7 responses to “Drought: It’s Never Really Over”

1. Joe

   January 16, 2016

   The SacBee offers this today:
   “They took the governor’s advice and cut back on their water use during the drought,” she said. “Now, they want something else. Naturally, they don’t want to have to water it.”
   Those conversations with perplexed homeowners spurred a new arboretum series showcasing easy-care, low-water plants for Sacramento Valley gardeners: Life After Lawn.
   Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/living/home-garden/article54790445#emlnl=Morning_Newsletter#storylink=cpy
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   The problem with this is I DON’T WANT “life after lawn” or life after trees, rose bushes, hedges or anything else alive around my house. For what? To accomodate a bunch of ugly “rack and stack” apartments that we don’t have enough street or school capacity for to begin with?

2. Peter Garrison

   January 16, 2016

   Exactly: Drove down 1-5: Signs posted along the farmland: “Dams not trains.”

3. Joe

   February 18, 2016

   Even the SacBee had to highlight this astronaut quip. Think we need more high-density housing and big office developments? Get ready for this:
   One of the touchier ideas is called “potable reused water” – in layman’s terms, treated wastewater. Despite scientists’ assurance that it can be safe, the idea still makes people queasy. State water regulations currently prohibit public water systems from offering it to customers.
   “I want people to have the opportunity to try it,” said Assemblyman Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park. “We want to show folks that this water is safe, that it is something we can include in the future in our water portfolio in California.”
   “A lot of folks say ‘oh my goodness, really?’” Gordon added. “What I would tell folks, though, is that the astronauts on our space station have been drinking this kind of water for decades. If it’s good enough to keep our astronauts alive, it’s probably good enough for us.”
   Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article61069682#storylink=cpy

4. Steve

   February 19, 2016

   What do you think goes into our water supply now? Fish do it in the water. Birds poop in the water. Grow up people.

5. pat giorni

   February 20, 2016

   And that’s why cholormine is added. There’s nothing sexier than Typhus and Typhoid.

6. Joe

   April 3, 2016

   It seems that little factoid in the original post about it taking decades of sort-of-normal rainfall to recover still hasn’t penetrated many people’s minds including the SacBee which seems surprised to write:
   In another sign that California’s drought has eased but the state’s water system is far from fully recovered, federal regulators announced Friday that Sacramento Valley farmers would get full water deliveries for the upcoming growing season, but many San Joaquin Valley growers would face another year of severe shortages.
   The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, in an eagerly anticipated announcement, outlined the initial 2016 water allocations from the Central Valley Project, the federal government’s massive network of reservoirs, pumps and canals.
   The results after a relatively wet winter and early spring: Rice growers and others north of the Delta can expect 100 percent of their contracted water deliveries. That represents a significant improvement over last year, when even those farmers with some of the state’s most senior water rights lost more than 25 percent of the water they would receive in a non-drought year.
   The picture is far less rosy below the federal pumping station near Tracy that supplies farmers south of the Delta. The sprawling agricultural districts on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley were told they’re getting only 5 percent of their contract supply.
   Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article69451732#storylink=cpy

7. Joe

   May 9, 2016

   Hot off the SacBee presses:
   In a major shift in California’s urban water policy, state regulators Monday issued proposed conservation rules that would lift the mandatory 25 percent statewide water cuts in place since last June.
   Instead, urban water agencies across the state would be required to conserve on a sliding scale tailored to their unique water supply conditions. A draft of the new targets released Monday by the State Water Resources Control Board would allow districts to “self-certify” how much water they expect to have in their supply assuming three additional years of drought, and the level of conservation necessary to ensure they do not run out of water.
   Districts would be required to reduce water use by an amount equal to their projected shortfall. For example, in a district where three more dry years would leave a district 10 percent short of anticipated supply, the mandatory conservation target would be 10 percent.
   The release of the draft rules came on the same day Gov. Jerry Brown issued a new executive order declaring that drought conditions persist and that the state must take permanent action to mitigate the likelihood of more frequent droughts.
   Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article76553182#storylink=cpy
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   Without some meaningful revision of development rules (yes, you ABAG) this is just so much hot air.