But just as salts are necessary for survival, too much of them can kill. An overabundance of salts can even leave oceans lifeless as exemplified by the Dead Sea in the Middle East. In a semi-arid climate such as California s, monitoring and maintaining water supplies is essential and as a result, how to handle salt is an especially important and complex issue. The effects of increased salinity permeate nearly every facet of water in California. As the leading agricultural state in the nation, farmers must have quality water to grow their crops.
Salt can, and has, ruined millions of dollars worth of produce.
This is complicated by the fact that the very nature of irrigation can add salt to water supplies by flushing salts from the soil and into water sources. But as the nation s most populous state, California s urban areas also suffer great financial hardship from saline water and for that reason, this issue of Western Water intentionally examines salt in the urban setting. Southern California is the largest user of this water supply about 5.2 million acre-feet annually in recent years. The impacts of salt on urban areas, however, don t stop with tangible damage to pipes, appliances and water heater corrosion. Groundwater and water recycling also are susceptible to salt in the water supply.