David E. Ross wrote:
songbird wrote [in part]:


the large CWP uses huge pumps to move water from the
north to the south which also uses a lot of electricity
(some which they regain on the other side from generation
but the cost is still high). this is only a small fraction
of the water used in CA for irrigation.

to move a much larger portion of the Columbia would need
many more pipelines than one. that's not a minor expense
for pumping, materials to build it, maintenance, etc.

The California State Water Project is possibly the largest customer for
electricity in the state.

i'd believe it because i've come across some of the
numbers in recent readings.

with the drought it is lowering the ability of the state
to generate hydroelectric power and you folks are lucky
that the state mandate for solar and wind has increased
those supplies as that has helped a great deal, but also
it is causing more natural gas burning.

somewhat related:

as i'd recently been reading up on Owens River/Lake/valley
i was interested to come across this in the news:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...514-story.html

for something that had been running since 1913 to be shut
off until November gives an idea of how deep this drought
has become.

recent rains/snows in Colorado have upped some of the
percentages for runoff so we hope this continued gift
from El Nino keeps on rolling...


songbird