San Diego -- we are close to opening a very large desalination plant up at Carlsbad. On line this November. 50 miilion gallons of fresh water per day, or 7% of the SD region water needs. See http://carlsbaddesal.com/

Here in coastal California, we can obviously build any number of these facilities if the drought continues or worsens. And, obviously again, we will all accept whatever the higher water bills will come to, offset somewhat by our reduced water use or water recycling. No alternative... it's part of the cost of living in California. And desalination is a lot cheaper for us than building pipelines and pumping stations up to Oregon or to get water from the Columbia River or BC.

Tough times ahead? Right now, I'm reading a great sci-fi book, The Water Knife, about water wars between Nevada and Arizona. See http://www.amazon.com/The-Water-Knif.../dp/0385352875 ... it's really good!

Back to the topic -- want a safe job? Why not your local water company, or work at your local electricity generating station? Or sewage treatment? These jobs are NOT going away! And they will always need artwork for all those flyers that come in the mail telling you to save water, don't use too much electricity during heat waves, and don't dump used motor oil in the sewers...