ABSTRACT
The estuaries provide a large share of Southern California's water; drawdown from the rivers is so great that seawater runs ten miles up the San Joaquin. Fresh water is a candidate for being the limiting resource. A new problem upstream is that the delta smelt may go extinct, and environmentalists assert its rights to water. Desalination would take six times as much energy as pumping the same amount of fresh water through the California Aqueduct. If oil were used as the energy source, it would take 81 million barrels of oil per year to meet the anticipated annual needs of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Possibly the changed water flow, maybe pesticides, but more likely the increased salinity from backed-up seawater have taken a toll. Fuel is candidate for being the limiting factor for the carrying capacity of the world.
