[Jamo]

Cool pics!

Imperial Valley farmers have already sold most of their All-American canal water to San Diego. Now the District is going to line the canals and create off-canal storage to take their full alloitment. Not only will the Colorado River never reach the Gulf of Mexico in the wettest years (it hardly ever does now), but downstream Mexico will receive barely a trickle for the several million folks in Mexicali and the farming in Mexicali Valley. Arizona and Utah are going to take more of the upstream flow as well. Nevada's already looking at pipelines to transfer water from Northern Nevada to Vegas.

In California, the key is still storage. We're relying on a system built for half as many folks as we have now. Farmers have been using drip and reuse technology for a couple of decades now...there isn't much left they can do except switch crops. Sacramento rice will go away, as will vegetable crops in the San Joaquin. Many of the largest farms didn't even plant flat crops (fruits and vegetables) in 2007 or this year, saving their water for their trees and vineyards. That means our food will come more and more from Mexico and places south, where sewage water is used for irrigation (remember the outbreaks of disease from Mexican peppers after our CDC ruined our tomato crop with negligent press?).

We need dams, underground banking, the peripheral canal, better water management in the urban areas and things like grey water systems for landscaping, desalination like you said, etc. Just like our fuel needs...no one right answer, and everything's the right answer.