California Crisis

A new report and map concerning aggregate supply and demand has been released by the California Geological Survey. The map shows four areas with less than a decade's worth of permitted resources:

* Sacramento County (67 million tons permitted, 733 million tons of projected demand).

* Fresno County (71 million tons permitted, 629 million tons of projected demand).

* North San Francisco Bay (49 million tons permitted, 647 million tons of projected demand).

* North Tulare County (12 million tons permitted, 117 million tons of projected demand).

All told, 10 study areas have permitted resources covering less than a quarter of their projected needs. Only six regions have permitted reserves covering 50 percent or more of their future needs. The Yuba City-Marysville region is the only area projected to meet 100 percent of its 50-year demand. The regions with the highest projected future need for aggregate are South San Francisco Bay, San Gabriel Valley, Temescal Valley-Orange County, Western San Diego County and San Bernardino. Each of these regions is expected to utilize more than a billion tons of aggregate by 2056. Currently, California has about 4.3 billion tons of permitted resources.”Over the next 50 years, the state is projected to need approximately 13.5 billion tons of construction grade aggregate. So, anyone have any good ideas? It looks as if, lacking a rapid increase in local permitting, imports from other western states, Mexico and Canada are in the offing, a solution sure to drive up the price of construction in California. Your comment?