Antelope Valley Blogs

Do we have a larger problem than oil? While every one has their eye on the need for oil we are a sleep while others are stealing us blind. One thing we just cannot live without is water. Did you know corporations are now buying up our water rights across not only America but the world. These corporate giants are buying up complete aquifers, buying up land and the water rights, buying just the water rights from farmers and the list goes on. Water that now may cost us $120 per acre foot could go to $10,000 per acre foot. Please read the following: T. Boone Pickens thinks water is the new oil-and he's betting $100 million that he's right. If water is the new oil, T. Boone Pickens is a modern-day John D. Rockefeller. Pickens owns more water than any other individual in the U.S. and is looking to control even more. He hopes to sell the water he already has, some 65 billion gallons a year, to Dallas, transporting it over 250 miles, 11 counties, and about 650 tracts of private property. The electricity generated by an enormous wind farm he is setting up in the Panhandle would also flow along that corridor. As far as Pickens is concerned, he could be selling wind, water, natural gas, or uranium; it's all a matter of supply and demand. "There are people who will buy the water when they need it. And the people who have the water want to sell it. That's the blood, guts, and feathers of the thing," he says. Foreign Companies-Buying Up Our U. S. Water Rights, and we are worried about oil? What about the water being purchased right out from under us and know one is watching. This same water will then be sold back to us at very high rates, how much are you paying for Gasoline per gallon? You better be thinking how much per gallon we will be paying for water per gallon. These corporations are buying land and water rights in all the dry areas of this county to be sold back at very high rates and profits. This isn't just happening here but in countries where the people can hardly by food. Now they are even losing their houses because the cannot afford the water. The water companies are foreclosing on their homes for non payment of their water bills.

 

Water who needs it?

Water, every one talking about water or the lack of water. It seems so many just do not understand much about water other than they turn on the tap and water flows. People do not seem to real care about the water unless it affects them and that is the way life is in most cases. Tell some one their pretty green lawn may have to be replaced by rock and desert plants and now they want to talk about water.

Water, don't you just drill a hole and water comes up out of it? We live in a desert and that means it really doesn't rain that much here but we do get rain and snow in the mountains. This rain and snow runs down to this valley floor sinks into the soil and makes its way down to what is called an aquifer. Our aquifer is called the Lancaster sub basin. The deep part of our aquifer is under the land that is now called Lancaster city limits and most of the aquifer sets under the same city. Palmdale is on the outside edge of the aquifer. Lancaster holds most of the underground storage and Palmdale holds most of the re-charge. Re-charge is when the water flows from the mountains to the valley floor and goes underground filtering as it moves down down down to the aquifer below. The aquifer is the storage area for all the water, in one part of the aquifer the depth is around 8,000 foot deep. This part has water that is thousands of years old.  The aquifer is made up of three aquifers you might say the upper, the middle and the lower aquifer.

Stop the Delta pumps to save the Smelt and lose a aquifer.

Does this make since? The Antelope Valley Aquifer is endanger of caving due to lack of water in the upper aquifer. We could start seeing land subsidence all over the Antelope Valley. Land Subsidence has already happened at Edwards Air Force Base and other places in the valley. These groups of people that are out to save a small fish that isn't worth saving even for fish bait is costing this valley a problem that will destroy our aquifer if we don't start recharging this aquifer with water from the Delta. This is a time bomb just waiting to happen. What happens if we don't recharge and a earthquake shakes and empty aquifer and it caves? The land above will sink and this aquifer will be lost forever. I believe these same people that would rather save a fish better start thinking of another way to save it, like fish hatcheries for the Smelt but the pumps must keep pumping, it's the blood of the Antelope Valley and Southern California. They talk about and endangered species, I'm talking about an endangered aquifer that can not be saved once it caves in on itself. Which must we save the fish species or the humans species. Water is something we just cannot live without and water shortages are happening throughout the world. We have to start banking and recharge this Antelope Valley Aquifer if we have to take the State and Federal government to court on this issue. Smelt can be moved, Smelt can be raised in a hatchery designed for them. The human species must be protected and put first above the Smelt, the water pumps must keep pumping.

The Water Problem
Our city planners haven't been taking care of business when it comes to water. In every tract of homes they have installed holding ponds to stop run off that use to run until it hit recharging areas and go back down to the aquifer. Now the water is stopped and is held to evaporate and raise mosquitoes.

Storm drains should have been installed all over the valley where the water that use to flow naturally can make it to recharging areas.

We can not afford to wait any longer on getting ready to recharge from the aqueduct. Recharginging areas should be getting ready to except water now and pipe lines to those recharging areas neen to be installed now. This all takes a lot of time getting ready it doesn't happen over night.

We have to pay for a certain amount of water from the aqueduct even if we don't use it. We have wasted water that was paid for because we didn't need it and didn't have any place for that water to go.