William Shatner of StarTrek fame has proposed moving water through new massive pipelines from the Pacific Northwest down to California to support the agriculture industry there. He even started a Kickstarter campaign to raise the money to build those pipelines.
But Cliff Mass, an atmospheric scientist from the University of Washington, has a different idea: move the agriculture to the Pacific Northwest instead. He points out that there is likely to be a longer growing season in the future as warming continues, and also says that many climate models indicate that a moderate increase in precipitation may occur, which could aid in agriculture as long as the water can be captured and used when needed by thirsty crops. If you have read previous articles about moving California agriculture to the Southeast, you will be interested in his blog posting here. Be sure to read the comments too–there are some excellent points and a surprisingly civil exchange of ideas.
