California wastes most of its rainwater, which simply goes down the drain
California’s wet winter has dumped an estimated 18 trillion gallons of rain in February alone. But much of it is simply going down the drain.
In what has become a source of much concern in a state prone to droughts and water shortages, the vast majority of rainwater in urban areas flows into storm drains and is eventually lost to the Pacific Ocean.
“When you look at the Los Angeles River being between 50% and 70% full during a storm, you realize that more water is running down the river into the ocean than what Los Angeles would use in close to a year,” said Mark Gold, associate vice chancellor for environment and sustainability at UCLA. “What a waste of water supply.”
For Southern California, this is shaping up to be the wettest winter in years — serving as a reminder of how much water is wasted when the skies open up.
Read the rest of the story on The Los Angeles Times
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Where is our elected leadership on this issue? Have they not experienced the fluctuations between drought and flood that is the California situation that I’ve experienced for 73 years?
There was a time when elected officials began to provide adequate water storage that both staved off both drought and flood but now we live in a State that puts a higher premium on obscure fish than they do on the human condition of our citizens.