@dannyboy I grew up in the little finger of the mitten (I'm in TN now) and am seriously considering moving back before the great climate immigration starts. I love that area and, from the research I've done, it looks like it's predicted to be one of the better places to be for climate change.
Another good idea here in CA - to recharge aquifers and use water from megastorms that would normally just cause damage, for irrigation and drinking water.
This is a really good article about how wells are running dry in California's Central Valley, the Farm /Bread Basket of America.
Groundwater is both the main source of water for many communities and a buffer that California relies on during drought. Normally, these underground reserves account for about 40 percent of the state’s water supply; in dry years, that grows to 60 percent. Of the 3,700 wells on the state’s live groundwater website that track levels over the past decade, nearly half of them are much below normal or at an all-time low.
“What we’re facing is pretty unprecedented,” said Steven Springhorn, an engineering geologist with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Office of California’s Department of Water Resources. “It’s very dry out there.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/11/14/california-drought-bottled-water/
@lovendures YEP - that's why new ideas are being tried - read the article I linked to.