Things I take for granted Part 1: Hot Shower

So lately I've been noticing some very big things that we take for granted. If you really think about it, a hot shower is just about the most luxurious amenity in our homes these days. On any given morning, I can roll out of bed and walk into my shower and turn the faucet on and within seconds, water perfectly heated to my desired temperature flows out effortlessly for as long as I like. I can literally sit for an hour and relax under this substance that in parts of the world could satisfy the survival needs of hundreds of dying thirsty villagers.

I live in Southern California. An arid desert with no substantial fresh water source. The seemingly
limitless water gushing out of my shower head has no business being anywhere near my house. Technically, I shouldn't even be able to live here much less use up ridiculous amounts of water every morning. So am I really taking it for granted? Well, in 1960, California voters approved financing for construction of the initial features of the State Water Project (SWP). The project includes some 22 dams and reservoirs, a Delta pumping plant, a 444-mile-long aqueduct that carries water from the Delta through the San Joaquin Valley to southern California. The project begins at Oroville Dam on the Feather River and ends at Lake Perris near Riverside. At the Tehachapi Mountains, giant pumps lift the water from the California Aqueduct some 2,000 feet over the mountains and into southern California. The rest of my water comes from the Colorado River. A 1440 mile long river that runs through seven states, several Indian Reservations and Mexico. And about 30% of it comes from under ground well sources. All that water goes through reservoirs, treatment facilities and is finally delivered through large distribution networks that were developed to pipe treated surface and groundwater to my home where it waits at the tap for me to turn on the faucet. Oh and I totally skipped over the fact that a similar thing has to happen with natural gas, which goes through similar pipelines to get to my house, and is used to heat up 80 gallons at a time to near boiling temperatures and keep it there until I'm ready to use it in the morning. And yes, every day, I take all that for granted.