Wyoming and Montana are red states.

        • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:56PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:56PM (#1158345)

          "Just as Texas did last winter."

          Wrong again, fucktard. The whores in gov gave the power over power generation to out of state Jews. It's the Jews. It's always the Jews.

          • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday July 21 2021, @09:06PM

            by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday July 21 2021, @09:06PM (#1158910) Journal

            And you wouldn't call that bad governance?

            --
            People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:28PM (4 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:28PM (#1158308)

        And let us note that the Southwest state with that problem is California. And that's because they're idiots. My take is that the disease is the cure. Sure, you'll have a few idiots swearing that California is just resting. But it'll be a great example of what happens when one doesn't have the right priorities for their civilization.

        Ever notice the inverse correlation between California's good reputation and the average number of teeth people have?

        • (Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:33PM (1 child)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:33PM (#1158422) Journal

          Ever notice the inverse correlation between California's good reputation and the average number of teeth people have?

          Nope. And neither have you. A lot of people with a full set of teeth have been leaving California.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:49PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:49PM (#1158432)
            I neglected to mention the literacy rate, too. ;)
        • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:50AM (1 child)

          by Reziac (2489) on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:50AM (#1158590) Homepage

          Indeed... I saw far more people with "meth mouth" in California.

          --
          And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:50PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:50PM (#1158756)

            Zinger! CA loses again.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by slinches on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:40PM

      by slinches (5049) on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:40PM (#1158289)

      No, but there will be some population shifts if we can't get our act together and build out the infrastructure necessary to supply those things.

      Across most of the southwest US, it's been fairly well managed, but we are starting to see a need for another major round of investment to secure power and water infrastructure for future decades. Southern California in particular under-projected their growth and didn't adjust and are now beginning to feel the consequences of that.

    • (Score: 2) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:28PM (1 child)

      by Beryllium Sphere (r) (5062) on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:28PM (#1158309)

      There's more than one way to generate electricity, but the region has always been defined by scarce water. Putting population centers in it was always a gamble at best and led to thoroughly nasty conflicts over water use.

      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday July 21 2021, @08:35AM

        by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Wednesday July 21 2021, @08:35AM (#1158698) Homepage
        > the region has always been defined by scarce water

        Which is precisely why the Okies avoided it in droves 100 years ago.

        Waaaat!??!!?
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:21PM (4 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:21PM (#1158279) Journal

    Has anyone seen California is Sinking [youtube.com]?

    Farmers, but also everyone else pumping water from underground. Land sinks lower because water table goes down. Over time sidewalks crack. Roads crack. It's getting worse.

    Even if this hydro power plant shuts down, California could pump out even more underground water, and burn clean coal to solve all its problems.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:56PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:56PM (#1158319)

      Bah those crazy libs! Oh, it's the rural conservative counties? nvm

    • (Score: 1) by BeaverCleaver on Wednesday July 21 2021, @11:48PM (2 children)

      by BeaverCleaver (5841) on Wednesday July 21 2021, @11:48PM (#1158964)

      "clean coal" is no such thing. Even if we ignore the CO2, there's loads of radioactive mercury, loads of sulfur, hell, even the fly ash is an encironmental hazard. Search for "fly ash spill."

      • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday July 22 2021, @02:13PM (1 child)

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 22 2021, @02:13PM (#1159118) Journal

        Clean coal is one of the most oxymoronic phrases I've ever heard. From the great orange deer leader and venison overlord.

        I assumed that anyone seeing it would realize I do not intend to imply that coal is or ever can be clean.

        I was hoping it was obvious that this statement . . .

        California could pump out even more underground water, and burn clean coal to solve all its problems.

        . . . would be recognized as obviously sarcastic.

        But Poe's Law.

        Obviously pumping out even more underground water simply makes the problem worse. And of course, we know 'clean' coal makes things worse.

        --
        People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
        • (Score: 1) by BeaverCleaver on Monday July 26 2021, @12:06PM

          by BeaverCleaver (5841) on Monday July 26 2021, @12:06PM (#1159982)

          OK, you got me :-)

          The Australian government seems to believe in clean coal though, and I don't think they are joking. Poe's law indeed!

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by choose another one on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:56PM (1 child)

    by choose another one (515) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:56PM (#1158293)

    Seems to be (same name) same dam that had way too much water behind it not that long ago and spillway failures caused all sorts of problems and nearly took out the dam ?

    If it is, maybe they've been generally keeping the water levels much lower to prevent a repeat, and when you do that and then get a dry spell, guess what happens...

    Anyone know?

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday July 21 2021, @04:30AM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday July 21 2021, @04:30AM (#1158632) Journal
      Yes, it was [wikipedia.org]. It appears that the dam was repaired by 2019 or so. But they might be treating it more carefully than before the damage to the dam.

      In February 2017, Oroville Dam's main and emergency spillways were damaged, prompting the evacuation of more than 180,000 people living downstream along the Feather River and the relocation of a fish hatchery.

      Heavy rainfall during the 2017 California floods damaged the main spillway on February 7, so the California Department of Water Resources stopped the spillway flow to assess the damage and contemplate its next steps. The rain eventually raised the lake level until it flowed over the emergency spillway, even after the damaged main spillway was reopened. As water flowed over the emergency spillway, headward erosion threatened to undermine and collapse the concrete weir, which could have sent a 30-foot (10 m) wall of water into the Feather River below and flooded communities downstream. No collapse occurred, but the water further damaged the main spillway and eroded the bare slope of the emergency spillway. Many schools closed due to the floods.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:25PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:25PM (#1158307)

    let's hope that cali elec grid doesn't require hydro for "black starts".

    wikipedia knows the correct details, but basically most power plants are just "augmentation devices" that is they have to be feed electricity (to start) which they then augment.
    the "black start" powerplants (like hydro) have the capability to self-start and provide the needed "kick" and a solid "60 Hz heartbeat" to start the other powerplants.
    -
    anyways, overbuild day-time (funny that one) solar and use excess to pump up water. find a good location. (if you need a certain "waste flow" for a river, say X, you can stil dump 10 x down the hill and pump 9 x back up)
    sadly, the plain "water dropping" style of energy harvesting is very sad in numbers. 1 kg up (or down) 1 meter is a miserly 9.98 watt. many kg's and m's are needed.
    zer0-grade gravity energy is weak :( at least it's recyclable :)

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:23PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:23PM (#1158330)

      sheesh, i am an outcast. i get it. nobody even corrects me anymore :(
      so fix it myself:
      drop 1 kilo (of water) continuously one meter for one hour and you dropped 3.6 tons of water for a measly 9.98 Wh (whatthour).
      also i just came to realize what a sad bunch humans are; after more then 2000 years of"working together" there really still is nothing that is free ...

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:54PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:54PM (#1158376)

        Might help if you didn't post anonymously, I mean so am I, but then I don't complain about being ignored

        • (Score: 1, Redundant) by FatPhil on Wednesday July 21 2021, @09:01AM (1 child)

          by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Wednesday July 21 2021, @09:01AM (#1158701) Homepage
          Also, better presentation would help. Capital letters at the start of each sentence, and a more recognisable logical paragraph structure, for example.

          Look like a loon, get ignored like a loon. Demonstrate you care about the delivery of your message, and your message will get treated with equal respect by those who read it.
          --
          Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
          • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:53PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:53PM (#1158757)

            Straighten up, fly right, get a job and bitch properly using talking points.

  • (Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:02PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:02PM (#1158323)

    As I type this, it is drizzling in Seattle after a solid 36 days of no measurable rainfall. Ironically, the roofers were scheduled to show up this morning to re-shingle my roof. The project is now delayed. The rain was not in the forecast yesterday, nor any for the coming week. Go figure.

    If you need rain in your area, maybe schedule some roof repair.

    --
    Rain on your wedding day, however, was never ironic.

    • (Score: 2) by turgid on Tuesday July 20 2021, @07:00PM (5 children)

      by turgid (4318) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @07:00PM (#1158380) Journal

      Hanging out washing usually does the trick too. Or lighting the barbecue.

      • (Score: 3, Touché) by Fnord666 on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:02PM

        by Fnord666 (652) on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:02PM (#1158400) Homepage

        Hanging out washing usually does the trick too. Or lighting the barbecue.

        I find that all of the above work well unless you do them for the purpose of causing it to rain, in which case it doesn't.

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by Tork on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:55PM (2 children)

        by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:55PM (#1158435)
        I can make taxis appear by lighting a cigarette.
        --
        🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:56PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:56PM (#1158759)

          I can make droughts by burning millions of years of buried carbon in 50 years. Oops, nobody could have forseen that. Ah well too late, might as well carry on.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 22 2021, @10:15PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 22 2021, @10:15PM (#1159260)

            Really? Where I live it's all been massive rain storms. Maybe I need to burn some anti-carbon.

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by Reziac on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:52AM

        by Reziac (2489) on Wednesday July 21 2021, @02:52AM (#1158592) Homepage

        When I was a kid, the guaranteed way to get a downpour was to load up the boat to go spend a day on the lake.

        --
        And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(1)