Spanish Marcona Almonds>Ca Almonds

agent-maroon said:

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HollywoodBQ said:

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Nutjob California buddy of mine has been on about Almonds and their water evils for at least a decade.

His claim is that the reason the water is a problem is because all the farmers in the Central Valley switched to Almonds once we started cracking down on immigration and they couldn't get illegals to pick their crops anymore.

So... if we'd just let the illegals back in, the farmers could get off Almonds.

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Because you can just switch back & forth from an annual produce crop to a tree-based nut crop that takes decades to develop as the political winds change direction, amirite?

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You highlighted the wrong part. "Nutjob Californian" is what should have been highlighted.

And as someone already pointed out, this was covered in Season 3 of Goliath.

SunrayAg said:

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flown-the-coop said:

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Vogon Poet said:

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Water Footprint will soon be the new Carbon Footprint.

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Crybabies in the hill country been moaning about this for decades.

No reason we shouldn't have nuclear powered desalination plants all along the coast.

Bunch of made up crisis to distract you.

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Obviously a tough guy who has never seen his well go dry, and likely has no concept of how water gets to your house…

Well guess what tough guy. Thousands of rural homeowners in the hill country have seen their wells run dry. Which pretty much makes rural properties uninhabitable. But tough guys like you who get your water from the sink and your groceries from HEB wouldn't understand that I guess.

And about those nuclear desalination plants… Where exactly is the trillions of dollars to build them going to come from? Magic free money from the sky?

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Bro... $1T for a desal plant?

Meanwhile the Saudis are getting them for $500M.
https://tunnels-infrastructures.com/antania-500-million-desalination-plant-saudi-arabia/

They're far easier to build and far less expensive than California High Speed Rail.

But you already know the cost overruns are just going into the pockets of politicians and their backers.

SunrayAg is on a roll…just leave him be…or he is wasted, hard to tell.

MelvinUdall said:

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SunrayAg is on a roll…just leave him be…or he is wasted, hard to tell.

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Might be a bot with suicide ideation.

agent-maroon said:

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FriscoKid said:

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Over_ed said:

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Another comparison...golf courses. Currently Data Centers use ~ 2% of what US golf courses consume. Even if we allow for incredible increase in next 10 years, will still be a small fraction.

I don't golf, but I can hardly wait for the commies to attack elitist country clubs who are profligate wasters of our precious water.

I know...they'll have to pry the 7-iron from your cold, dead hands. Planet of the Apes - maybe it was foreshadowing libs taking over the world? RIP Mr. Heston.

ETA fix typos

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This is true. Liquid cooling in data centers is a big chiller tank of water and the water flows through the pipes up to the rack of equipment and then through cold plates mounted on the hot electrical components. The "hot" water returns back to the chiller to cool off and get pumped back through the data center again. No water is gained or lost through the entire process. The fear porn around data centers is nuts. When a green is watered on a golf course it is gone to the clouds through evaporation.

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No water is lost in the circulated coolant water, but there are certainly evaporative losses in any water that cools the chiller heat exchanger. And the one Sunray is talking about will be cooled with an evaporative cooling tower which will lose tremendous amounts of water.

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This might be a fair point. I was focused on electrical cooling instead of evaporate. But, I still think water loss with data centers is a stupid argument. We have been building lakes to cool power plants for decades.

Squadron7 said:

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MelvinUdall said:

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SunrayAg is on a roll…just leave him be…or he is wasted, hard to tell.

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Might be a bot with suicide ideation.

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Or maybe it's just a guy who lives west of 35 and is seeing the water situation real time in the state.

Anyone with any critical thinking skills could see a water issue in Texas with the population increases over the last 20 years. It's too bad our "leadership" ignored that.

Azul88 said:

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Squadron7 said:

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MelvinUdall said:

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SunrayAg is on a roll…just leave him be…or he is wasted, hard to tell.

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Might be a bot with suicide ideation.

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Or maybe it's just a guy who lives west of 35 and is seeing the water situation real time in the state.

Anyone with any critical thinking skills could see a water issue in Texas with the population increases over the last 20 years. It's too bad our "leadership" ignored that.

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There are certainly places unsuited for them. It is the Luddite shrieking about them in general that is following the climate change freakout template.

SunrayAg said:

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And your point is?

Almonds provide nutritional value to humans.

Data centers provide a bot to write emails for you.

If you think food is less important than human intellectual laziness, then maybe you should stop eating?

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What a terrible analogy. Data centers are tools used for many purposes by many people. There is good odds that Texags uses at least one somewhere to either run this site and/or store data. So we're probably all using one just to read this thread.

"Both desert states are pursuing a deal with the San Diego County Water Authority to tap millions of gallons of fresh water produced by a Carlsbad ocean-desalination plantthe largest in North Americato help offset their reliance on the collapsing Colorado River."

San Diego now has so much water that it's selling it

A lot of golf courses use gray water and more will in the future or close up. So yes, you will have to pry my 7-iron out of my cold, arthritic fingers.

SunrayAg said:

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And your point is?

Almonds provide nutritional value to humans.

Data centers provide a bot to write emails for you.

If you think food is less important than human intellectual laziness, then maybe you should stop eating?

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Is the irony lost on you that your message was posted on a message board hosted in a data center?

Quote:

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We have been building lakes to cool power plants for decades.

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Not east of Amarillo (Sunray's post) or really not much west of I35 we're not. Vast majority of the available sites have already been utilized for conventional power generation. Maybe some shuttered power plants could be retrofitted or demolished to a clean build for cooling purposes but most are still being used for cooling electrical power generation.

Azul88 said:

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Squadron7 said:

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MelvinUdall said:

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SunrayAg is on a roll…just leave him be…or he is wasted, hard to tell.

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Might be a bot with suicide ideation.

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Or maybe it's just a guy who lives west of 35 and is seeing the water situation real time in the state.

Anyone with any critical thinking skills could see a water issue in Texas with the population increases over the last 20 years. It's too bad our "leadership" ignored that.

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There is a problem to deal with, but he is still saying ridiculous things…

Water has always been a critical issue. Most western and plains states are locked in decades deep litigation over water resources. Food > Data Centers > golf courses. The question is are Almonds a basic food source or a luxury food source.

We fixed the keg said:

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Logos Stick said:

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Not only do they consume massive amounts of water, they have to ship truckloads of bees out there every year to pollinate those trees.

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Got a buddy in East Texas that was working to get his hive numbers up to start taking advantage. Solid money if you can keep your hive strong/healthy.

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https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-08-20-saving-bees-superfoods-new-engineered-supplement-found-boost-colony-reproduction

This may be of interest to him.

HollywoodBQ said:

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Nutjob California buddy of mine has been on about Almonds and their water evils for at least a decade.

His claim is that the reason the water is a problem is because all the farmers in the Central Valley switched to Almonds once we started cracking down on immigration and they couldn't get illegals to pick their crops anymore.

So... if we'd just let the illegals back in, the farmers could get off Almonds.

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It was a major local talking point when I lived there almost two decades ago. It's obscene how much water that industry sucks up comparatively speaking. So incredibly inefficient, especially in times of major drought. Which is pretty much always in that state. The politics behind it all is both fascinating and maddening.

SunrayAg said:

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And your point is?

Almonds provide nutritional value to humans.

Data centers provide a bot to write emails for you.

If you think food is less important than human intellectual laziness, then maybe you should stop eating?

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Claude is my best friend, man!

Also, as I posted above... nothing about the almond industry is natural. Why do it at all? Surely many other foods are less resource intensive. Seems like a luxury food item for the first world.

We fixed the keg said:

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Logos Stick said:

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Not only do they consume massive amounts of water, they have to ship truckloads of bees out there every year to pollinate those trees.

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Got a buddy in East Texas that was working to get his hive numbers up to start taking advantage. Solid money if you can keep your hive strong/healthy.

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jpb1999 said:

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Azul88 said:

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Squadron7 said:

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MelvinUdall said:

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SunrayAg is on a roll…just leave him be…or he is wasted, hard to tell.

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Might be a bot with suicide ideation.

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Or maybe it's just a guy who lives west of 35 and is seeing the water situation real time in the state.

Anyone with any critical thinking skills could see a water issue in Texas with the population increases over the last 20 years. It's too bad our "leadership" ignored that.

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There is a problem to deal with, but he is still saying ridiculous things…

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I haven't said anything ridiculous yet.

Just accurate.

The "conservative talking points generator" has determined that we need data centers on every corner and anyone who opposes them is the same as a climate tard.

And I have said multiple times on multiple threads, I don't oppose data centers. I oppose destroying farm and ranch land and green spaces and rural communities. Put the data centers in industrial areas in big cities and I'm fine with them.

SunrayAg said:

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And your point is?

Almonds provide nutritional value to humans.

Data centers provide a bot to write emails for you.

If you think food is less important than human intellectual laziness, then maybe you should stop eating?

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Oh dear God. If that's your perception of the impact AI you should sit this one out. You have to understand both sides of an argument before you can adequately participate in said argument. This is the core problem of the left, they barely understand their own side and have no clue what the other side is saying.

GDit I like chocolate covered almonds from Buc-ee's. Let the water flow!

docb said:

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GDit I like chocolate covered almonds from Buc-ee's. Let the water flow!

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I like Buc-ee's salt water taffy.

Over_ed said:

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Another comparison...golf courses. Currently Data Centers use ~ 2% of what US golf courses consume. Even if we allow for incredible increase in next 10 years, will still be a small fraction.

I don't golf, but I can hardly wait for the commies to attack elitist country clubs who are profligate wasters of our precious water.

I know...they'll have to pry the 7-iron from your cold, dead hands. Planet of the Apes - maybe it was foreshadowing libs taking over the world? RIP Mr. Heston.

ETA fix typos

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they started going after golf courses last year. Really pissed off a friend when I asked why they wanted to convert green grass and trees into concrete and glass buildings if they were so worried about climate change. I think I got blocked by 15 people (none I knew).

And I got more bullets than you got people to try and pry my 7 iron from my cold dead hands

An we get AI to come up with a recipe for 3D printing almonds that have the real taste of almonds?

I prefer sunflower seeds anyway.

doubledog said:

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docb said:

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GDit I like chocolate covered almonds from Buc-ee's. Let the water flow!

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I like Buc-ee's salt water taffy.

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we should replace the almond orchards with salt water taffy orchards! Problem solved!

flown-the-coop said:

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Vogon Poet said:

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Water Footprint will soon be the new Carbon Footprint.

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Crybabies in the hill country been moaning about this for decades.

No reason we shouldn't have nuclear powered desalination plants all along the coast.

Bunch of made up crisis to distract you.

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Seems like desalination is the way moving forward. Why isn't it used more? I'm guessing cost prohibitive?

LOYAL AG said:

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SunrayAg said:

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And your point is?

Almonds provide nutritional value to humans.

Data centers provide a bot to write emails for you.

If you think food is less important than human intellectual laziness, then maybe you should stop eating?

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Oh dear God. If that's your perception of the impact AI you should sit this one out. You have to understand both sides of an argument before you can adequately participate in said argument. This is the core problem of the left, they barely understand their own side and have no clue what the other side is saying.

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Clearly you have the critical thinking ability of a wilted turnip, so I will type real slow…

But if you think I have anything to do with the left because I don't want data centers destroying farms and ranches and rural communities, then your brain is too warped for me to help you.

But the shrieking "data centers on every field" crowd keeps shrieking "don't post on the internet unless you love data centers". My response is, if you have a problem with farming stop eating. Responding to absurdity with absurdity is kind of how I roll.

Also maybe read the post just above yours…

ts5641 said:

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flown-the-coop said:

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Vogon Poet said:

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Water Footprint will soon be the new Carbon Footprint.

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Crybabies in the hill country been moaning about this for decades.

No reason we shouldn't have nuclear powered desalination plants all along the coast.

Bunch of made up crisis to distract you.

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Seems like desalination is the way moving forward. Why isn't it used more? I'm guessing cost prohibitive?

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Yes, the one that has had massive controversy in Corpus Christi is going to cost ~$1B+. And they didn't want to pay for it even though they had help from the state. The problem is that there is no other real option outside of praying for hurricanes.

Secondly, you have the environmentalists/NIMBYs who get involved. In that particular case, they raised hell about the desal plant killing fishing which is a major pastime/industry on the Texas coast.

Most overrated nut in existence. I prefer so many other kinds.

FriscoKid said:

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Over_ed said:

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Another comparison...golf courses. Currently Data Centers use ~ 2% of what US golf courses consume. Even if we allow for incredible increase in next 10 years, will still be a small fraction.

I don't golf, but I can hardly wait for the commies to attack elitist country clubs who are profligate wasters of our precious water.

I know...they'll have to pry the 7-iron from your cold, dead hands. Planet of the Apes - maybe it was foreshadowing libs taking over the world? RIP Mr. Heston.

ETA fix typos

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This is true. Liquid cooling in data centers is a big chiller tank of water and the water flows through the pipes up to the rack of equipment and then through cold plates mounted on the hot electrical components. The "hot" water returns back to the chiller to cool off and get pumped back through the data center again. No water is gained or lost through the entire process. The fear porn around data centers is nuts. When a green is watered on a golf course it is gone to the clouds through evaporation.

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It's not exactly that simple, but you do you

javajaws said:

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SunrayAg said:

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And your point is?

Almonds provide nutritional value to humans.

Data centers provide a bot to write emails for you.

If you think food is less important than human intellectual laziness, then maybe you should stop eating?

---

What a terrible analogy. Data centers are tools used for many purposes by many people. There is good odds that Texags uses at least one somewhere to either run this site and/or store data. So we're probably all using one just to read this thread.

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How did we ever have internet or modern conveniences before we had to plop a data center on every street corner then?

FriscoKid said:

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agent-maroon said:

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FriscoKid said:

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Over_ed said:

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Another comparison...golf courses. Currently Data Centers use ~ 2% of what US golf courses consume. Even if we allow for incredible increase in next 10 years, will still be a small fraction.

I don't golf, but I can hardly wait for the commies to attack elitist country clubs who are profligate wasters of our precious water.

I know...they'll have to pry the 7-iron from your cold, dead hands. Planet of the Apes - maybe it was foreshadowing libs taking over the world? RIP Mr. Heston.

ETA fix typos

---

This is true. Liquid cooling in data centers is a big chiller tank of water and the water flows through the pipes up to the rack of equipment and then through cold plates mounted on the hot electrical components. The "hot" water returns back to the chiller to cool off and get pumped back through the data center again. No water is gained or lost through the entire process. The fear porn around data centers is nuts. When a green is watered on a golf course it is gone to the clouds through evaporation.

---

No water is lost in the circulated coolant water, but there are certainly evaporative losses in any water that cools the chiller heat exchanger. And the one Sunray is talking about will be cooled with an evaporative cooling tower which will lose tremendous amounts of water.

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This might be a fair point. I was focused on electrical cooling instead of evaporate. But, I still think water loss with data centers is a stupid argument. We have been building lakes to cool power plants for decades.

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How many data centers have dedicated multi thousand acre feet lakes next to them for cooling water supply?

Rex Racer said:

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Most overrated nut in existence. I prefer so many other kinds.

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No these are the worst.

docb said:

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Rex Racer said:

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Most overrated nut in existence. I prefer so many other kinds.

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No these are the worst.

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On that, I can agree, but I don't think Brazil nuts are overrated. I don't know anyone who likes them. Those are always the last nuts eaten out of a can of mixed nuts!