American Aqueduct: The Great California Water Saga | Hacker News Reader

American Aqueduct: The Great California Water Saga

theatlantic.com

51 pointsr0h1n18 comments

Anyone interested in the mind-bending history of moistening the West in general and California in particular just enough to be advertised as paradise may want to do themselves a favor and read "Cadillac Desert": http://www.amazon.com/Cadillac-Desert-American-Disappearing-.... (Not an affiliate link.)

I was just going to recommend this book myself. Before reading it, I had no idea how long some of these aqueducts are and how many dams had been built nationwide (and why) - now when I fly I can't help but trace water paths and look for dams. It's a great look in to how cities in the arid southwest can exist and just how close some could be to non-existence.

EDIT: This article does a decent job touching on the scale of the water projects in California. Cadillac Desert provides a decent look into that scale on a national level (though, admittedly, most of the mind blowing information revolves around California).

> Not an affiliate link

If you're going to take the time to recommend something, go ahead and put an affiliate link. It's pretty obvious if someone is here solely to spam. We're capitalists here, and aren't opposed to people making money.

I actually appreciate the non-affiliate link. I'm possibly as capitalist as the rest, but I appreciate the recognition of self interest by anyone who removes the affiliate bit from the URI.

California's main water problems stem from the fact the government subsidizes, heavily at that, water usage and much of that went towards irrigation. By doing so they continuously increase demand which in turns makes the problem worse. Look into the operations of the Bureau of Reclamation

As for Hood, I would agree with the residents, I would not trust that the promises made today will be kept.

His article didn't even mention this one, one of the largest in the country, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Valley_Lake

'I'm not interested in this, i'm not on the west coast.' Y'all should learn where a majority of America's food comes from if you think this doesn't affect every American.

I love the seamless gif banner, how do they accomplish that?

It's not a gif but a html video element.

Be honest, did anyone read the entire article?

I don't like this trend of writing incredibly long articles. It's as if the length alone somehow makes it more intellectual or credible, or perhaps just makes the author look good.

An approx calculation, assuming reading speed of 250wpm, means a 12,000+ word article, like this, will take nearly 1 hour to read.

Congrats, you're a literal child! In turns out in-depth information takes time to properly explain and discuss. If you want a 10 minute summary that teaches you nothing, watch a TEDtalk. If you want to actually learn and understand an issue, read long form journalism.

Long form journalism is not some new trend.

I'm not deeply interested in the water situation in California, so I probably won't read this, but I don't see a problem with someone bothering to do a detailed story on it.

Personally, I was quite interested in it, I spent 10 minutes reading it before I realised how long the article was. Clearly others are interested too, as it's on HN. But who actually read it all the way through? Did you?

I read the whole thing. It was interesting, but not linear, and definitely not dense. But it's The Atlantic, not a daily paper.

It was more of a leisurely interesting-but-not-actionable, flavor-of-the-story, Sunday-paper-with-a-bagel read. I wouldn't even call it long-form journalism. It's just bits of history and human interest tied to a current issue with a sprinkling of character and anecdote. Gratifying, not edifying.

That sort of thing has a place, but generally not what I'm looking for on a Wednesday morning.

Did you know that Central Valley almond crop irrigation consumes water equal to 1/2 of a Los Angeles?

I didn't read it. Like I said, I'm not that interested in the situation (I'm not near the U.S. West coast...).

But I think you are wrong about the length being a matter of ego stroking. There are legitimate reasons to dive into the details, and given that the Atlantic is relatively internet savvy, there are probably people interested in the content.

And why would anybody spend an hour reading? Ugh.

I don't know about you, but here on Planet Earth I only have 24 hours in my day. I'm happy to spend 10-15 mins reading an original article on something I currently know nothing about, but not an hour dedicated to it. FYI, I am a heavy reader, hence why I'd sooner spend my time reading something I enjoy (like a book!).

If you live in California, this issue is incredibly important to you and your children. Every resident should be familiar with it, and this article is a great introduction.

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