The California drought and your choice on going to grad school there

[LaSombra]

Hi all, 
 

So I'm curious to  know, has the drought swayed anyone's decision on attending grad school in California? 

[MathCat]

It worries me a bit, but did not stop me from accepting an offer there.

[LaSombra]

It worries me a bit, but did not stop me from accepting an offer there.

This is interesting, was it the case that you had multiple offers at equally prestigious schools? 

[maelia8]

I'm already here in California and have been since last year, but the drought didn't stop my decision to come here. First off, the drought has different effects in different parts of the state, and there are just as serious drought problems in other parts of the West (such as where my parents live). As a private citizen without a garden or lawn living in an urban area, the only way in which the drought has directly affected me is that I try to take fast showers and wash all of my weekly laundry in one load rather than two or three. It is a long-term problem, but the only thing I can do about it is vote and watch my personal usage.

[MathCat]

This is interesting, was it the case that you had multiple offers at equally prestigious schools? 

The school I accepted is pretty much tied for the highest ranked I got into, but it is not the most prestigious (people think it's lower ranked than it is, generally speaking). But that wasn't really the deciding factor for me. It was the best personal fit, tied for best research interest fit with program X, and the graduates do much better than those from X.

[spellbanisher]

Considering that agriculture accounts for 80% of California's water consumption, the most significant impact of the drought will be higher fruit, vegetable, and nut prices, which, when you consider that California grows most of the food that people in the US eat (most other ag states grow food for feed), means that the impact of the drought will effect pretty much effect everyone in the United States who consumes produce. Although it will also mean more wildfires, but except for Santa Cruz, I'm not sure how many of California's research universities are located in fire-prone areas. 

[LaSombra]

I'm already here in California and have been since last year, but the drought didn't stop my decision to come here. First off, the drought has different effects in different parts of the state, and there are just as serious drought problems in other parts of the West (such as where my parents live). As a private citizen without a garden or lawn living in an urban area, the only way in which the drought has directly affected me is that I try to take fast showers and wash all of my weekly laundry in one load rather than two or three. It is a long-term problem, but the only thing I can do about it is vote and watch my personal usage.

From what I've read and watched (interviews) on the matter, there's about a year's supplies of water left. Most of it goes towards agriculture since California grows a nice chunk of the countries agriculture (I think about +20% of it). Of course this means the drought, should it come to the point where all the water reserves are emptied holds mayor implications for the entire country. Although, what I'm interested in, is in how you expect it to affect your graduate program? 

[rising_star]

Okay, I have to say that there's more you can do than watch how much water you use and vote. Other things to consider include what you eat (meat vs. vegetables but also which vegetables), how much food you waste (if any), what you do with excess water (like from waiting for shower water to get hot, or from the rinse cycle of the washer), and your electricity consumption. There's more, obviously, but all of those affect how much water is being used. Food waste is actually a huge water waster (I can link to studies if people doubt this) and power generation requires a lot of water generally speaking.

 

That said, I'm not saying any of this to stop someone from accepting an offer in California. There are environmental problems everywhere that, as a country, we will be forced to tackle in the next decade or two. Perhaps living in these places even temporarily can make people more willing to identify solutions that require sacrifice from everyone, not just a select few.

[jujubea]

Okay, I have to say that there's more you can do than watch how much water you use and vote. Other things to consider include what you eat (meat vs. vegetables but also which vegetables), how much food you waste (if any), what you do with excess water (like from waiting for shower water to get hot, or from the rinse cycle of the washer), and your electricity consumption. There's more, obviously, but all of those affect how much water is being used. Food waste is actually a huge water waster (I can link to studies if people doubt this) and power generation requires a lot of water generally speaking.

 

That said, I'm not saying any of this to stop someone from accepting an offer in California. There are environmental problems everywhere that, as a country, we will be forced to tackle in the next decade or two. Perhaps living in these places even temporarily can make people more willing to identify solutions that require sacrifice from everyone, not just a select few.

 

I'd love to see that link to share with my family. 

 

We are moving to CA and we are concerned about the drought. Yet, while it was definitely serious part of our conversations about the move, it was never going to be a deciding factor.

It definitely colors our discussions about renting versus buying, for how long, and where, though.

[1Q84]

I am not so angry at agricultural uses of water (though they are quite high and could certainly be made less wasteful) because these farmers need to make ends meet too. It's not a great system, but it's what they have for now. It'd be great if the industry could get around to fixing that aspect of their operations.

 

What's worse, in my opinion, is Nestle retaining its bottling rights to the reservoirs in California, for the entirety of the drought. It's so insulting to me that restaurants now won't give you a glass of water to "conserve," when Nestle is busy shipping California's water to Japan! Before you get a chance to vote, you can also act up and petition the government to revoke or renegotiate Nestle's bottling rights.

 

The amount of people here in LA that buy bottles of water everyday is absolutely mindblowingly infuriating. I hate it! 

 

Anyway, some sources:

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/nestle-is-bottling-water-from-california-2015-4

 

An absolutely bonkers article that details how the CEO of Nestle doesn't believe access to water is a human right (FWIW, he backpedaled on this and said, "Okay, well, a certain amount of water per person is a human right. After that amount, we should have rights to bottle and sell at whatever price we want):

 

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-privatisation-of-water-nestle-denies-that-water-is-a-fundamental-human-right/5332238

[sunnyskies13]

I am originally from CA and will be returning for grad school. I have heard this from multiple people wondering how I feel about moving to a state with water restrictions. I remind them that when my parents and I lived there, there was a drought going on too that was ended by "Miracle rain of '91". It's not a relatively new problem for CA, just that it's getting more severe. IMO, and it seems like people agree on here, is that they could be doing more to conserve water such as more control with Nestle and agriculture use. I'm glad to see Palm Springs and other areas thinking about changing their landscaping.

[rising_star]

Nestle's position is, unfortunately, not new for bottled water companies. In fact, Dasani did something similar in Georgia during the drought there 8ish years ago. 

 

Food waste and water consumption link: "We found that around one quarter of the produced food supply (614 kcal/cap/day) is lost within the food supply chain (FSC). The production of these lost and wasted food crops accounts for 24% of total freshwater resources used in food crop production (27 m3/cap/yr), 23% of total global cropland area (31 × 10− 3 ha/cap/yr), and 23% of total global fertiliser use (4.3 kg/cap/yr)." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969712011862

[fancypants09]

I'm not worried about the drought as much as I'm worried about earthquakes. Heard there were two in LA yesterday?! 

[doomination]

I didn't let it influence my decision.

 

I have also been told that the drought is less severe in the bay area, compared to southern california where it is more severe.

[1Q84]

I'm not worried about the drought as much as I'm worried about earthquakes. Heard there were two in LA yesterday?! 

 

It was so tiny that I thought someone dropped a piece of furniture upstairs.

[Crucial BBQ]

I am from California and have been on this planet for a good number of years.  California has pretty much always been in a drought but not necessarily in drought conditions.  What is going on now is not the worst that has happened in recent times.  My mother has had to regulate her lawn to five minutes of watering per week for a few years now.  

 

But yes, it has affected my grad school applications.  In particular, the hydrology graduate group at UC Davis has been absolutely swamped with applicants who all of a sudden give a hoot and want to "save California" [re:  get a degree in something that will nearly assure employment forever].  I know for a fact that the number of applicants was twice less two years ago.  

[mandarin.orange]

Other things to consider include what you eat (meat vs. vegetables but also which vegetables), how much food you waste (if any), what you do with excess water (like from waiting for shower water to get hot, or from the rinse cycle of the washer), and your electricity consumption. There's more, obviously, but all of those affect how much water is being used. Food waste is actually a huge water waster (I can link to studies if people doubt this) and power generation requires a lot of water generally speaking.

 

Along these lines, L.A. Times had this food-water footprint interactive graphic  last week where you can see what foods (and proteins, esp.) are big water guzzlers.

Edited April 14, 2015 by mandarin.orange

[twentysix]

Hi all, 

 

So I'm curious to  know, has the drought swayed anyone's decision on attending grad school in California? 

 

Nope. Not a bit. Nada. Nein. Niet. No.

 

If I were going into graduate school as a turnip farmer maybe I would have cared.

[spectastic]

I would be more worried about the 25%/year tuition increase in the next 5 years in all UC schools, the high taxes, gas prices, the rent (which is absolutely fucked), etc. 

 

as far as the drought, I stayed with a family there who talked about a $5000 bill for going over the month's water limit, which goes on to show how ridiculous their budget issue is in the state.

 

I think the main blame is being put on climate change, where the snow in nor cal that supplies the rivers of so cal is declining. if that were the case they'll have to build some bad ass, and expensive pipelines, which will suck for the tax payer.

 

so in summary, way too many people, way too expensive. great area, but for the aforementioned reasons, I'm picking Austin instead.

[twentysix]

I would be more worried about the 25%/year tuition increase in the next 5 years in all UC schools, the high taxes, gas prices, the rent (which is absolutely fucked), etc. 

 

as far as the drought, I stayed with a family there who talked about a $5000 bill for going over the month's water limit, which goes on to show how ridiculous their budget issue is in the state.

 

I think the main blame is being put on climate change, where the snow in nor cal that supplies the rivers of so cal is declining. if that were the case they'll have to build some bad ass, and expensive pipelines, which will suck for the tax payer.

 

so in summary, way too many people, way too expensive. great area, but for the aforementioned reasons, I'm picking Austin instead.

 

Pipeline? Desalination is probably more likely and more sustainable. I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get funding at the UC school you were considering. 25% per year for 5 years?? That has got to be wrong. Tuition would increase by a completely obscene amount. It's currently about 15k, it would be like 45k in 2020. I think tuition increases have a legal cap in my current state at like 4%. 25% would be completely absurd.

Edited April 14, 2015 by twentysix

[twentysix]

Just as an exercise of hilarity, I unscientifically used my computers calculator function to see how long it would take for UC tuition to be $1,000,000+ a year at a 25% increase per year. It's not even 2 decades. I think you maybe meant 5%.

Edited April 14, 2015 by twentysix

[spectastic]

or that, whichever one's cheaper, although neither will be cheap to build or maintain. 

 

and yea, 5%, not 25%. over the next 4 years i think

Edited April 14, 2015 by spectastic

[spectastic]

Wait it's over 5 years. That's why I was thinking 25, because the 5% compounded over 5 years will result in a little more than a 25% tuition hike. It's a growing bubble

[Crucial BBQ]

Considering that agriculture accounts for 80% of California's water consumption, the most significant impact of the drought will be higher fruit, vegetable, and nut prices, which, when you consider that California grows most of the food that people in the US eat (most other ag states grow food for feed), means that the impact of the drought will effect pretty much effect everyone in the United States who consumes produce. Although it will also mean more wildfires, but except for Santa Cruz, I'm not sure how many of California's research universities are located in fire-prone areas. 

iirc, the current plan is to still pump the water supply to agriculture with the cities buying water from elsewhere. Despite its economic woes (which the cheap price of UCs is certainly an impetus to), California cities will fair pretty well. 

[Crucial BBQ]

I am originally from CA and will be returning for grad school. I have heard this from multiple people wondering how I feel about moving to a state with water restrictions. I remind them that when my parents and I lived there, there was a drought going on too that was ended by "Miracle rain of '91". It's not a relatively new problem for CA, just that it's getting more severe. IMO, and it seems like people agree on here, is that they could be doing more to conserve water such as more control with Nestle and agriculture use. I'm glad to see Palm Springs and other areas thinking about changing their landscaping.

I don't think people who are not from California realize this.  To the rest of the Country it is big news.  To Californians, as with earthquakes and too much Sun, it is just a part of life. People who study this stuff suggest that California has had major droughts that have lasted 100+ years, and water has always been an issue since day one.  Google "water wars" for more info on it.