Homestead mailing list

["Don Bowen" <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>]

> canIf people keep having babies, and living in the
> cesspool cities (people like me); soon, the cities will drain the
> underground and surface water  from where 'you' live, to feed Philly,
> Pittsburg, NY.  It might not happen in our lifetime.  But, it could.

It has happened even before the lifetime of most on this list.  Look into
the history of Owens Lake for just one example.  At one time they had steam
boats on that lake carrying people, mail and freight.  Recently the DWP had
to spend a chunk of money to spread gravel on the now dry lakebed to reduce
dust particles in the air.  That water went to feed the explosive growth of
Los Angles.  

At one time the LA basin was a mass of sloughs and small shallow ponds.  It
made some of the best crop land in the world as the sloughs were drained and
the ponds used for irrigation.  But crop land was turned into houses and
businesses and the LA River concreted and they soon outrun the available
water.  The LA aqueduct project stole the water from the Owens Valley and
pumped it to fuel the growth of LA and the fortunes of the politically
connected.

My mother's family were farmers in the Owens Valley.  Some sold out and
bought farmland in Woodland, some were pushed out and ran a garage and
trucking company in Bakersfield.  My grandfather was a part owner with his
brother of an ice cream shop in Bishop and a traveling salesman for Globe
Mills.  My grandmother was a Harvey Girl in Mojave and when they met she was
a waitress in the railroad hotel in Bishop.

Don Bowen  KI6DIU
http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html