That was the headline I saw this morning. Is anyone really surprised by this type of news anymore? Especially considering the headline specifically referred to California! The article I'm referring to (here) discusses how recently released NASA satellite imagery provides even more evidence that California's current water use is quickly draining the state empty. Take into account these two facts:
1) Cali's central valley is home to 1/6th of all US irrigated crops
2) California is the US's largest grower and exporter of agriculture
What happens to that agricultural economy when the water runs out, or becomes so salty from seawater infiltration that it can no longer be used to irrigate, much less drink. While this story is by no means exclusive to California, this is a state that is stuck in a 3 year drought, is home to 37 million people, and is on the verge of a liquid (or lack thereof) catastrophe.
This also illustrates why the membrane-based market segment of the water purification industry stands to do very well in California, as well as many other drying out corners of the world. When the Southwest has to switch over to a new water source because aquifers are depleted and the Colorado River has run dry, what other source is there? Well, that big blue batch of ocean called the Pacific looms large and isn't going anywhere. It can be used today, but at tremendous expense. I can picture 37 million people are crossing their fingers that the next great evolutionary leap in desal technology happens before the state is officially out of water, or they stand to run out of money first. And, well.... hasn't that already happened?
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