[2014] water water -not everywhere

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California Water Crisis by the Numbers - Josh Sanburn/ U.S. Environment/ Time.com

"Almost two-thirds of water is used for agriculture — but Gov. Jerry Brown's measures apply mainly to urban areas

California Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday imposed historic water controls on the drought-stricken state. But who will the burden of conserving water fall upon? Here, nine numbers that explain the new measures:..."

Rich Pedroncelli—AP
Rice harvested by Mike DeWitt is loaded into trucks near Davis, Calif., Oct. 10, 2014. DeWitt is among the Sacramento Valley farmers who planted 25 percent less rice than normal because of water cutbacks.


Richard

 

[CarolF]

Californians turn to dusty Australians for a hand

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/bus...lians-for-a-hand-20150410-1mib69.html?stb=red

... While most growers' government water allocations have been cut to zero, many retain access to water rights and are drilling more wells on their land, straining aquifers as surface supplies get more scarce.

The system is different in Australia, where land and water rights are separated and tightly controlled. The country employs a market-based system created three decades ago that allows traders, farmers and government entities to buy and sell $1.5 billion of water annually through exchanges and brokers.

Most of the trading is in the Murray-Darling Basin, an area twice the size of California that produces a third of Australia's food, almost all of its rice and cotton, and 45 per cent of its dairy output.

"We've developed some globally unique ways of managing our water resources" to provide greater efficiency of use, Tom Rooney, co-founder of water broker Waterfind in Adelaide, said.

A drought in Australia from 2002 to 2010 reduced water supplies by 70 per cent but the nation's productive capacity declined just 13 per cent, Mr Rooney said. The effects of the prolonged dry spell were limited by more efficient irrigation, while trading of water and water rights helped allocate limited supplies better, he said.

Water extraction is regulated, with meters tracking how much is taken to safeguard sustainability, said Kim Morison, a managing director at Brisbane-based Blue Sky Alternative Investments, which manages more than $1 billion, including a fund that holds tradeable water rights.

Mandated reporting of use data also allows the government to track every drop. ...

 

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http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/bus...lians-for-a-hand-20150410-1mib69.html?stb=red

Carol,

Thanks for posting what's happening with the water situation Down Under.
Sounds like some excellent stewardship.


Richard

 

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California Delta's Water Mysteriously Missing Amid Severe Drought - From The Associated Press/ Environment/ FoxNews.com

"FRESNO, Calif. – As California struggles with a devastating drought, huge amounts of water are mysteriously vanishing from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta — and the prime suspects are farmers whose families have tilled fertile soil there for generations.

A state investigation was launched following complaints from two large agencies that supply water to arid farmland in the Central Valley and to millions of residents as far south as San Diego..."

March 27, 2015: Farmer Rudy Mussi poses at one of his pumps that draws water from a slough to irrigate his farm land in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta near Stockton, Calif. (AP)


Richard

 

[LisaH]

We had good rain this season. I know we are in a drought but it does not look like it where I live. Reservoir nearby has not been that full in years...Here are a couple of pictures I took recently.

 

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California Goes Nuts - by Tom Philpott/ Food and Ag Correspondent/ motherjones.com

...Almond products—snack mixes, butters, milk—are flying off supermarket shelves. The value of the California almond market hit $4.8 billion in 2012—that's triple the level of a decade earlier. Only dairy is worth more to the state than almonds and grapes. In fact, almonds, along with California-grown pistachios and walnuts, are becoming so lucrative that big investment funds, eager to get in on the boom, are snapping up land and dropping in trees.

There's just one problem: Almond orchards require about a third more water per acre than grape vineyards. In fact, they're one of California's thirstiest crops. It takes a gallon of water to produce a single almond—more than three times the amount required for a grape and two and a half times as much for a strawberry. There's more water embedded in just four almonds than there is in a full head of lettuce. But unlike row crops, which farmers can choose not to plant during dry spells, almond trees must be watered no matter what.

In the midst of the worst drought in California's history, you might expect almonds' extreme thirst to be a deal breaker. But it's not. In fact, the drought has had hardly any impact at all on the almond boom. The state's farmers bought at least 8.33 million young almond trees between July 2013 and July 2014, a 25 percent increase from the previous year. About a quarter of the saplings went to replace old orchards, but most of the rest were new plantings, some 48,000 acres' worth, an area equal to three Manhattans..."

Richard

Almonds Get Roasted in Debate Over California Water Use - By Tribune Wire Reports/ Business/ ChicagoTribune.com

"California almonds are becoming one of the world's favorite snacks and creating a multibillion-dollar bonanza for agricultural investors. But the crop extracts a staggering price from the land, consuming more water than all the showering, dish-washing and other indoor household water use of California's 39 million people.

As California enters its fourth year of drought and imposes the first mandatory statewide water cutbacks on cities and towns, the $6.5 billion almond crop is helping drive a sharp debate about water use, agricultural interests and how both affect the state's giant economy..."

Almonds are seen on growing in an almond orchard belonging near Atwater, California. (Rich Pedroncelli / AP)


Richard

 

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California's Snowpack is Gone

One of California's Biggest Sources of Water Just Disappeared - by Erin Brodwin/ Science/ BusinessInsider.com

The worst drought in recorded history just got worse.

California's main source of surface water during the state's dry summer months is the remaining snow on its highest mountains. But it has officially melted. The snowpack levels, which hovered at around 7% to 15% of normal for this date in 2009, before the four-year drought began, are currently at 0%.

What does that look like?

Here's a map of the California snowpack on May 29, 2009:.."


Richard

 

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Drought is Bearing Fruit for Washington Wineries - by Kirk Johnson/ U.S./ International New York Times/ The New York Times/ nytimes.com

"YAKIMA, Wash. — American wine, for all the hype and hyperbole in recent years about Idaho rieslings or Pennsylvania pinot noirs, is still overwhelmingly a California thing. Even in an off year, wineries there produce more than 20 times as much wine as the vineyards here in Washington State, the perennial No. 2 in the rankings.

But wine producers here also have a message for all those complacent vintners down in Napa and Sonoma: Don’t look in the rearview mirror.

Washington’s winemaking production has more than doubled in the past decade, and the expansion may be accelerating, wine researchers and growers say, for an unlikely sounding reason: drought..."

Photo Credit: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Richard

 

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The World is Running Out of Water - by Todd C. Frankel/ The Washington Post/ washingtonpost.com

"The world’s largest underground aquifers – a source of fresh water for hundreds of millions of people — are being depleted at alarming rates, according to new NASA satellite data that provides the most detailed picture yet of vital water reserves hidden under the Earth’s surface.

Twenty-one of the world’s 37 largest aquifers — in locations from India and China to the United States and France — have passed their sustainability tipping points, meaning more water was removed than replaced during the decade-long study period, researchers announced Tuesday. Thirteen aquifers declined at rates that put them into the most troubled category. The researchers said this indicated a long-term problem that’s likely to worsen as reliance on aquifers grows..."

U.C. Riverside ecologist Cameron Barrows inspects the dead, angular branches and drooping fronds of a drought-stricken Joshua Tree


Richard

 

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Thailand is Suffering From the Worst Drought in Decades - by Helen Regan/ World/ Thailand/ time.com

"Farmers are bearing the brunt

Thailand is experiencing the worst drought in decades, with seven out of 67 provinces affected and water rationing taking place in almost a third of the country.

Thailand’s Irrigation Department said that the amount of usable water in dams across the country, except in the West, have dwindled to below 10 percent and in the capital Bangkok tap water production has been slowing down since May, reports the Associated Press.

Meanwhile the drought is taking its toll on the country’s farmers..."

Richard

 

[Tia]

Our subdivision has always had guidelines on using our irrigation water for yards and they just sent another letting saying it's mandatory. Neighbor was out washing his and his next door house sidewalk last night, he usually ignored the watering guidelines before too

 

[x3 skier]

We've had the most rain in 144 years the past 30 days. Beginning to think I'm in a rain forest.

Cheers

 

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Almonds Get Roasted in Debate Over California Water Use - By Tribune Wire Reports/ Business/ ChicagoTribune.com

"California almonds are becoming one of the world's favorite snacks and creating a multibillion-dollar bonanza for agricultural investors. But the crop extracts a staggering price from the land, consuming more water than all the showering, dish-washing and other indoor household water use of California's 39 million people.

As California enters its fourth year of drought and imposes the first mandatory statewide water cutbacks on cities and towns, the $6.5 billion almond crop is helping drive a sharp debate about water use, agricultural interests and how both affect the state's giant economy..."

Almonds are seen on growing in an almond orchard belonging near Atwater, California. (Rich Pedroncelli / AP)


Richard

Here's the Real Problem with Almonds - by Tom Philpott and Julia Lurie/ New Republic/ newrepublic.com

"Almonds: crunchy, delicious, and…the center of a nefarious plot to suck California dry? They certainly have used up a lot of ink lately—partly inspired by Mother Jones’s reporting over the past year. California’s drought-stricken Central Valley churns out 80 percent of the globe’s almonds, and since each nut takes a gallon of water to produce, they account for close to 10 percent of the state’s annual agricultural water use—or more than what the entire population of Los Angeles and San Francisco use in a year.

As Grist’s Nathanael Johnson put it, almonds have become a scapegoat of sorts—“the poster-nut for human wastefulness in California’s drought.” Or, as Alissa Walker put it in Gizmodo, “You know, ALMONDS, THE DEVIL’S NUT.” It’s not surprising that the almond backlash has inspired a backlash of its own. California agriculture is vast and complex, and its water woes can’t hang entirely on any one commodity, not even one as charismatic as the devil’s nut almond.

And as many have pointed out, almonds have a lot going for them—they’re nutritious, they taste good, and they’re hugely profitable for California. In 2014, almonds brought in a whopping $11 billion to the state’s economy. Plus, other foods—namely, animal products—use a whole lot more water per ounce than almonds.

So almonds must be worth all the water they require, right? Not so fast. Before you jump to any conclusions, consider the following five facts:..."

Richard

 

[FLDVCFamily]

I live on a sandbar (long island barrier beach) and our problem is waste water rather than wasting water. At less than 5 feet above sea level and no sewers we learn water conservation as children, no one flushes for "#1" here. On the other hand our water supply is pristine from the Lloyd aquifer and industry has only polluted a small portion of it, so far.

I live just north of you in Brevard county also on the barrier island and I wasn't aware that we even had these issues...we have storm drains though. Sebastian really doesn't have storm drains? Crazy the things I've never realized!

 

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There's a Place That's Nearly Perfect for Growing Food. It's Not California. - by Tom Philpott/ New Republic/ newrepublic.com

"California is by far the dominant US produce-growing state—source of (large PDF) 81 percent of US-grown carrots, 95 percent of broccoli, 86 percent of cauliflower, 74 percent of raspberries, 91 percent of strawberries, etc.

But all three of its main veggie growing regions—the Imperial Valley, the Central Valley, and the Salinas Valley—face serious short- and long-term water challenges. As I argued in a New York Times debate, it’s time to “de-Californify” the nation’s supply of fruits and vegetable supply, to make it more diversified, resilient, and ready for a changing climate..."

Richard

 

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Disappearance of Bolivia's No. 2 Lake a Harbinger - by Carlos Valdez, Associated Press/ AP/ apnewsarchive.com

"UNTAVI, Bolivia (AP) — Overturned fishing skiffs lie abandoned on the shores of what was Bolivia's second-largest lake. Beetles dine on bird carcasses and gulls fight for scraps under a glaring sun in what marshes remain.

Lake Poopo was officially declared evaporated last month. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people have lost their livelihoods and gone.

High on Bolivia's semi-arid Andean plains at 3,700 meters (more than 12,000 feet) and long subject to climatic whims, the shallow saline lake has essentially dried up before only to rebound to twice the area of Los Angeles.

But recovery may no longer be possible, scientists say..."

This photo combo of satellite images provided by NASA Earth Observatory shows Lake Poopo filled with water on April, 12, 2013, left, and almost dry on Jan. 15, 2016, right, in Bolivia. As Andean glaciers disappear so do the sources of Poopo’s water. Along with glacial melting, authorities say another factor is the diversion of water from Poopo’s tributaries, mostly for mining but also for agriculture. (NASA Earth Observatory via AP)


Richard

 

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The Global Water Crisis in Pictures - from BBC News/ bbc.com

"Since 2011, American photographer Mustafah Abdulaziz has travelled to eight countries around the world highlighting the global water crisis in his documentary project, Water Stories.

Seventy large-scale photographs from the series are on display in London in his first UK solo exhibition..."

Mustafah Abdulaziz/WaterAid
Image caption Children journey to collect water, Sindh Province, Pakistan, 2013


Richard

 

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Climate Change Hits Hard in Zambia, an African Success Story - By Norimitsu Onishi/ Africa/ World/ International New York Times/ The New York Times/ nytimes.com

"LAKE KARIBA, Zambia — Even as drought and the effects of climate change grew visible across this land, the Kariba Dam was always a steady, and seemingly limitless, source of something rare in Africa: electricity so cheap and plentiful that Zambia could export some to its neighbors.

The power generated from the Kariba — one of the world’s largest hydroelectric dams, in one of the world’s largest artificial lakes — contributed to Zambia’s political stability and helped turn its economy into one of the fastest growing on the continent.

But today, as a severe drought magnified by climate change has cut water levels to record lows, the Kariba is generating so little juice that blackouts have crippled the nation’s already hurting businesses. After a decade of being heralded as a vanguard of African growth, Zambia, in a quick, mortifying letdown, is now struggling to pay its own civil servants and has reached out to the International Monetary Fund for help...."

Pherry Mwiinga, a hydrologist, looks out over the Zambezi River in Zambia, where water levels are at record lows. Credit Joao Silva/The New York Times


Richard

 

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Almonds Get Roasted in Debate Over California Water Use - By Tribune Wire Reports/ Business/ ChicagoTribune.com

"California almonds are becoming one of the world's favorite snacks and creating a multibillion-dollar bonanza for agricultural investors. But the crop extracts a staggering price from the land, consuming more water than all the showering, dish-washing and other indoor household water use of California's 39 million people.

As California enters its fourth year of drought and imposes the first mandatory statewide water cutbacks on cities and towns, the $6.5 billion almond crop is helping drive a sharp debate about water use, agricultural interests and how both affect the state's giant economy..."

Almonds are seen on growing in an almond orchard belonging near Atwater, California. (Rich Pedroncelli / AP)


Richard

A Bee Mogul Confronts the Crisis In His Field
By Stephanie Strom/ Business Day/ The New York Times/ nytimes.com

"Beekeeping on an industrial scale is central to American agriculture, and “colony
collapse” has proved to be a severe test.

KERN COUNTY, Calif. — A soft light was just beginning to outline the Tejon Hills as Bret Adee counted rows of wizened almond trees under his breath.

He placed a small white flag at the end of every 16th row to show his employees where they should place his beehives. Every so often, he fingered the buds on the trees. “It won’t be long,” he said.

Mr. Adee (pronounced Ay-Dee) is America’s largest beekeeper, and this is his busy season. Some 92,000 hives had to be deployed before those buds burst into blossom so that his bees could get to the crucial work of pollination.

But it is notable that he has a business at all. For the last decade, a mysterious plague has killed billions of bees every year...."

Bret Adee checked inside a hive on a ranch near Bakersfield, Calif. Credit Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times


Richard

 

[easyrider]

So is the California drought about over ? It certainly looks like it has been raining bucket loads in CA.

Bill

 

[klpca]

So is the California drought about over ? It certainly looks like it has been raining bucket loads in CA.

Bill

Well, we're definitely getting saturated this year! I'll take it. I think that we were all tired of the drought. They aren't really easing up on the water restrictions though.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

As the wife of a dairy farmer I found this article interesting.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/0328/Why-Saudi-Arabia-bought-14-000-acres-of-US-farm-land

 

[Blues]

So is the California drought about over ? It certainly looks like it has been raining bucket loads in CA.

The best resource I've found is the US Drought Monitor, California page.

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?CA shows current conditions, where less than 1% of the state is still classified in extreme drought, and about 7% in severe drought. For comparison, try clicking on "One Year Ago".

Also fun is the following animation. Starts in 2011 with no drought whatsoever, goes through the extreme years of 2014/2015, and shows how much progress the current rainy season has made:

https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2017/0...rain-storms/?gclid=CMPwq63_nNICFUpNfgodecYAAA

 

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California, Parched for 5 Years, Is Now Battered By Water
By Thomas Fuller/ U.S./ The New York Times/ nytimes.com

"A powerful storm with near hurricane-force winds swept through Southern California on Saturday, killing at least two people and causing widespread disruptions, but providing a definitive respite from five years of drought.

Amid one of the wettest winters in decades, more heavy rainfall was due to strike Northern California starting on Sunday...."

Newport Beach in Southern California. A powerful storm swept through that region of the state on Saturday. Credit Mark Rightmire/The Orange County Register, via Associated Press


Richard

 

[Blues]

The best resource I've found is the US Drought Monitor, California page.

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?CA shows current conditions, where less than 1% of the state is still classified in extreme drought, and about 7% in severe drought. For comparison, try clicking on "One Year Ago".

Followup. Now if you click on that link, you see the Feb 21 status, where only 4% of the state is severe, and there is no extreme drought anywhere.

ETA - So now, the only places with severe drought are Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Imperial counties. Moderate drought continues in San Diego, Riverside, and Orange counties; the northern part of Los Angeles county; and much of the Salinas valley, though not as far north as Salinas itself.

As a local, I find that last part a bit hard to believe. Local news reported that Lake Nacimiento is full, and they're releasing as fast as they can into the Salinas River. While they don't expect it to cause additional flooding, I also find it hard to believe that the Salinas Valley is considered to be in drought.