Environment & Energy
Related: About this forum6 Scary Facts About California's Drought
Water shortages, devastating wildfires, and growing economic impacts: All could be on the way unless more precipitation arrives, and fast. Here are some scary realities about the drought:
1. It's Bordering on Unprecedented in Some Areas. According to Christopher Burt, weather historian at Weather Underground, the City of San Francisco has received only 2.12 inches of water so far in this water year. The driest water year on record was from 1850-1851, at 7.42 inches. So as of now, San Francisco is below half of the all-time record low.
2. Time in the Rainy Season is Running Out. California doesn't get steady rain all year round. Rather, it has a rainy season each year, and we're currently in it. Typically, the rainy season runs through March; if major precipitation doesn't arrive by then, it probably won't be coming. Granted, this is also the chief source of hope right now: California can sometimes get plenty of water in February and March.
3. The Drought Could Lead to Dirtier Energy Use. Peter Gleick, president of the Oakland-based Pacific Institute, points out one less-noticed consequence of the drought: The lack of water means less available hydropower. And that has consequences: "Because renewable hydropower is among the cheapest and most versatile of electricity sources," writes Gleick, "California ratepayers will have to pay for more costly fossil fuels to make up for the difference." The result, he notes, is likely to be "billions of dollars in added energy costs and generating more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere."
THE REST:
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/01/california-drought-scary-facts-snowpack
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Demeter
(85,373 posts)No sympathy for the water thieves that drain other states to support an unsustainable lifestyle.
Ecumenist
(6,086 posts)creeks, streams, ponds, Aquifers and forests....We send water to SOUTHERN California via the Aqueduct.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)WHY should your region send water south?
Ecumenist
(6,086 posts)the problem for Southern California is that it doesn't have the same snowpack in the mountains as we do here in the north and you DO NOT HAVE TO BE A DESERT to have water woes. We have a mediterranean climate where IT DOES NOT RAIN MOST OF THE YEAR. Please know what you're talking about before you spout off about something about our state.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)Don't lecture me---I got eyes and they see very clearly.
Ecumenist
(6,086 posts)problem with people who think because they were stationed in the state for a couple of years or attended college, suddenly, they're experts on the mediterranean climate model of California.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)It cannot support itself in good times, let alone bad ones.
Ecumenist
(6,086 posts)Say no more...noticed that you segued over my question regarding your first hand experience, BTW. "Nuff said..." I'm a native...no what the hell I'm talking about. Live sustainably, use biodiesel & electric cars for in town errands. Eat locally, in season and grow a HUGE part of veggies..."sigh", yet another someone who doesn't know what the f#ck they're talking about.
XemaSab
(60,212 posts)We got 12.8 inches last year.
(Compare with Portland which usually gets 39 inches.)
Parts of California are a desert, but not NorCal west of the Sierra/Cascades.
jakeXT
(10,575 posts)About a hundred miles west of here, the relics of Red Bank, a Gold Rush-era town that, according to California State Parks, included a mine, winery and dairy, now lie exposed on the dry bed of Folsom Lake. A few dozen locals had come to look at nails, glass and bricks scattered here and there.
“Everybody’s been talking about how low the lake is,” said Ramone Velazquez, who was visiting with his wife, Mariana, and their young daughter, Juliet.
“I’m really worried about how this drought is going to affect us,” he said. “I heard about the drought in the ’70s, and how people couldn’t water their lawns and wash their cars. They could take only one-minute showers.”
“Can you believe that?” his wife said. “We’re used to taking an hour.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/us/as-californias-drought-deepens-a-sense-of-dread-grows.html
arachadillo
(123 posts)The continuing water saga between the North and south will only get more heated. A quick trip up I5 shows that farmers are beginning to put signs along the highway protesting one water decision after another.
The most recent Draught monitor
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/expert_assessment/sdo_summary.html
The drought outlook valid from January 16 – April 30, 2014 is based primarily on short-, medium-, and long-range forecasts, and initial conditions. Drought is expected to worsen during the latter half of January across the Pacific Northwest. The poor start to the wet season with large precipitation deficits and very low snow-water equivalent values is likely to result in a continuation of drought through the end of April. Therefore, drought persistence is forecast for the Pacific Northwest. Forecast confidence is high for drought persistence or intensification across California due to the extremely dry initial conditions (snow-water equivalent values in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the lowest 5th percentile as of mid-January) and below-median precipitation favored in the CPC monthly and seasonal precipitation outlooks.
Not too bad for the always rainy Pacific Northwest, not too good for CA.
nilesobek
(1,423 posts)hopefully, and California is making huge strides increasing the overall total number of new solar homes. At this rate if California gets to 10 million solar homes they will have the greatest economy in the world. Of course, there will be stiff resistance from PG&E.
This doesn't solve the water problem though. I know that California has long had eyes on the Snake River at Twin Falls, Idaho for a canal to the City of Angels.
Still I'm an optimist about California.
