Huntington Beach Desalination Project

  • Home
  • Desal 101
    • Desalination Worldwide
    • Desalination Myths
  • Project Facts
    • Benefits
  • Environment
  • Supporters
  • Survey
  • News
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Desal 101
    • Desalination Worldwide
    • Desalination Myths
  • Project Facts
    • Benefits
  • Environment
  • Supporters
  • Survey
  • News
  • Contact

News

State’s In A Drought, But It’s Not The Worst Ever

3/3/2009

0 Comments

 
Not Only Have A Series Of February Storms Pushed Up Mountain Snowpack Levels, But By Historical Standards The Current Three-Year Dry Spell Is Far From The Most Severe.
By Bettina Boxall
The warnings have been ominous this winter: California is headed into the worst drought in modern history. The water supply is drying up. Or, as one water association declared last week, “Things just keep getting worse and worse.” Is it really that bad?
If you look at the numbers, the answer is no. Not only have a series of February storms pushed up mountain snowpack levels, but by historical standards the current three-year drought is far from the worst.

Monday, the state Department of Water Resources announced that the mountain snowpack that feeds the state’s reservoirs has reached 80% of normal for the date. Precipitation in the northern and southern Sierra has climbed above 90% of average and another storm is on the way.

“Right now it doesn’t look too bleak,” said Maury Roos, the state’s chief hydrologist. “I think we’ll have more runoff than last year.”

The water interests who have spit out grim news releases the last two months were silent Monday in the face of the growing snowpack.

Those who would like to build new reservoirs and canals and to weaken environmental regulations have invoked the drought like a mantra in recent weeks.

A recently introduced congressional bill that would allow federal officials to relax endangered-species protections in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is titled the California Drought Alleviation Act.

“For over 100 years in California, the drought argument has been used consistently to justify actions, and I think this is no exception,” said Robert Wilkinson, director of the Water Policy Program at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science and Management.

In late January, a public relations firm representing state water contractors trumpeted: “California’s water supply dries up.” It was highlighting the need for a delta “fix,” including a canal bypass.

Sen. Dave Cogdill, a Republican who represents agriculture-dependent Modesto, called the drought “epic” when he introduced a $10-billion water bond package last week that includes funding for new reservoirs and other infrastructure.

State and federal water managers earlier this year sought to relax delta water quality standards, arguing that because of the drought, it needed to hold more water in upstream reservoirs to preserve cold water flows for salmon in coming months.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa last month called for fee increases and outdoor watering restrictions, citing the state’s “severe water shortages.”

The state is in a drought. But it’s “not the worst we’ve had,” said Roos, chief hydrologist for two decades.

Roos looks at two water supply criteria to determine whether the state is in a drought: Runoff from the state’s major river systems has to be in the bottom 10% of the record, and total statewide reservoir storage has to be at or below 70% of average.

By that definition, 2007 and 2008 barely made the drought category.

In 1977, the water year (which ends Sept. 30) was the driest on record. Back then, statewide reservoir storage was 35% of average. Statewide storage was more than twice that by the end of September last year, and in 2007. Roos estimated it is about 70% of the norm now, a little less than halfway into the water year.

Roos said it was prudent for water managers to be conservative. “But some of the statements have been pretty grim . . . The climate can change pretty fast.”

Said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute in Oakland and one of the world’s leading experts on water issues: “The state is still dry, but it’s a lot less dry then it was three weeks ago and decisions about water allocations and water policy ought to be done with the best current information.”

Even as reservoir and snowpack levels were rising, federal water managers announced last week that they might not make deliveries to some big Central Valley farms — a scenario Gleick doubts will play out.

“It’s extremely likely that the allocations for the [federal Central Valley Project] are going to go up . . . The idea that they’ll give zero water to farmers — that’s not going to happen.”
Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources, defended his agency’s characterizations of the drought, saying that though it may not be the worst hydrologically, other factors are accentuating its seriousness.

There are more people in the state, more farmers have switched to permanent crops that can’t be fallowed and growing environmental problems in the delta have restricted water deliveries.

“So the same level of hydrology [that the state experienced] in 1991 produces more severe impacts,” Snow said. “That’s what spurs us to talk about the potential for the worst drought.”
bettina.boxall@latimes.com
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    “Desalination must be included in any discussion of future water sources for Orange County."
    ~ Orange County Grand Jury
    For more news updates, check out our online publication: Wavelengths

    Court of Appeals Issues Favorable Ruling
    April 8, 2021
     

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Editorial
    Events
    Fact Sheets
    News
    News Article
    News Release
    Press Release

    Archives

    February 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    July 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    July 2018
    May 2018
    February 2018
    October 2017
    August 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    August 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    June 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    October 2012
    September 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    February 2012
    October 2011
    August 2011
    May 2011
    September 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    May 2009
    March 2009
    May 2008
    April 2008
    March 2008
    February 2008
    November 2007
    October 2007
    September 2007
    August 2007
    July 2007
    June 2007
    May 2007
    May 2006
    March 2006
    February 2006
    August 2005
    April 2005

Home  |  Desal 101  |  Project Facts  |   Environment  |  Supporters  |   About   |  News   |  Contact
© 2010 - 2018 Poseidon Water. All rights reserved. Admin.