Grants Pass, OR (PRWEB) March 07, 2014
California is experiencing the worst extended drought in the state’s history, with no end in sight. According to radio host and water champion Sharon Kleyne, without the foresight of former California Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, who established the California State Water Project (SWP) 50 years ago, the situation would be far worse. Kleyne’s comments, on her radio show of March 4, 2014, marked the start of the show’s seventh season.
The globally syndicated Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water® radio show, with host Sharon Kleyne, is heard on VoiceAmerica’s Variety and Health and Wellness Channels, and on Apple iTunes. Reflecting Kleyne’s mission to revolutionize fresh water and atmospheric technology, the show covers fresh water related topics from global climate and atmospheric change, to pollution, sanitation and water wars, to dehydration, nutrition and health.
Kleyne is Founder of Bio Logic Aqua Research, a fresh water, atmospheric and health technology and development center. Natures Tears® EyeMist®, a 100% pure water mist, is the 20 year old Research Center’s global signature product for dry eyes.
The California State Water Project or SWP, Kleyne reports, was enacted in 1960, during Pat Brown’s second year as Governor. Major components, the Oroville Dam/Feather River Project and the California Aqueduct, were completed in 1968. The California Aqueduct is now the “Edmund G. Brown, Sr. California Aqueduct.” Pat Brown is father of the current California Governor, Edmund G “Jerry” Brown, Jr.
Kleyne frequently cites Brown’s famous justification for the SWP: “To correct an accident of people and geography.”
Other major California water projects, Kleyne explains, include the US Government’s Central Valley Project, which operates the Shasta Dam and numerous other dams, and the Los Angeles Water Project, which operates the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Begun in 1905, the LA Aqueduct carries water from the Owens Valley on the East side of the Sierra Nevada, to Lost Angeles. The controversial Hetch-Hetchy dam and reservoir, built in 1923 inside Yosemite National Park, continues to supply water to San Francisco.
During the current drought, says Kleyne, water allocations for agriculture have been slashed to near zero. Since California is the largest agricultural producer in the US and arguably, the world, the economic impact could be disastrous. Farmers have responded by increasing irrigation with well water, which is having a substantial impact on the San Joaquin Valley’s groundwater reserve (“How Bad is California’s Epic Drought?” James Famighetti, 2-22-14, takepath.com.)
The distribution of fresh water on Earth, Kleyne notes, is extremely variable and unpredictable. Humans, on the other hand, no matter how primitive, require reliable and sanitary fresh water on a daily basis. Kleyne believes that with innovative water and atmospheric technology, this basic human need can be met in ways that conserve water and improve the environment.
Essential to Kleyne’s water philosophy is the capture, storage and diversion of fresh rainwater so that it does not all run into the ocean but remains available to humans. Fresh water reservoirs, say Kleyne, add healthy humidity to the atmosphere, attract wildlife and recharge groundwater.
Even if the California drought continues, Kleyne is optimistic that technology and innovation can find a solution that satisfies everyone long term. The key is working together, identifying common goals, and conservation measures such as roof runoff collection (illegal in some states), recycling of sink and bathtub “gray water” for gardens and lawns, desalinization, advances in dryland farming, and other innovations.
Kleyne cites the “Singapore Model” as an example of successful fresh water conservation. Singapore is a city of five-million located on a small island with few streams and little open land. Using a creative, multi-pronged approach, Singapore has significantly reduced its dependence on imported water from Malaysia and is well on the way to meeting its goal of 100% water independence by 2050.
To survive and thrive, Kleyne concludes, all terrestrial life on Earth must have access to fresh water and a healthy atmosphere with unpolluted water vapor. By taking care of Earth’s fresh water, we can change weather patterns, minimize the evaporation pressure that causes dehydration, water loss and disease and enable our beautiful Water Planet to live forever and not end up, like Mars, as lifeless dust.
Live broadcasts of Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water® are heard on Mondays at 10:00 a.m. PST/PDT. Podcasts of all shows may be heard at http://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2207/the-sharon-kleyne-hour.