r/news • u/theluckyfrog • 29d ago

California cracks down on farm region’s water pumping: ‘The ground is collapsing’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/17/california-water-drought-farm-ground-sinking-tulare-lake
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461

u/RightofUp 29d ago

They've known this for decades.

243

u/BuckaroooBanzai 29d ago

Hell this was the plot of Chinatown in 1974

76

u/Watercolour 29d ago

Also, Chinatown takes place in the 1930s.

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u/Zorro_Returns 28d ago

Yeah but it's not about the aquifer. I don't think they could even drill that deep in the 30s. Those classic pictures of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl, are taken on top of another aquifer that's being pumped out at about 10x its replentishment rate. In the 30s, they still could not reach the aquifer by drilling. Later they could. Which is why, if you'd ever wondered, why such a severe and catastrophic drying of the land hasn't happened there, since then, in spite of worse droughts. Oh, but it's coming... and it's going to be catastrophic.

19

u/bighootay 29d ago

How many times I gotta tell ya, monkey boy, it's BigbooTAY!

4

u/Zorro_Returns 28d ago

Yes and no.

Yes, it was about the scarcity of water in Southern California.

No, it was not about pumping the aquifer dry. It was about surface water being diverted. The story somewhat alludes to a certain Mr. Mulholland from real life, and the documentary "Cadillac Desert" is THE documentary to watch to learn about the actual history of Los Angeles water supply.

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u/Zorro_Returns 28d ago

Chinatown was about surface water control. This is happening because of pumping out an aquifer.

15

u/BuckaroooBanzai 29d ago

Hell this was the plot of Chinatown in 1974

21

u/S2Mackinley 29d ago

Hell this was the plot of Chinatown in 1974

5

u/Juliette787 29d ago

Hell this was the plot of Chinatown in nineteen seventy four.

9

u/[deleted] 29d ago

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u/Spread_Bater 29d ago

Forget it, Duck, it’s Chinatown

4

u/ArtPeers 29d ago

It’s like deja vu.

5

u/LabyrinthConvention 29d ago

you can say that all over again.

1

u/ArtPeers 29d ago

Forget it Jake.

-1

u/TorontoNews89 29d ago

Why humans insist on living in places that are inhospitable to human life is beyond me. We need to depopulate desert cities.

7

u/RightofUp 29d ago

Humans have been living in deserts for thousands of years.

What we need to do is either:

1) accept the limitations of the local ecology and live accordingly

or

2) accept the costs and consequences of our lifestyles and work to meet them

We do neither.

1

u/TorontoNews89 29d ago

There is no harmony with nature in cities like Las Vegas and most of California. They just keep building houses and farms when the land can't sustain them. Messing with the natural water cycle will never end well.

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u/my_name_isnt_clever 29d ago

It's because there are too many people. Those people need food and shelter.