[whitecrow]

Originally Posted by Professor Nordheim

The announcement of a water cutback that California could face next year would impact supplies to 25 million of the state's 36.5 million residents and 750,000 acres of farmland...

Been studying on this one for a while, myself. I had the idea of a small still like the video someone has posted, using a pressure cooker and a clean radiator - I have access to a solar oven so that's a project I want to begin soon. I can envision a solar still large enough to give a family drinking water, that would cost little in materials and nothing to run.

I've been reading up on how the civilizations of the ancient middle east coped with water issues. In the past, only the civilizations along the Tigris and Euphrates have been much studied...it never occurred to anyone to look far out in the desert where there's no water. Satellite imagery has revealed extensive ruins far from any spring or river. I've learned that they built air wells, stone structures that are large enough to remain cool on their interior surfaces, and drip condensation into a catchbasin.

Our present system takes water from northern California and pumps it over the mountains using vast amounts of energy. The natural sources of water in southern California are few and far between, and nowhere near what would be needed to supply the fields, lawns and pools of today's sprawling suburbs. This is THE issue that will ultimately shape the future of the southwest.