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kleinbl00  ·  3778 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Despite California's Drought, Taps Still Flowing In LA County : NPR

I came to Los Angeles in 2007 and it was the worst drought on record.

In 2008 we had 10 inches of rain in the first 3 weeks of the year and then never again.

In 2009 it was the worst drought on record.

In 2010 it was the worst drought on record.

In 2011 it was the worst drought on record.

In 2012 it was the worst drought on record.

In 2013 it was the worst drought on record.

In 2014 it's the worst drought on record.

Look - you drive up the grapevine and you see dead farms. A lot of them have signs saying "thanks Dianne Feinstein." You drive down the grapevine and a little north of Santa Clarita you see giant pipes carrying water uphill for Los Angeles. It's not like this is a new thing, it's not like it's suddenly a big deal. Wanna see a pic of the LA river? Right by where I work it goes from 30' wide by 3" deep in concrete to 6' wide by 3' deep in concrete:

LA Hates Water. There aren't any gutters here. When it does rain, it sweeps all the shit that's been building up on the streets for eight months out into the ocean and all the birds die. It's fuckin' awesome. That's why I took this picture:

This is on Ballona Creek, which still has waterbirds and stuff on it (even though it's a concrete channel, too). It's where the LA river eventually hits the ocean, which, despite LA's best intentions, is not in a concrete channel.

It's a leaky fire hydrant.

It's been leaking so long that it has built up a layer of vegetation about 3' thick on the concrete. Water brought algae brought dust became mud became sediment attracted moss became humus became soil and now there's growth on concrete because the LAFD doesn't check their pipes.

How many years did that take?

Has the drought affected me? Well, I pee in the shower now.

But I grew up in the desert and lemme tell ya - LA doesn't believe it's the desert. And that's why it's going to die.

Has the drought affected me? Well, we've started cementing our 2-year plan to get the fuck out of here. But that has more to do with the fact that I don't care if LA dies than the fact that there's a drought on.

This place would be shit with 50" annually.

Behold: The Rainwater Catchment Act Of Mutherfucking 2012