[ RadSafe ] USA Drought

Thu Sep 17 13:05:13 CDT 2015

True, but in the Great Plains there are areas of "sand hills", which are ancient sand dunes that have been stabilized by grass.  There is speculation as to how long and how serious a drought would have to be to kill the grass, and start the dunes marching again.  Several people propose that a wide north/south band of land be withdrawn from agriculture and the original ecology be reestablished (as much as possible), and bison allowed to migrate with the season.  The contention is that this would be more productive than continuing to farm the land on ever decreasing water allocations.  I don't expect this to ever get a serious listen-to, let alone happen.

One of the more radical ideas to address drought that I've heard is to anchor floating nuclear reactors off the West Coast, and use them to boil seawater, to increase the water vapor in the air.  The winds then carry the water over the land, where it falls as rain.  I see several problems with this idea. 

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Miller, Mark L
Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2015 7:12 AM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] USA Drought

Just a few minor observations:  
The term: "Great American Desert" was a misnomer coined by an easterner who was used to seeing LOTS of trees.  Instead he saw LOTS of grass (not sand) and called it a desert. (This is ~ analogous to plutonium being called "the most dangerous thing to man" that was coined early in the Manhattan Project to urge folks to use good housekeeping practices for stuff that they couldn't SEE (like dirt and grime)).

Center-pivot irrigation in the Midwest, which taps the (formerly thought-to-be inexhaustible) Oglalla Aquifer is indeed drawing water in an unsustainable fashion.  Just ask the farmers in the Panhandle of TX about that (they are at the very south end of the aquifer).  Farther North, they haven't had so much trouble (yet).  They will, unless they change their water withdrawal strategy to ensure long-term sustainability.

-----Original Message-----
From: KARAM, PHILIP [mailto:PHILIP.KARAM at nypd.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 2:32 PM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] USA Drought

Water storage and utilization is certainly part of the problem. But the root cause is that much of California is a desert or near-desert, which happens to be home to several million people, several million lawns, industry, and a lot of crops. If people were not trying to live in and to farm a desert then water storage, snowpack depth, and so forth would be a non-issue. 

For what it's worth, California is not alone in this - Las Vegas may be the most egregious example, but much of the Great Plains is also near-desert (and, in fact, was known as the Great American Desert before the discovery - and exploitation - of the Ogallala Aquifer). At some point this aquifer is going to dry up or become unusable, which will really suck for the couple of million people and all of the agriculture from southern South Dakota, western Kansas and Oklahoma, the Texas panhandle, and eastern Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico - all desert areas that are supported by "mining" groundwater.

There was a comedy routine a few decades ago that is particularly relevant. The comedian (Sam Kinison I believe) was talking about a famine in a desert country. He pantomimed picking up a handful of sand and letting it dribble through his fingers while saying "See this? This is sand. You live in a desert. We have deserts in America too - we just don't live in them." (laughter)

But, alas, we do.

Andy

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Johanning, Jeffrey R.
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 4:15 PM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] USA Drought

As a CA resident, this does strike a bit of a nerve with me.  Our drought is not only self-inflicted, it is government inflicted.  It is not the fault of the farmers and the crops they grow, it is not the fault of the metropolis' population using water for whatever.  We haven't built a dam here in some 50 years to store water and as best I can tell, there are no plans for the future, just fining those who are in violation of an arbitrary restriction.  Saving the Delta Smelt is actually separate from building reservoirs but the same people are behind (or not behind, as the case may be) both/either of them as a solution.  Maybe the upcoming forecasted El Nino will help but only for a short time.

Jeff Johanning
Sr. Health Physicist V / RSO
Leidos, Inc.
858-826-9725

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Brennan, Mike (DOH)
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 11:09
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] USA Drought

I get nervous when people use phrases like "... to save a smelt fish..." and "... drains into the ocean", because it often is followed by, "...so let' pipe the Columbia down to California where it can be used, instead of wasting it by letting it go into the ocean."  Fresh water flowing into salt water is WAY more complex than draining or wasting.  There are ecological, economic, political, and even geologic factors involved in messing with a river more than a few tens of percent.  Often the long term loss of messing with the flow is larger than the gain (though by the time that is realized it may be too late to change back).

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Amoling, Ronald
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 10:32 AM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] USA Drought

It's not all self-inflicted.  From what I've read some of it relates more to the water collection and storage.  The current system is designed to collect and use water from snow melt.  No snow, no snow melt.  They've not yet developed adequate methods of collecting rain/stormwater and collecting it in reservoirs so it pretty much runs through storm drains into the ocean.  I'm sure that this is a woefully inadequate oversimplification on my part, but the main point is that they're geared toward getting water from snow, not rain.

Ronald Amoling, RSO / EHS Manager
American Science and Engineering, Inc. | www.as-e.com
829 Middlesex Turnpike | Billerica, MA 01821 USA Office +1-978-495-9012 | Cell +1-508-728-1348 | RAmoling at as-e.com

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Dixon, John E. (CDC/ONDIEH/NCEH)
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 8:55 AM
To: 'The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List' <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] USA Drought

CA's problems may in fact be self- inflicted. 40 years of not building and utilizing storage reservoirs to save a smelt fish might be one reason...

John

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of S L Gawarecki
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2015 2:25 AM
To: RadSafe <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] USA Drought

There is plenty of moisture available in the atmosphere whether icecaps are freezing or not (and they are currently melting). The California drought is a result of at least a couple of problems.

   1. Changing storm tracks - in recent years a persistent high pressure
   system has developed in the Gulf of Alaska (normally under the influence of
   the Aleutian Low), which has diverted the jet stream, and this causes
   Pacific cyclones to bear northwards away from California then dip
   southwards in the mid-continent. Coincidentally, the Gulf of Alaska has
   warmed as much as 5 degrees above its normal seasonal averages.

   2. Winter temperatures in the Sierra Nevada are warmer, so that rain is
   increasing in proportion to snow. Snow pack is what feeds the reservoirs
   into late summer, and consequently the water distribution systems.

Climatologists are hopeful that a strong El Nino predicted for this year will restore normal storm tracks and bring more rain to California. I say "prepare for mudslide season."

Regards,
*Susan Gawarecki*

ph: 865-494-0102
cell:  865-604-3724
SLGawarecki at gmail.com
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