A few years back I read a book called The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi. In the opening scene of the book, a paramilitary group from the city of Las Vegas seizes control of a dam from the state of California. They have a court order providing them water rights and their intention is to blow the dam and divert the water to another dam supply water and power to Vegas. The Californians protest that the case is under appeal to no avail. The dam gets blown and the water is taken.
All of the action in the book takes place during a crippling drought and the water shortage that ensues as a result. A number of Texans have come into Nevada to get away from a series of superstorms and cataclysms. There is constant tension between the crazy Texans, the Nevadans, and the Californians. This is in addition to the constant competition for water on the streets. People sell their possessions, themselves, and even their children just for more to drink. Everyone in the story dreams of moving into an arcology, which is this sort of zero impact habitat where everything is completely recycled. Air, water, everything. Bacigalupi specializes in these sort of near future ecological disaster stories. This is the one that first got me thinking about the need to invest in water conservation and reclamation. It was also where I first heard about Cadillac Desert.
Last week, my wife and I went and met my aunt and uncle at The Block over by UTSA. They live in Colorado and I was talking to him about the things I was reading in Cadillac Desert. The Super Bowl was on but was less entertaining to me this year than talking about water. My uncle told me about the Allen True murals in the Colorado Capitol building that depict the story how they supply water and power to Denver. This history also plays a central part in the James Michener book Centennial.
The city of San Antonio is perpetually in stage 1 water restrictions. We can't escape our need of water.
I don't recall how I became aware that Roman Polanski's 1974 film Chinatown was related to Cadillac Desert. It was probably the result of a Google search rabbit hole. Either way, I found myself watching Chinatown last night.
Jack Nicholson plays a private eye who is hired/manipulated into investigating the love life of the president of Los Angeles's Water and Power department. Certain parties in LA want a dam built. They want it built so badly that they are willing to release water straight into the Pacific in order to make the public believe that the situation is more dire than it is. These same parties are also trying to cut off the water supply to the farmers and allow the desert to reclaim the property. That way the land could be scooped up for pennies, incorporated into LA proper and then be given a constant supply of water, making these parties a lot of money.
How do you make the water fight even more dire? Add a bunch of political graft of course.
I don't generally look to cash in on human suffering or anything like that. But my hope with investing in water resources is to ensure that companies continue to innovate tech and solutions to make sure that my grandchildren and great grandchildren have drinkable water. I don't want to live in the reality of the Water Knife. I was comfortable thinking it was fiction. But reading about the California Water War and watching Chinatown has made me evaluate how close we already may be. . .
All of the action in the book takes place during a crippling drought and the water shortage that ensues as a result. A number of Texans have come into Nevada to get away from a series of superstorms and cataclysms. There is constant tension between the crazy Texans, the Nevadans, and the Californians. This is in addition to the constant competition for water on the streets. People sell their possessions, themselves, and even their children just for more to drink. Everyone in the story dreams of moving into an arcology, which is this sort of zero impact habitat where everything is completely recycled. Air, water, everything. Bacigalupi specializes in these sort of near future ecological disaster stories. This is the one that first got me thinking about the need to invest in water conservation and reclamation. It was also where I first heard about Cadillac Desert.
Last week, my wife and I went and met my aunt and uncle at The Block over by UTSA. They live in Colorado and I was talking to him about the things I was reading in Cadillac Desert. The Super Bowl was on but was less entertaining to me this year than talking about water. My uncle told me about the Allen True murals in the Colorado Capitol building that depict the story how they supply water and power to Denver. This history also plays a central part in the James Michener book Centennial.
The city of San Antonio is perpetually in stage 1 water restrictions. We can't escape our need of water.
I don't recall how I became aware that Roman Polanski's 1974 film Chinatown was related to Cadillac Desert. It was probably the result of a Google search rabbit hole. Either way, I found myself watching Chinatown last night.
Jack Nicholson plays a private eye who is hired/manipulated into investigating the love life of the president of Los Angeles's Water and Power department. Certain parties in LA want a dam built. They want it built so badly that they are willing to release water straight into the Pacific in order to make the public believe that the situation is more dire than it is. These same parties are also trying to cut off the water supply to the farmers and allow the desert to reclaim the property. That way the land could be scooped up for pennies, incorporated into LA proper and then be given a constant supply of water, making these parties a lot of money.
How do you make the water fight even more dire? Add a bunch of political graft of course.
I don't generally look to cash in on human suffering or anything like that. But my hope with investing in water resources is to ensure that companies continue to innovate tech and solutions to make sure that my grandchildren and great grandchildren have drinkable water. I don't want to live in the reality of the Water Knife. I was comfortable thinking it was fiction. But reading about the California Water War and watching Chinatown has made me evaluate how close we already may be. . .