An Even Better Idea For Desalination

Google has been sponsoring a project they call SOLVE FOR X. They describe it as; “A forum to encourage and amplify technology-based moonshot thinking and collaboration.”

One of the efforts that caught my attention has been an effort to radically improve desalination technology. I think they may be onto something world-changing.

This technology should be the last nail in the coffin for the watergrab. But don't expect that. There's more at stake here than just water – there's $15,000,000,000.00

Another Go To Heller Letter...

I sign a few online petitions and have sent some letters to my elected representatives to make clear that we need to fix things – and I want them to do the right thing. U.S. Senator Dean Heller has replied to me on a number of occasions – but not how I would hope. In fact, I now call his correspondence “Go to Heller” letters. They always ramble for a while, and then somewhere towards the bottom of the letter I realize I've been told to go to hell – in the most obscure way possible.

Here's an example:

You're welcome to read the whole letter, but what is important is the highlighted lines; “Public law 93-523, the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), was enacted in 1974 to ensure that the American public is provided with safe drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to set standards for the quality of drinking water and oversee all entities that implement these standards.”

Mr. Heller wants us to believe that everything is already taken care of. Well... in a way, it is. The 2005 Energy Bill gave the fracking industry a free ride to pollute all they want – and Senator Heller knows this. Dick Cheney's 2005 Energy bill (the Haliburton Bill) exempted fracking fluids from the Safe Drinking Water Act... That's right, the worst polluters don't have to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act. The regulations are so lax that I wouldn't be surprised if we someday find out that this is how some of these companies are getting rid of their toxic waste. (Think about it; why do they need radioactive materials in fracking fluid? They obviously don't.)

And the EPA sure looks like it's been dragging its feet for years at crafting fracking standards. The EPA is conducting a study to be published in 2014. And then there will be a review. And then there will be other delays. Hey wait a minute; shouldn't the EPA err on the safe side until the study comes out? Not when there's big money involved.

We didn't vote for that. We didn't write our “elected representatives” and ask for this. Americans have died from this type of pollution. And many Americans are sick. Exempting the dirtiest polluters from regulation is as far from common sense as our “leaders” can get.

The 2005 Energy Bill also exempted fracking fluids from the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). And there is no way U.S. Senator Dean Heller could not have known. He's just hoping we don't know. 

Dean Heller lies.

Moreover; Senator Heller voted to bar the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases – and he voted no on eliminating subsides and tax breaks for fossil fuels. Click here for more.

In my “Go to Heller” letter, Senator Heller stated; “I understand the importance of federal policies that promote a clean and healthy environment.” And in the next paragraph, he lies to us; claiming that federal policies already exist that are adequate (with the exemptions he didn't mention).

So, why would Senator Heller lie to us like that? Could it be the over $200,000 in “campaign contributions” he received from the oil and gas industry. Apparently, the fix is in.

Of course, Senator Heller isn't the only one. The Obama administration backed off on a damning scientific report that showed that fracking is poisoning groundwater. In case you hadn't noticed, this is what is known as a “cover-up.” (In case you don't remember, it was the cover-up of the Watergate break-in the led to President Nixon's downfall. But don't expect that to happen here, since this cover-up protects the oligarchy.)

This is what a failed democracy looks like. Our “elected representatives” can't make rational decisions. And things will just get worse until we fix them. Don't expect the likes of Dean Heller to do it for us. They're just making too much money.

I wouldn't be surprised if Dean Heller owns stock in fossil fuel companies too. (If you know about Dean Heller's investments, please leave a comment.)

What makes this so mind bendingly crazy is that we have the technology to do better. Why on Earth would we want to poison our drinking water with fracking fluids and methane so that we can pollute our air and change our climate?

And the story just gets more insane. Hundreds of thousands of trees have died in America due to the drought that no-one in the advertiser supported media will even mention “climate change” about. We are on track for 69 feet of sea level rise. This is the third winter in a row that the East has experienced a snowpocolypse. There are more twisters, earlier. And of course, there were the more energetic hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Moreover, due to methane leaks at the fracking sites, natural gas is no cleaner than coal. It appears that they are all lying to us – apparently because money in their hands now is more important than our health and well being in the future.

Please sign this petition to ask Governor Sandoval not to approve fracking in Nevada. It won't be enough, since Governor Sandoval is a Republican, but at least they'll know we care about this.

PS:

Evidence shows that Brian Sandoval received $25,000 from the energy industry – which was one of the biggest contributions to the Sandoval campaign.

Is It Illegal Water Banking Or Is It A Scam?

Because Nevada water law is so poorly written, Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) has been driven to make some horrible decisions. This has cost Southern Nevada water ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars – and may eventually cost them over 15 billion dollars. That could amount to; worst case scenario, (so far) of 100 dollars more a month ratepayers may have to pay for at least the next 50 years!

So, it only makes sense that we might want to consider some alternatives.

SNWA claims they have considered alternatives, when they paid CH2MHill and Black & Veatch millions of dollars to evaluate their options. (Click here to see the overview.) One might expect that, at that price, we would get a very thorough report. But that didn't happen. Some very good options never got considered:

1. Offshore Desalination – CH2M Hill did consider desalination, but only massive facilities right on the coast. Nobody wants that. On shore desal plants salt up coastline water, are vulnerable to tsunamis, are vulnerable to earthquakes, are vulnerable to sea level rise, are vulnerable to terrorism, are vulnerable to single point failures, and furthermore; they look like hell on the beach. Offshore desalination may be more expensive up front, but CH2M Hill never checked. One more thing; the price of desalination has dropped precipitously and desalination science is getting even better, even since this report (2008).
2. Fixing of leaks in California, Arizona, and Utah pipes and aqueducts – SNWA could fix water systems in other states for more water allocated from the Colorado River. Californians lose a massive amount of water to leaks and poorly designed rainwater management. CH2M Hill did consider water use efficiency, but only for Colorado River water. And it doesn't appear they considered lining aqueducts for water leaving the Colorado River.
3. Smart Breeding of California crops – SNWA could pay to develop the technology to breed crops that don't use as much water. Unlike genetically modified organisms, smart bred crops would be safe – even organic. And farmers wouldn't have to pay huge fees for GMO seeds to monopolistic companies like Monsanto. CH2M Hill did study vegetation management, which includes chopping down Nevada's forests (which bureaucrats call “treating”). But, somehow, they never considered developing low water use crops. (Too altruistic?)
4. Solar and Wind power – CH2M Hill did study increasing water efficiency at power plants. But photovoltaic solar and wind power generation use no water. SNWA lost a huge opportunity when they allowed Nevada Energy to build a natural gas (steam) power plant recently. CH2M Hill never even considered the possibility of giving Nevada Energy financial incentives to install solar or wind – which would have saved thousands of acre-feet of water every year. Nonetheless, the opportunity still exists with the Navajo Generating Station – a coal fired power plant that uses 34,000 acre-feet of water every year. This water buffalo power plant is now over 40 years old and solar power is now likely cheaper. But... apparently SNWA still uses the CH2M Hill report without this recommendation to make their decisions.
5. Buying farms – back in 2008, CH2M Hill ignored (then) State Senator Bob Beers' suggestion that SNWA buy up farms in California and use their water allotments. It wouldn't have taken that many farms and might have been much cheaper. But we'll never know how much cheaper from the report. CH2M Hill never even checked.
6. Real conservation for future residents – Admittedly, this was not in CH2M Hill's charter for this study to find new sources of water. But, if new residents and businesses to Las Vegas were not allowed to have water wasting luxuries such as pools, fountains, lawns, invasive trees (such as palm trees), etc., then almost all of the new residents' water could be recycled. SNWA claims that interior water use has virtually no loss. So, just by requiring real conservation for new construction, there wouldn't be a need for new water. (Unless, of course, the water isn't really intended for the Las Vegas Valley, and won't flow back to the Colorado River – which would mean the watergrab isn't really for Las Vegas – just to be paid for by them. But that's another story...)

The CH2M Hill evaluation report is horribly flawed. They went so far as to study bringing icebergs from the Arctic and piping in water from the Mississippi River, but ignored practical ideas. Now, why would they do that? I'm sure that CH2M Hill's highly paid engineers are smarter than that. It's as if this whole study was merely propaganda to make the watergrab look tolerable. It looks as if they just left out the good ideas.

Which brings us to the why. Why did CH2M Hill evaluate SNWA's water options? For the money, of course. And if the watergrab pipeline does get built, will CH2M Hill make even more money? We don't know yet for sure, but this report makes one think CH2M Hill believes they will.

So, can we trust CH2M Hill? Click here to see what happened in Orange County.

Can we trust SNWA? If you trust me, NO! The SNWA propaganda machine is full of lies. If you don't trust me yet, consider this; hundreds of millions of dollars have already been spent. Heads would roll at SNWA if ratepayers found out that this money was wasted.

So, what can we do?

SNWA needs oversight.

It is very likely that SNWA management did not foresee the cost of desalination dropping like it did. And now they're going full speed ahead on a bad idea, because they can't admit how badly they predicted the future. I'm convinced there is a cover up. I've even called it Watergrabgate. But it could even be worse. Maybe this is all about the money instead. This could all just be a predatory loan scam.

Nevada has a Public Utilities Commission (PUC). This commission oversees power generation and fees. At one time, it really represented the public. Not so much anymore. But, at least it's better than nothing. Gross fraud, negligence, or criminal overcharging usually get noticed.

A bill has been introduced to the Nevada Legislature this year that would give the PUC oversight of SNWA. If you care about the environment – if you care about Rural Nevada's economy – if you care about exorbitant water bills; support this bill.

...and what if SNWA is just trying to bank Central Nevada water for later use? That's illegal by Nevada water law... But personally, I don't really see anything all that wrong with saving water for when we might really need it. If this is the case, let's change Nevada water law to reflect wise thinking. In fact, let's change Nevada water law to save water for when we really need it. 

This is a desert.  

Open Range Trail

Preliminary Proposal

Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and possibly Idaho have the potential for a unique multi-use backcountry touring network from the Southern tip of the Nevada to the Jarbidge Wilderness (and possibly beyond).

The notoriety of the Pacific Crest Trail, the Appalachian Trail, the Great Divide Trail, and the Arizona Trail have shown that there is a significant interest in long remote trails in America.

Though similar to these trails in length, the Open Range Trail would have unique qualities. What really makes this proposed trail feel special is the open range – from horizon to horizon along most of the routes. Nevada has more open range than any other state in the lower 48. Most of the proposed Open Range Trail routes are either dirt road or trail. And being “open range,” one would expect many route options.

Possibly the biggest bragging rights for the Open Range Trail is its (verifiable) most remote location. In some places along this proposed trial, one can be over 200 miles from any big city – in every direction. And, in most places, miles from any other human being. One can see more wild land, rugged terrain, and far more stars here than most every place else in the country.

Nevada has more mountain ranges than every other state in the lower 48. Most of these mountain ranges run South to North. Which means that the potential for multiple routes and adventure experiences is unlike anywhere else.

[That's right folks; highlighter marks on a road map. This is pre-preliminary.]

...One more thing (though this quality may initially seem a detriment); traveling across Nevada on foot or bike is truly tough – even dangerous.

Trekking across Nevada (on foot, mountain bike, or even motor vehicle) is, in a way, like exploring “terra incognita.” Much of the land still looks natural. Roads and buildings are often miles apart – towns even further. There isn't water everywhere. Forget about cell phone reception. And if something goes wrong, maybe somebody will pass by in a couple of days. Just being out there is a bit of an adventure.

Because of the broad expanse of land this trail covers, there are a number of ways to tour it. Further South, one could paddle Lake Mohave. Further North, in the Winter, the only way to pass is by snowmobile (though someone could snowshoe or backcountry ski it pulling a sled full of food). Across the Ruby Crest Trail, only hiking is allowed. Across the crest of the Snake Range (in the Great Basin National Park), there are no trails. You have to pick your own route. Across the White Pine Mountain Range there is a road open (part of the year). And along the way, horseback riders can even ride the Pony Express Trail and the Hastings cutoff of the California Trail.

...In fact, a well organized tour might be able to include various travel options. If a group were to share responsibility driving a support truck, they could bring along gear for numerous sports. The Pacific Crest Trail has hikers. The Great Divide Trail has mountain bikers. The Open Range Trail allows one to switch back and forth between hiking and biking – or if you want to leave most of your gear on the support truck, you could occasionally trail run. You could even fin swim Lake Mohave – and share a support canoe.

Traveling the whole Open Range Trail human-powered would be a serious challenge. This challenge has already drawn me in. For the past three years, I have been mountain bike touring a number of the sections of the potential trail... and I can't wait to go back.

My favorite season to travel; Late Spring/Early Summer. The mountain crest trails are too snowed in except in the Summer. However, most of the Southern portion of the trail is too hot to travel through in the Summer... Nonetheless; your best bet for water is during the Spring thaw. That leaves April, May, and June for a through-tour heading South to North.

Every season has its risk. Winter brings snow further north, which can sometimes be impassible. But summer can be so hot travelers wouldn't be able to carry enough water (especially further south). July and August can see a lot of thunderstorms, which can be an issue on the mountains. September can be good in the Wilderness areas, but it's hunting season. So, Fall doesn't look appealing for travel on foot or mountain bike on much of the trail. However, quad riders (calling themselves hunters) abound in Fall. Which means Open Range Trail travelers on quads wouldn't really stand out.

The safest method I would recommend for trekking or mountain bike touring across Nevada would include a support vehicle. However, I would not recommend this vehicle for carrying critical gear. Trekkers should carry everything they need for at least a couple of days unsupported. If the support vehicle is busy elsewhere, there should be no problem with that. The point of a support vehicle on a trip like this would be to replenish food/water stocks, chase bike parts, transport mountain bikes when hiking is required on trails, and carrying additional gear such as backpacks, inflatable boats, fishing gear, snowshoes, skis, trekking poles, camera gear, or even friends.

I suggest that support vehicle piloting duties be shared. If riders/hikers share support duties, significant monies can be saved on paying for support and minor rescue missions. Moreover, one doesn't have to prearrange (impose upon) help from others. The trekkers would help each other – and sometimes even themselves. For instance; when someone is tired, they can drive their own sag wagon (after a good nap, of course – there should be plenty of time for a vehicle to catch up). And if one of the trekkers is so enthusiastic about covering the whole trial under human power, they could pay another trekker to cover for them in the support vehicle. By utilizing this option, richer trekkers can buy meals and incidentals for less well-off trekkers.

Can it be done without a support truck? Yes, of course. I've multi-day mountain biked sections of the proposed Open Range Trail that way – and I prefer this way of travel the best. But... you are out there... and it's a lot harder to get someone not involved in the trek to come help when something eventually does happen. (Yes, there's always the option of hiking to the nearest highway to hitchhike to the nearest bike store, but that might be at least a day's hike and a couple hundred highway miles away.)

In this proposal I have highlighted a number of the difficulties that can occur traveling in remote places in Rural Nevada. But that is the point. Hiking/riding across Nevada is a serious challenge. But there are a lot of people looking for a serious challenge – especially with options...

This is open range. Riders and hikers can usually skip over to the next mountain range or valley – on either side of them, whenever they feel like. This is open range, in most places; your campsite is where you lay your head. Of course, treat the land with respect. Open range implies you can go anywhere you want, and as far as I know; you can... on foot. But we need to be reasonable when it comes to motor vehicles.

The routes that I have mapped out already exist. Essentially, all I want to do is give these combined routes a name.

Of course; not all of the existing Open Range Trails follow the crests of mountain ranges. In fact, a number of the trails are actually dirt roads in the valleys. But that's OK. We can easily map this out along existing routes, now – and if it catches on, others can add more single-track dirt trails along the mountain ranges later.

That's part of the beauty of a trail network. Routes can be added and subtracted without much difficulty. The other beauty is that everyone who travels this trail will have different story to tell. Which will get people talking about the trail – to compare notes.

...And that's what I believe needs to be done next. We need to compare notes. This is a proposed trail. It needs to be scouted. Locals need to be interviewed, so we can learn from them the conditions on the trails year-round.

What will make the Open Range Trail a reality is a good trail guide, a decent route map, and a few good stories.

Without knowing it; for the past three years – I've been working on a trail guide. But I'm far from done. If you want to help, let me know. (I would like to see this effort ultimately benefit the Great Basin Trails Alliance.) The map I have laid out is pre-preliminary. But I have been along a number of these routes, and they are spectacular in their own way... I want people to see that.

What will make the Open Range Trail worth-while is the well-deserved adoration and respect Rural Nevada (West Utah, and possibly Idaho) will get from travelers. After being in the outdoors here, no one will ever think of this place as a wasteland again.

------------------------------

I'm presently planning a mountain bike tour from Mt. Charleston through the Desert National Wildlife Range, to Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, and likely on to Caliente through Delamar Valley, Rainbow Canyon, and Kershaw-Ryan State Park. The likely time-frame is late March. The ride should take just less than a week. The route is almost all dirt road. I don't know the mileage, but I'm not a high-mileage rider. So far, there will be two, maybe three riders. If you think you might be interested in joining us, email me at rickspils@excite.com

Fracking may come to Nevada much bigger than we've been told.‏

It looks like “Noble” Energy plans to frack Nevada much more than we've been told.

A Review Journal article reports that “Noble” Energy plans to frack outside of Wells, Nevada.

But in their reports to investors, “Noble” Energy has maps that also show extensive potential fracking alongside the West face of the Ruby Mountain Range.

The map is in the "Noble" Energy Exploration presentation to investors on page 11.

The consequences of taking millions of gallons of Nevada's fresh water, poisoning it with dangerous fracking fluids, and pumping those millions of gallons of poisoned fracking water underground in this area will likely include the polluting of ground water under Lamoile, Spring Creek, South Fork and possibly even Elko. Moreover, springs in the area will very likely release this polluted water and/or poisonous natural gas into tributaries of the Humbolt River.

And it looks like they're hoping to frack almost half a billion barrels of oil effective (BBoe) from Nevada. This graph is on the "Noble" Energy Operations Summary presentation on page 11.

As usual with dangerous polluting methods like fracking, it looks like we're being lied to about everything.

...The fossil fuel industry has a long record of killing people and life indiscriminately; with leaded gasoline, environmental destruction, air pollution, oil spills, global warming, and water poisoning. 

And Nevadans appear to be next in their sights. 

Don't expect much help from the government. Along with the big banks, the health "care" industry, and the military/industrial complex; the fossil fuel industry owns most of the politicians. The oil and gas industry has donated $238.7 million dollars to candidates and parties since 1990 (75% to Republicans). Nevada's State Senator Dean Heller is near the top of the list of dirty money recipients. And if that isn't enough, many politicians own stock in the fossil fuel industry. 

There are corrupt people in this country who probably feel that they are above the law... They probably write the laws. But they are not more powerful than all of the rest of us combined. We won't be able to undo this environmental disaster - and "Noble" Energy has no intentions whatsoever of averting it. It is up to us. How much do you love this place? 

Nevada needs something like an Idle No More movement (on steroids) before this happens. Waiting until the damage is done is waiting until it's too late... for then; even imprisonment - even revenge won't be enough. 

What The Oligarchy Fears Most

What is it that the rich and powerful fear the most?

They fear the loss of the tenuous hold they have on their wealth and power. 

...They fear the loss of thier income stream.  

Many among the super-rich think they're better than us. But the flip side of all that perceived intellectual superiority is the realization that there are people out there with better ideas. They know it. And it keeps them awake at night. 

 

Meet Nick Woodman, CEO and founder of GoPro – a company that sells a camera. Of course, not just any camera. This is a tiny digital video camera that has been ruggedized and designed to mount just about anywhere. Nick Woodman started his company from scratch in 2002 with a few thousand dollars. Nick Woodman is now a billionaire. He's sold that many cameras. 

Now consider Kodak – the most successful film company for decades. Now bankrupt – no longer in the photo business at all... Kodak had to see the digital camera age coming. They did. They sold digital cameras. But these were digital cameras just like everybody else's. With all of Kodak's money, people, and business degrees; they couldn't develop the next best thing. This is common. In fact, there are reasons for it.

With all the money Kodak was raking in selling film, nothing else looked profitable.

With all the employees Kodak had, no one thought of it, because they were all busy doing their assigned jobs.

With all the success Kodak had over the years, their management lost the will to take risks (even though, with all their education, they might have known better).

In other words; Kodak got fat and out of touch – and lost their edge.

Either way, Nick Woodman is a billionaire and Kodak is out of the photography business. And every big company knows they could be next. The truth is; many of them should be.

When any company ceases to provide it's customers with the most desirable goods or services, the market is justified in seeking another provider.

But that's not the capitalism we have.

We don't have a free market economy.

We don't have well regulated open markets.

We have monopoly capitalism.

That means we have the freedom to choose from what the monopolies have to offer – and it usually is just barely good enough – but that's OK, because it's expensive.

We have allowed the oligarchs to play whack-a-mole with better ideas.

They do this:

• by distorting the rule of law.
• by bribing (with campaign contributions) elected officials.
• by distorting the peoples' perception of the truth.
• by buying any company that gives them enough grief.

Competition is fundamentally necessary in capitalism. Without it, the market cannot adapt. Of course, that's exactly what oligarchs want. American capitalism rewards monopoly control. Monopolies maximize their profits by selling us federally subsidized - overpriced (and often dangerous) junk. And when our tools from them don't work, everything goes to pieces. But for a while, the oligarchs keep their income stream.

If nothing else, this is what we have to stop. The fate of all life on the planet is at stake.

I'm not exaggerating.

Think about it. Humanity's genetic advantage is that we are capable of instant change. We can adapt by changing our minds. We can learn. This is extraordinarily important. Humans can adapt without having to change our genetics.

Being human means being able to determine, and change, our own destiny.

But if we can't, for numerous underhanded reasons, change our minds; we can't utilize our genetic advantage. If we can't utilize our genetic advantages, we move to the front of the line for extinction. And it's likely we'll take a lot of other life forms with us. 

Oh... by the way, the Arctic Ice Cap just melted to its smallest size in recorded history this year. Nobody seems to be really shocked any more. We know what needs to be done. We know it can be done. We just haven't been able to get around to it yet.

Some people have. The Occupy Movement has peacefully tried to make a difference. And they got the expected mistreatment – times ten. This is a sign. This is a sign that the oligarchy is much more powerful than most of us ever imagined. And this is also a sign that they are very afraid...

Hey, it's our money they're taking. And if we ever found out... well, we might buy our stuff from some other monopolistic supplier. 

The oligarchy has used every trick in the book to keep us under their control. They have realized that all they have to do is control some of us – cast doubt in the minds of most of us – and ostracize the rest of us.

The oligarchy has realized that the more they squeeze the populous with absurd laws, the more the populous will call for smaller government. And the more pressure there is for freedom from restrictions, the more restrictions the oligarchy can avoid. 

Remember, when it comes right down to it; most of the time, those in power write the laws – for their own selfish benefit.

...But not always.

Their goal is to keep us making payments.

Our goal is to live a happy life.

There is bound to be conflict.

But ultimately, they can only dominate us if we let them.

What If The Whole World Were Like Haiti?

Have you ever noticed that Haiti sounds a lot like Hades?

Maybe this is prophecy.

What if some profit from the past had the insight to foresee that a nation which would suffer the fate of a man-made hell would have a name that sounded like Hades? Hey, maybe even the “s” at the end of the word Hades even implied multiple Haiti-s?

I am not a scholar on this. I only offer this speculation up as something to think about.

And of course, I'm not saying that Haiti is Hell. But we all know that Haiti has been through hell.

Apparently the Judeo-Christian version of the word “Hades” originally meant something like mass grave.

(Approximately 70,000 Haitians died in the 2010 earthquake.)

...In a recent post, I offered up the possibility that Hell is not a place so much as a time – and that our accumulated behavior could create Hell (or Heaven) right here on Earth.

Quite likely humanity's greatest fear is that we destroy so much of the Environment that the whole world becomes like the worst of Haiti – everywhere... Could someone with Nostradamus-like prophesy have foreseen that?

I don't know.

But what I do suspect is that you can't blame Hell on God – if we make it ourselves.