Forcast is Smog over L.A.

The smog will certainly thicken (heh, heh)!

LA residents told to cut showers as drought deepens

Wed Jun 6, 2007 5:20PM EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles residents were urged on Wednesday to take shorter showers, reduce lawn sprinklers and stop throwing trash in toilets in a bid to cut water usage by 10 percent in the driest year on record.
With downtown Los Angeles seeing a record low of 4 inches
of rain since July 2006 -- less than a quarter of normal -- and with a hot, dry summer ahead, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the city needed "to change course and conserve water to steer clear of this perfect storm."
It is the driest year since rainfall records began 130 years ago....(complete article here)

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This is only going to become more and more common -- not because of global warming (a natural phenomenon) -- but because of the population pressure on arid regions. We as a country might want to consider some form of national planning and zoning (I know, that's very anti-capitalistic) to control 1) urban sprawl into prime agricultural areas, 2) environmental pressures -- we already see this on where concentrated livestock facilities can locate and it should be an important consideration in locating many industries, and 3) pressure on water supplies. We could avert a lot of future headaches and heartaches for our children with a little planning now. Sadly, we can't let our government lead such an effort. They are notoriously short-sighted -- just look at Social Security and the potential disaster our children and grand children face with that!