Let's Sell Water?
Bad water news keeps coming from down south with both Mendocino and Somona Counties already facing the prospect of mandatory water rationing. The Santa Rosa Press- Democrat reports lakes in Mendocino and Sonoma Counties are at record lows.
I know there's been talk of this before, but I wonder if there's some economical way to sell some of our water to them- Humboldt supposedly being relatively well off in regards water. With the Evergreen Pulp mill perhaps permanently closed down, we need some larger customers to help pay the water bill.
Maybe a short term contract with Laytonville or Willits? Not sure if it would be economical to truck water that far but it wouldn't hurt to look into it.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 9:20 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
On the surface, selling excess water to other municipalities sounds good, but there's hidden problems with the idea. State water law operates under a "use-it-or-lose-it" clause that might actually allow Sonoma and Mendo to claim legal rights to the water once they're using it. Even in the unlikely event that SoCo and mendo would play fair, the water would have to be sold to them under some sort of a long term contract, because they can't develop based on a resource that can be taken away. As a result, if some company did come to Humboldt and want to start a water intensive business, we would be bound by the contract to keep delivering water to them at our own economic expense. Besides, those are the exact people who already steal all of our water from the Eel, leaving it an algae pond in summer. I say screw 'em; if they developed beyond their water capacities, let them fix their own problems.
Humboldt should absolutely not give up any more of its sovereign water rights.
Interesting debate, I would be interested how this idea will play on the Humboldt Harold, since Heraldo is Katlin/David,and Katlin is on the HBMWD Board.
I think a way to profit from our water might be found. In fact, I think I have the solution to every concern.
First, we vaporize the water. Then we move it - through the air - to sell down south.
It's genius! Water vapor is INVISIBLE! They'll NEVER catch us! Nobody will ever know what we're DOING!
the water going to the pulp is industrial grade not ready for drinking.
When pigs can fly, 6:42 . . .
That was me in the white van this morning, as I drove by your house, honked and waved when I saw you open your garage door, Fred. I was running errands in Eureka in Henderson Center and downtown.
"That was me in the white van this morning,...".
So that's who that was. You caught me just as I opened the garage door.
9:23 wrote, "the water going to the pulp is industrial grade not ready for drinking.".
Well, if they have a reservoir at their water treatment plant, maybe we could drop it in there.
1:02 Wrote, "...Humboldt should absolutely not give up any more of its sovereign water rights.".
I'm well aware of problems involving selling water. That's one reason I supported the idea of tugging bags of water to SoCal, at first. Then I got to thinking of how such things end up. Thinking of the Colorado, Owens and Klamath Rivers you realize once someone gets some of your water it's not so easy to turn off the spigot. I turned against the idea after that.
That's why I was thinking of something much smaller scale like simply selling enough water so that Sonoma and Mendo residents might be able to use 1 or 2 hundred gallons a day instead of 50, as some are forecasting.
Problem is, I think it might be prohibitively expensive to truck water down there. Even if you could get them some water, they might not be able to pay the price.
But, it's not like trucking water isn't already done. People that live away from the water lines routinely buy water for their homes that way. I know a guy who lives in Fortuna that has water hauled regularly to a storage tank for his home.
Perhaps South Fork Ernie's "Flying Pig" service could play a role here? I understand one of the economic pitfalls of hauling freight and passengers past Richardson Grove was the lack of a backhaul. Now, one would have to figure out how much water a Flying Pig could carry internally and externally and... Fred, you may be on to something!
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