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Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #350 on: March 22, 2015, 12:55:26 AM »
Eric Holthaus:  California’s Next Megadrought Has Already Begun
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/03/20/california_megadrought_it_s_already_begun.html
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LRC1962

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #351 on: March 23, 2015, 04:27:55 PM »
Another feedback loop to the drought, more CO2.
Quote
At a minimum, "we'll keep the lights on," said Robert Weisenmiller, chairman of the California Energy Commission. "We're not concerned about not having power."
"What we're concerned about," he said, "is, the power is going to come from different sources not as benign" for the health of people and the environment as hydro.
Also as I have said that the California drought affects not only California but most of anything west of the Mississippi.
Quote
California's historically low snowpack is a meager accumulation with serious implications not only for the state but potentially for the entire West if the drought persists.
Then, if you see what happens to desert areas and extrapolate, it could cause drought conditions across the entire USA. Canada in part may be saved because the Hadley Cells moving north.
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ritter

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #352 on: March 23, 2015, 04:51:09 PM »
I think we may need to ditch the term "drought" and begin to look at this as the new normal.

silkman

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #353 on: March 23, 2015, 05:34:59 PM »
Graphic illustration of the drought's impact on the snowpack in Yosemite. March 19 pics of the Half Dome for the last five years :

http://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/article15386540.html

oren

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #354 on: March 23, 2015, 09:51:14 PM »
I think we may need to ditch the term "drought" and begin to look at this as the new normal.

Indeed. And still some deny "climate change"

Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #355 on: March 23, 2015, 11:34:48 PM »
California Governor says presidential contender Ted Cruz is unfit to be president because of his denial position on climate change.
Quote
"Here's the point, that the buildup of carbon coming from coal and petroleum and other sources, that this is going to create these droughts and much, much worse. And that's why to have the leader of the Senate, Mr. McConnell representing his coal constituents, are putting it at risk, the health and well being of America, is a disgrace," Brown said.

Calling the drought California's new normal, Brown wants a presidential campaign "almost at the level of a crusade" to make the public aware that man-made carbon dioxide emissions can have an affect on the climate. He implied that politicians who dismiss the scientific consensus on climate change are doing the bidding of profit-hungry constituents and corporate donors.

"The coal companies are not as important as the people of America and the people of the world," Brown said.
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/california/Calfiornia-Gov-Jerry-Brown-Ted-Cruz-Unfit-President-Climate-Change-Comments-297171891.html#
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Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #356 on: March 25, 2015, 08:23:17 PM »
How much rain has San Francisco missed in the 4-year drought? More than 2.5 FEET...  over a year of rain. 
Rain in SF since July 2011:  61.5 inches.  4 years of "average" rain would be 92.6 inches.


@NWSHanford: 4 YEARS OF DROUGHT...Images of Half Dome in YNP taken every year on Mar 19th since 2012. #cawx http://t.co/QyEXxE2L5G
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Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #357 on: March 26, 2015, 01:54:35 AM »
Snowless ski resorts show just how bad California’s drought really is.
Quote
Two weeks ago, snowfall accumulation at the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory officially reached zero. “We’ve never seen a zero snow depth in March in the history of our station,” Randall Osterhuber, a research associate at the center, told the Bee. Osterhuber said that normally the snowfall is around 10 feet. This season, however, the entire Tahoe basin is at about 16 percent of normal. “For us to be at zero at this point is significant,” he said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/24/these-snowless-ski-resorts-show-just-how-bad-californias-drought-really-is/
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BornFromTheVoid

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #358 on: March 26, 2015, 12:34:08 PM »
/r/science reddit AMA (questions and answers) just put up.

Science AMA Series: We are NASA and university scientists who study drought, “megadrought,” and how climate change can affect drought patterns now and in the future. Ask Us Anything!

Ben Cook -- I'm a climate scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and a co-author on a recent paper demonstrating that climate change, by the end of the 21st century, will make droughts in Western North America even worse than the driest time periods of the last 1000 years. I study past drought events, including the Dust Bowl and the “megadroughts” of the 12th and 13th centuries, and use computer simulations to investigate how climate change and global warming will affect drought in the future.
Megadrought paper (sub. required): http://goo.gl/g2fhvm[1]
Megadrought coverage: http://goo.gl/UCCyem[2]
Bill Patzert -- Hi everybody! I’ve been an oceanographer and climate scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for 32 years. My research is focused on improving our understanding of important environmental problems ranging from El Niño and La Niña to longer-term climate change, especially important water issues, like our present punishing drought in the American West. I always try to balance my scientific research with a sense of social responsibility. In the final balance, the ultimate test of any science is if it has a credible use for public policy. During my career, I have attempted to communicate what I think we do know to as many people in the science community, the general public and the private sector as I can. I look forward to your questions.
Narendra Das -- I’m a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where I currently work for the NASA’s SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) mission. I developed an algorithm to retrieve global, high-resolution soil moisture data from the SMAP measurements that will provide significant information to monitor agricultural and hydrological droughts, and will also help improve the skills of weather and climate models to forecast drought, its onset and recovery.
Ben Zaitchik -- I'm a hydrologist and climate scientist in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. My research focuses on modern day drought patterns, drought prediction, and potential changes in drought patterns under climate change. Most of my work is on East Africa and the Middle East--two regions where drought has significant human impacts, and where climate change has the potential to intensify the severity of droughts in coming years.
We’ll be online at 1 pm EST on Mar. 26 to answer your questions about the link between drought and climate change, and what NASA and other scientists are doing to understand this challenge. Ask Us Anything!


https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/30d1be/science_ama_series_we_are_nasa_and_university/
I recently joined the twitter thing, where I post more analysis, pics and animations: @Icy_Samuel

Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #359 on: March 28, 2015, 07:51:49 PM »
Groundwater records should not be kept confidential in drought-stricken California
The state’s database of 800,000 well logs is not publicly available because of a 64 year-old law that considers them proprietary to well drillers
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/27/groundwater-records-should-not-be-kept-confidential-in-drought-prone-california
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Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #360 on: March 29, 2015, 09:13:38 PM »
Quote
Electronic surveys show the water content of the snow throughout the Sierra is a shocking 8 percent of the historical average for this time of year, by far the driest it has been since 1950, the year record-keeping began, because of the lack of rain and snowfall and the exceedingly high temperatures. It is a troubling milestone that water resources officials say is bound to get even lower as the skies remain stubbornly blue.

“It’s certainly sobering when you consider that the snowpack in a normal year provides about 30 percent of what California needs in the summer and fall,” said Doug Carlson, the spokesman for the California Department of Water Resources. “What this suggests is that we will have very little water running off. It accentuates the severity of the drought and emphasizes the importance of people cutting back on their water use.”
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/California-drought-Sierra-Nevada-snowpack-hits-a-6164391.php
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Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #361 on: March 30, 2015, 02:56:47 PM »
Not that long ago, the financial media giant CNBC scoffed at the idea of climate change.  Nowdays, articles like this include climate model maps of a megadrought in 2095.  (So, getting closer to the harsh reality....)

Farmers in near 'survival mode' as California drought drags on
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102527195

Related:
Unsafe water only adds to California drought misery
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102111669

Outside states to California dairy farmers: We have water
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102413487

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #363 on: March 30, 2015, 06:19:44 PM »
Not that long ago, the financial media giant CNBC scoffed at the idea of climate change.  Nowdays, articles like this include climate model maps of a megadrought in 2095.  (So, getting closer to the harsh reality....)

Farmers in near 'survival mode' as California drought drags on
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102527195

Related:
Unsafe water only adds to California drought misery
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102111669

Outside states to California dairy farmers: We have water
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102413487

And as the near term costs of AGW increase, business, driven by profits, will become the vanguard for addressing the issue. My biggest concern is, while they will be fierce supporters of the science, their response will be short term, focusing on mitigation. We are already seeing evidence of this everywhere, developing drought tolerant plants for example, insurance companies raising premiums and pulling out of states entirely.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99942808

Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #364 on: March 30, 2015, 08:35:34 PM »
@RobElvington: After record breaking warmth the last 4 days, CA statewide snowpack at 6% of average snow-water content.  #CAdrought http://t.co/4P6I8fCKS1
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Jester Fish

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #365 on: March 31, 2015, 01:24:13 AM »
The costs keep piling on....

California ratepayers spent an additional $1.4 billion for electricity due to lower hydropower production over the last three years as drought conditions drove a shift to alternative electricity-generation resources, a new report issued March 17 by the Pacific Institute estimates.

http://pacinst.org/publication/impacts-of-californias-ongoing-drought-hydroelectricity-generation/

LRC1962

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jbatteen

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #367 on: March 31, 2015, 03:02:28 AM »
Oh NO! Say it ain't so!

http://www.theguardian.com/vital-signs/2015/mar/28/marijuana-cultivation-in-california-sucking-streams-dry-says-new-report
Might be just a little misdirection on someones part????
I'm sure the powers that be love the convenient scapegoat that arises, but this is a legitimate problem, and pretty serious.  Marijuana is, by dollar value, California's biggest cash crop.  Due to a lax legal environment in Humboldt, Mendocino, and Trinity counties (collectively referred to as the Emerald Triangle), that area of Northern California produces vast quantities of marijuana for export throughout the US.  Since they're already in flagrant violation of state and federal law, they will pump water from anywhere they can find it with no regard to the environment or downstream users.  Last growing season a lot of creeks dried up and a support industry of water trucks who don't care what you're growing emerged to fill the gap.  The increased truck traffic put undue strain on rural county roads that otherwise don't see much heavy traffic.  I suspect we'll see even more of that this year.

The Emerald Triangle exists today as a wealthy, developed area instead of rural wilderness because of the marijuana production.  The county government is on board and fights for the growers in the state legislature.  However, their contribution to the water crisis exists more as a side effect of Federal marijuana laws than anything else.  They do have a fantastic climate which helps, but marijuana is not picky and grows well enough almost everywhere.  If consumers of marijuana in other states could legally source their marijuana closer to home, the California export business would get shut down.

On a related topic, if consumers of fresh fruits and vegetables could source their produce closer to home, the California export business would get shut down.  I see a lot of specialty producers popping up in the Midwest, especially further south and east like Iowa to Illinois and onward, but even as far north as Minnesota where I am.  It's sad when anything but chemical laden grain, eggs, dairy, and meat counts as specialty but that is how they are referred to in the MN/ND/SD area I'm most familiar with.  I'm in the process of bringing 2.5 acres into production with raspberries and grapes.  It definitely requires a lot more people per acre than grain crops, but  the profit per acre is also much higher, and while it does take some money, the upfront investment is nowhere near the millions of dollars required to get into grain.

Anyway, this is only related to the California drought in a sideways fashion.  I think increasing costs and water scarcity will force a lot of California producers out of business and create vast economic opportunity for those of us in food-deprived states.  Not to mention, all of our ridiculous subsidies on the conventional meat, dairy, and ethanol businesses can't last forever, and their inevitable demise will make other crops that much more attractive.  If you know any Midwestern farmers (long shot I know) you should mention these things to them and see if they have any interest in converting over.  Not only will it make them more money, it requires less water, fertilizer, and chemicals, so it's far better for the environment.

Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #368 on: March 31, 2015, 03:34:09 PM »
Quote
I think increasing costs and water scarcity will force a lot of California producers out of business and create vast economic opportunity for those of us in food-deprived states.
I may be biased (because raspberries are the favorite produce in my little garden :)) ), but this makes a lot of sense to me.  Thanks for sharing.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #369 on: March 31, 2015, 03:36:22 PM »
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #370 on: March 31, 2015, 08:52:46 PM »
Cheap water, arcane water rights, and water-intensive crops threaten the future of Central Valley agriculture.
Quote
But agriculture consumes a staggering 80 percent of California’s developed water, even as it accounts for only 2 percent of the state’s gross domestic product. Most crops and livestock are produced in the Central Valley, which is, geologically speaking, a desert. The soil is very fertile but crops there can thrive only if massive amounts of irrigation water are applied.
...
The other great unmentionable of California’s water crisis is that water is still priced more cheaply than it should be, which encourages over-consumption. “Water in California is still relatively inexpensive,” Heather Cooley, director of the water program at the world-renowned Pacific Institute in Oakland, told The Daily Beast.

One reason is that much of the state’s water is provided by federal and state agencies at prices that taxpayers subsidize. A second factor that encourages waste is the “use it or lose it” feature in California’s arcane system of water rights. Under current rules, if a property owner does not use all the water to which he is legally entitled, he relinquishes his future rights to the unused water, which may then get allocated to the next farmer in line.

Lawmakers have begun, gingerly, to reform the water system, but experts say that much remains to be done. For years, California was the only state in the arid West that set no limits on how much groundwater a property owner could extract from a private well. Thus nearly everyone and their neighbors in the Central Valley have been drilling deeper and deeper wells in recent years, seeking to offset reductions in state and federal water deliveries. This agricultural version of an arms race not only favors big corporate enterprises over smaller farmers, it threatens to collapse the aquifers whose groundwater is keeping California alive during this drought and will be needed to endure future droughts. (Groundwater supplies about 40 percent of the state’s water in years of normal precipitation but closer to 60 percent in dry years.)
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/30/how-growers-gamed-california-s-drought.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #371 on: March 31, 2015, 09:24:42 PM »
Quote
Downtown Los Angeles hit 90F  6 times in March, shattering the previous record of 3 90-degree readings during the month  in 1977.  Los Angeles has logged just 2.79 inches of rain this calendar year compared to the normal value of 9.30 inches.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/03/31/california-snowpack-fades-to-shocking-record-low/
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OldLeatherneck

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #372 on: April 02, 2015, 03:24:15 AM »
I was just listening to CNN on the radio where they were talking about the mandatory water rationing that has just been implemented in California.  What saddened me most during the report was that not one damn time did the report give any reference to Anthropogenic Global Warming.  How do they think this happened....magic?  Oh sure, there are too many people, too many swimming pools, etc., etc.  But too many people or swimming pools did not cause the snowpack to shrink.  That my friends was due in large part to too many GHGs pumped into the atmosphere.
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Buddy

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #373 on: April 02, 2015, 12:57:30 PM »
Quote
That my friends was due in large part to too many GHGs pumped into the atmosphere

....from too many people:)
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JimD

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #374 on: April 02, 2015, 06:32:25 PM »
I was reading some blurb about Calif and what they were implementing to control water consumption.

One of the items was many locales in the state were now restricting homeowners from filling their swimming pools with new water more than 2 times a year.  Oh horrors!  ...In regards to actual need to replace the water you can easily go for several years if you maintain the pool and don't let green things grow in it.  btw Calif has almost 2 million swimming pools.

The blurb pointed out that in many areas they are seeing a big surge in pool construction as homeowners are rushing to beat the expected coming restrictions on building new pools.

Humans!@
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OldLeatherneck

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #375 on: April 02, 2015, 07:24:43 PM »
There is a solution to California's water problem:

Step1. Elect a Republican governor.

Step2. Declare Global Warming a Criminally Inspired Hoax.

Step3. Indict Barbra Streisand and Al gore for Crimes Against Humanity.

Step4. Encourage the citizenry to buy new Cadillac Escalades and then proceed to:

    a. Drive their new Escalades to the Mall.

    b. Buy expensive clothes imported from Europe.

    c. Drive their new Escalades to Palm Springs for a round of golf.

    d. Drive their new Escalades back home to cool off in the backyard swimming pool.

    e. Drive their new Escalades to the coast for a seafood dinner of Lobsters imported from Maine or Australia.

    f. Drive their new Escalades back home to relax in the Hot Tub.

    g. Get on their knees before going to bed and thank the Good Lord for American Ingenuity, FOX NEWS and Senator James Inhofe.

Problem Solved

   
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Laurent

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #376 on: April 03, 2015, 11:20:58 AM »
California's worst drought in 1,200 years in pictures
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32150064

Fracking In California Used 70 Million Gallons Of Water In 2014
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/02/fracking-california-water_n_6997324.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green

Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #377 on: April 04, 2015, 02:12:41 AM »
Scary Times For California Farmers As Snowpack Hits Record Lows
Quote
Until last year, Schlitz says, wells were used to supplement the federal water.

"Now, we have nothing but wells. Nothing. There's no water other than what's coming out of the ground," he says.

Last year, one of those wells at La Jolla dried up. The farm lost 160 acres — about a million dollars' worth of produce, plus the wasted labor and other resources.
...
Groundwater reserves are getting lower and lower as farmers and towns drill deeper and deeper, sucking out more water than there is coming in.

It's gotten so bad in the San Joaquin Valley that the ground is actually sinking. Last summer it sank a half-inch each month.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2015/04/01/396780035/scary-times-for-california-farmers-as-snowpack-hits-record-lows

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Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #378 on: April 04, 2015, 02:20:05 AM »
NYT on the mandatory water restrictions:
Quote
PHILLIPS, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday ordered mandatory water use reductions for the first time in California’s history, saying the state’s four-year drought had reached near-crisis proportions after a winter of record-low snowfalls.

Mr. Brown, in an executive order, directed the State Water Resources Control Board to impose a 25 percent reduction on the state’s 400 local water supply agencies, which serve 90 percent of California residents, over the coming year. The agencies will be responsible for coming up with restrictions to cut back on water use and for monitoring compliance. State officials said the order would impose varying degrees of cutbacks on water use across the board — affecting homeowners, farms and other businesses, as well as the maintenance of cemeteries and golf courses.
...
Owners of large farms, who obtain their water from sources outside the local water agencies, will not fall under the 25 percent guideline. State officials noted that many farms had already seen a cutback in their water allocations because of the drought. In addition, the owners of large farms will be required, under the governor’s executive order, to offer detailed reports to state regulators about water use, ideally as a way to highlight incidents of water diversion or waste.

Because of this system, state officials said, they did not expect the executive order to result — at least in the immediate future — in an increase in farm or food prices.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/02/us/california-imposes-first-ever-water-restrictions-to-deal-with-drought.html
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bosbas

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #379 on: April 04, 2015, 04:53:44 AM »
Theatlantic has the following:
"How bad is the California drought in the context of state history and U.S. history?

Patty Limerick (director of the University of Colorado's Center of the American West): I would not use the word bad. I would just say "severe, and severe at a new scale, and a new intensity, and a new urgency. I guess I’m not using the word bad because it is a call to action. It is, sorry to use the cliché, but it is a wakeup call, and that might be good. Though I also don’t want to call it good, because there are people who are in a pickle now. So I guess I wouldn’t use the term good or bad, but this certainly puts us in a new framework for thinking about who we are and how we live and what are necessities and what are luxuries. And that has virtues and values to it."

A record low snowpack 2 years in a row and no greater urgency then this? One thing to consider - when water stops running from the faucet, people tend to go through a very steep learning curve; but do we really want to get to that point?


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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #380 on: April 04, 2015, 03:34:06 PM »
Theatlantic has the following:
One thing to consider - when water stops running from the faucet, people tend to go through a very steep learning curve; but do we really want to get to that point?

I believe we  need to. Most people will only act when they are personally affected. It is not, however,  enough for the faucets to go dry but the connection to AGW must be  explicit.

Ymir

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #381 on: April 04, 2015, 04:03:36 PM »
Theatlantic has the following:
One thing to consider - when water stops running from the faucet, people tend to go through a very steep learning curve; but do we really want to get to that point?

I believe we  need to. Most people will only act when they are personally affected. It is not, however,  enough for the faucets to go dry but the connection to AGW must be  explicit.

How far away from that are we? I've read that the state has "year of water left", so could another year or two of the same conditions see California turn "biblical". Reading the thread it sounds like there is some slack the system and it being the World's wealthiest country actions can be taken to relocate people/get water "in" but how practical are those actions on this scale?

Vergent

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #382 on: April 04, 2015, 04:21:49 PM »
The problem that will get the attention isn't "no water in the faucet"....No water in the toilet will kill California overnight. That is what killed Rome. The "Barbarians" destroyed Rome's aqueducts and the city of Rome became instantly uninhabitable because of the human waste.

jbatteen

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #383 on: April 04, 2015, 04:27:28 PM »
All they have to do is cut off the farms and they'll be fine.  Consuming 80% of the state's water and only contributing 2-3% to their GDP, something's got to give.  But the political will for that will probably take extreme catastrophe to emerge.

Ymir

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #384 on: April 04, 2015, 05:22:34 PM »
All they have to do is cut off the farms and they'll be fine.  Consuming 80% of the state's water and only contributing 2-3% to their GDP, something's got to give.  But the political will for that will probably take extreme catastrophe to emerge.

I assumed that the state produced a lot of crops? It's not part of the U.S. "bread basket"?

Good point Vergent, I had no idea that's what did for Rome. In Eaarth, Bill Mckibben cites an estimate of 500 billion dollars needed to make America's sewers fit for the future, that sounds like a catastrophe in the making, with or without drought.

jbatteen

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #385 on: April 04, 2015, 07:51:16 PM »
All they have to do is cut off the farms and they'll be fine.  Consuming 80% of the state's water and only contributing 2-3% to their GDP, something's got to give.  But the political will for that will probably take extreme catastrophe to emerge.

I assumed that the state produced a lot of crops? It's not part of the U.S. "bread basket"?

The Break Basket typically refers to the plains states from Texas to North Dakota and a few on either side like Montana, Minnesota, Iowa, where most of the nation's grain is grown.  I'm sure there's a popular expression for what California is but nothing that's coming to mind right now...  But I know what you meant.  :)

California does grow a lot of produce that the rest of the country benefits from, but they also have Hollywood and Silicon Valley and lots of other things I don't know about to drive their economy.  The loss of that food supply isn't California's problem.  From California's perspective, the current food export industry is doing far more harm than good.  If they just focused on growing enough for local consumption and didn't export, they could probably manage their water sustainably, or at least much closer to it than they are now.

As far as the other states that benefit from the food supply are concerned, even as far north as Minnesota we are perfectly capable of growing everything we need for local consumption, it's just not economical because of California's taxpayer subsidized water.  That's how valuable that water is, enough to overcome thousands of miles of transportation and storage costs.  Another reason we don't grow more of our produce locally is that the corn, soybeans, beef, and dairy industries that make up our ag economy in Minnesota are also heavily subsidized, making it less economical to grow other things.

Taxpayer investment in agriculture is good.  It's one of the better choices of an industry to subsidize in my opinion.  Kind of like education and transportation, money invested in agriculture pays back at a great rate of return that benefits everyone.  Everyone eats and whether you're rich or poor, human nutritional requirements are generally similar, so the cheap prices benefit the poor as much as the rich, maybe even more.  Having massive food stores is handy in case the weather fails some year or an enemy nation carpetbombs our fields.

That said, as with almost everything American, something that could be fantastic in theory is implemented by people who will write in backdoors benefiting themselves, their friends, and their campaign contributors.  The whole system is fantastically broken and encourages only the bottom line at the cost of....  everything else important in life.  Healthy people, humane food, balanced earth.

The California drought is meteorologically interesting, but it's a desert.  This has happened before and it will happen again.  This one is particularly severe, I understand possibly the worst in 2000 years.  But, we wouldn't be having this level of conversation about it were it not for the massive economic side effects caused by poor centralized planning on part of the government, and naturally emerging behavior from farmers trying to game the broken system.  When you put a system like this in place, there's little incentive to try to behave ethically, because it muddies just what ethical is, and you'd only be putting yourself at a severe disadvantage relative to your competitors.

I listened to a guy from Mozambique on NPR yesterday talking about why he poached rhino horns.  He said he knew it was wrong, he knew it was horrible, but when it pays $10,000 in a country where people live on $1 a day and there is no employment to be found, it was either that or starve.  The situation isn't quite as dramatic here in America, but the principles at work are the same.  Perhaps even worse because some of these farmers genuinely believe they're doing nothing wrong, that it's their God-given right to terraform the Earth to suit their needs.

Sorry to just rant about this.  If I sound angry it's because I hate what the government has done to ag in this country.  I work in the industry, and the same ridiculous government that caused this problem causes all kinds of other problems closer to home.  Government is great, I'm not an anarchist, but the plutocracy we have today has got to go.

bigB

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #386 on: April 04, 2015, 08:03:32 PM »
The attached image shows the GFS forecast of total accumulated precip (top) and total snowfall (bottom) for April 4th through April 9th. A low pressure system currently spinning in the Gulf of Alaska is projected to dive south over the next few days, potentially bringing moderate amounts of precip to the state of CA during the first half of next week (Nor Cal looks to benefit the most). Based on the current location and projected storm track, this system should be relatively cold in nature, and will likely dump several inches of snow across much of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. However, this is too little too late, but should provide at least a few weeks of relief. At this point even a few weeks is better than nothing.......

bigB

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #387 on: April 05, 2015, 07:50:32 PM »
The attached image shows the GFS forecast of total accumulated precip (top) and total snowfall (bottom) for April 5th through April 15th. The last few GFS model runs have become quite interesting, suggesting that multiple storm systems will impact the state of CA during the next two weeks. If this were to develop as advertised, it could mean months of relief as we head into the late spring and early summer months. At the moment, confidence is low that this will actually occur, but it's well worth monitoring. The first system (which will come in two separate waves) is already beginning to impact Nor Cal. We'll see.... 

Laurent

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #388 on: April 05, 2015, 08:06:56 PM »
California’s Wasteful Water Habits Run Up Against a Dry Future – and Past
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/californias-wasteful-water-habits-run-up-against-a-dry-future-and-past/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Why Isn’t Desalination the Answer to All California’s Water Problems?
http://blogs.kqed.org/science/audio/why-isnt-desalination-the-answer-to-all-californias-water-problems/

California Drought Tests History of Endless Growth
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/us/california-drought-tests-history-of-endless-growth.html?smid=re-share&_r=0

In Greenhouse California, the Hissing of Summer Lawns Fizzles While Races for Senator and Governor Quietly Take Shape
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-bradley/in-greenhouse-california-the-hissing-of-summer-lawns-fizzles-while-races-for-senator-and-governor-quietly-take-shape_b_7005658.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green

California drought: agribusiness, fracking untouched by water rationing
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2819125/california_drought_agribusiness_fracking_untouched_by_water_rationing.html
Quote
Yet any such rational reorganization is blocked by the interests of the US financial oligarchy, which, controlling the entire political system, will not abide any impingement on its profits.
« Last Edit: April 05, 2015, 09:40:58 PM by Laurent »

Bruce Steele

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #389 on: April 06, 2015, 11:31:21 PM »
I profess to be a farmer, a California farmer and a fifth generation one at that.
I think the ag community could do a lot more in the conservation of water without killing the goose that laid golden egg.  For starters running sprinklers at night and creating a fine system to back up penalties for daytime sprinkler abusers would be a start.  
 I irrigate out of  a riparian watershed and I am metering my water use. It is only logical that to control use we must monitor use. There is a requirement to meter riparian ag wells in Calif. but I have no idea how many ag wells actually comply with monitoring requirements. Well users should report and be held accountable for reporting accuracy. At some point failure to comply should be publicly accessible information.
 When orders to curtail water use/ riparian pumping are issued and only 67% of water users comply we have a problem. Without equity of compliance there is no incentive to cooperate. Pumping restrictions in the central valley 2014 only achieved 67% compliance.  

Bruce Steele

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #390 on: April 06, 2015, 11:49:19 PM »
For anyone wanting to further explore Calif. Water law I provide the following link. The 455 users listed in the reference are the 23% in non compliance I mentioned in my last post. I think it's illegal to list their identity. So public pressure or censor are not an option.

 http://www.natlawreview.com/article/california-state-water-board-launches-investigation-claims-senior-water-rights

Other than the notice I get from the state water board I don't know where the public gets info on water compliance issues but considering the severity of the water issues at least an airing of
Non-compliance seems reasonable.

bigB

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #391 on: April 08, 2015, 07:05:18 PM »
The attached image is a snap shot taken from the Yosemite High Sierra webcam on April 8, 2015. Still not ideal, but MUCH better than what it looked like on March 19, 2015 (see reply #356 by Sigmetnow).

EDIT: Here's a better pic from later in the day.
« Last Edit: April 08, 2015, 08:55:51 PM by bigB »

Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #392 on: April 09, 2015, 04:26:15 PM »
Green lawns and golf courses, surrounded by desert.

In Palm Springs, America's 'Oasis' Grapples With Drought
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/california-drought/palm-springs-americas-oasis-grapples-drought-n337371
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Laurent

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #393 on: April 09, 2015, 06:44:42 PM »
California Is In The Middle Of The Worst Drought In 1,200 Years, And These People Are Doing Something About It
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/09/doing-something-about-the-drought_n_7000126.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green

Sigmetnow

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #394 on: April 10, 2015, 05:46:34 PM »
It's not the lack of rain, it's the extreme heat putting California in new record territory.  And, "This is only the beginning."

Graph shows the 12-month average temperature, April through March.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-10/california-s-new-era-of-heat-destroys-all-previous-records
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oren

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #395 on: April 11, 2015, 11:59:21 PM »
That's a seriously impressive chart.

Neven

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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #396 on: April 12, 2015, 01:45:08 PM »
That's a seriously impressive chart.

Just one word: wow.
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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #397 on: April 12, 2015, 04:18:26 PM »
The linked article identifies a "rogues gallery" of water guzzlers in California, beyond almonds (which this article actually says has a good value to water ratio as compared to other water guzzlers like alfalfa for silage for dairy cows).

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2015/04/12/398757250/beyond-almonds-a-rogues-gallery-of-guzzlers-in-californias-drought
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Re: CA Drought Emergency Declared
« Reply #398 on: April 12, 2015, 05:36:47 PM »
That spike is frightening but it distracts the viewer from the fact that California has experienced "dust bowl"type temperatures for the decade leading up to the recent spike.

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