Seth Bornstein at AP reported, "the American West’s megadrought deepened so much last year that it is now the driest in at least 1,200 years and is a worst-case climate change scenario playing out live, a new study finds." Park Williams, a climate hydrologist at UCLA said, "the worse-case scenario keeps getting worse." But today I think we need to be even preparing for conditions in the future that are far worse than this." Water conservation projects continue. Desalination projects continue. Pumped hydro storage projects continue. Water districts and energy providers should consider alternatives combining these pragmatic approaches. Integrating pumped hydro storage with reverse osmosis desalination is an approach well-suited for southern California - coastal mountains, elevation gain of 500 to 700 meters, near large cities, current energy distribution infrastructure.
Source: AP News report by Seth Bornstein, Feb 14, 2022.
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