OT Just how bad is the drought? Just curious OT

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WBraun

climber
Feb 16, 2015 - 08:47am PT
You can make it rain tomorrow in California.

Modern fool scientists have no knowledge how.

They only know how to cause the effects of making no rain.

All these stupid modern scientists have is to cause droughts and extreme weather due to their foolish consciousness.

It all begins in consciousness .....
rottingjohnny

Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
Feb 16, 2015 - 08:52am PT
Like the day DWP seeded clouds over Mammoth and Bishop ended up buried in snow...Oopsie..!
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Feb 17, 2015 - 10:43am PT
Cheer up, the rain's coming...these are from 2013, shot from the top of my world.
rottingjohnny

Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
Feb 17, 2015 - 07:05pm PT
The Chief...I hope you're right , for once , about the , ah , climate , uh , weather...rj
Splater

climber
Grey Matter
Feb 19, 2015 - 06:26pm PT
NCEP forecast for March 2015 as of Feb 19:
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/30day/

SW USA:
Temperature: Warm
Precip: Average. Above avg only in Arizona/new Mexico

3 month forecast:
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=1
Temperature: warm
Precip: above average for SoCal, AZ, NM

Only the 8-14 day forecast is wet for the entire west, a period of only 1 week.
Jan

Mountain climber
Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa
Feb 19, 2015 - 06:39pm PT
I was surprised to see an article today that claims the Colorado snowpack is within 2% of normal this year everywhere but the very southwestern part of the state. That's good news for you guys too in terms of the Colorado River flow to southern California.
Splater

climber
Grey Matter
Feb 19, 2015 - 07:50pm PT
These links say Colorado overall about 80% snowpack

http://graphs.water-data.com/ucsnowpack/

~ Average north of Interstate-70
Under average mostly south of that.

http://www.capitalpress.com/Water/20150219/colorado-snowpack-a-bright-spot-amid-western-drought

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/reports/UpdateReport.html?report=Ski+West+Report

http://www.usbr.gov/uc/water/notice/snowpack.html

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/co_swepctnormal.pdf

http://www3.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/reports/UpdateReport.html?textReport=Colorado&textRptKey=5&textFormat=SNOTEL+Snow%2FPrecipitation+Update+Report&StateList=5&RegionList=Select+a+Region+or+Basin&SpecialList=Select+a+Special+Report&MonthList=February&DayList=19&YearList=2015&FormatList=N0&OutputFormatList=HTML&textMonth=February&textDay=19&CompYearList=select+a+year

http://www.onthesnow.com/colorado/skireport.html

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/reports/UpdateReport.html?report=Ski+West+Report
rottingjohnny

Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
Feb 19, 2015 - 07:56pm PT
The forecasters were saying that Feb. this year was going to be above noraml and they were wrong..at least for the the eastside...Basing forecasts on historical averages is more math than science...
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Feb 19, 2015 - 08:16pm PT
This story matches what I'm seeing in the mountains. High temps. Carson Pass and Lassen are the only easy access places with snow for backcountry skiing in California. And what's there is minimal. We've had 2 storms all winter.


California’s snowless winter worsening; Oregon also in trouble

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/California-s-snowless-winter-worsening-6090485.php
Ken M

Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
Mar 4, 2015 - 12:34am PT
Well, survey done today. May be the lowest snowpack in >30 years.

No impact of storms in last 10 days. The snowpack is too warm.
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Mar 4, 2015 - 06:37am PT
Snowing nicely here. The San Juans have picked up 8 or 9 feet of fresh snow in the past ten days after a dry winter.
enjoimx

Trad climber
Yosemite
Mar 4, 2015 - 07:38am PT
Yesterday, somewhere in Yosemite...


Ken M

Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
Mar 4, 2015 - 11:24am PT
One wonders how deep that snow is, and how long it will last?
Chaz

Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
Mar 4, 2015 - 01:57pm PT
Yet here in The I.E., they're building houses like crazy.

There's at least a half-dozen five-hundred-home developments being built right now in places like Wildomar and Banning.
And a shitload of smaller, forty-homes-on-ten-acres "KB Homes - Here Comes The Neighborhood" developments everywhere else.

Apparently, both The Government and people with money to invest aren't buying into the drought hysteria at all.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Mar 10, 2015 - 07:54am PT
Cal Fire is ready to start focusing on a potentially early fire season.

Taped report from Morgan Hill, CA.
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Cal-Fire-Seasonal-Hiring-Starts-Earlier-Than-Usual-292126891.html
skcreidc

Social climber
SD, CA
Mar 10, 2015 - 10:32am PT
I say screw the Keystone pipeline, put in a pipeline in from Boston to San Diego!!

That is sarcasm of course. Kind of like, lets build more golf courses in the desert (coastal scrub, ect.)! Another great use of a limited natural resource! You want to water that area over a year? Picture a lake covering that golf course 8 ft deep as a rough estimate of how much water will be used every year to keep it green. Higher evapotranspiration rates (a combination of evaporation and transiration) means higher watering rates to keep the grass green. We do not live in Ireland, thus green lawns are only viable maybe 4 or 5 months out of the year.

Apparently, both The Government and people with money to invest aren't buying into the drought hysteria at all.

OK, this made me spew my coffee all over the table.
1) There is no hysteria otherwise something would actually be getting done. No we are not far enough down the rabbit hole yet for hysteria. Actually, some forward motion is being accomplished; the cost of water is rising bringing desalination plant costs more in line with other sources. In Southern California, more than half the water use is outside. Half of that, about 25% of the total, is estimated to water lawns. There are still a lot of green lawns in San Diego. Thus no hysteria down here. (my garden is comprised of natives).

2) People. Money to be made? Hello? Short term, growth is a good thing for the gov and developers. So why would they stop. Doesn't mean it's sustainable. AND the well-off can move. So yes I agree with DMT, population should be capped somehow.

3) How can we cap growth? It will piss a lot of people off. But eminent domain has been used for the "common good" in the past. I was involved in a county wide backcountry housing density study in the 80's. Everyone involved was on personal groundwater supply. The end result was basing backcountry housing density on average rainfall amounts. Or the amount of rain needed to recharge their groundwater systems on a yearly basis. (they may have to reevaluate those numbers now). So, we could base population of rainfall. The sh#t would really hit the fan with that one.....

A tough problem to be sure. But as DMT says, it needs to be addressed and the sooner the better.
Splater

climber
Grey Matter
Mar 10, 2015 - 10:43am PT
In my area in SoCal, the government and water district will pay you to remove a lawn and install something low-water use (but not pavement).
In order to qualify, you must have a green lawn.
So the first step to using less water is to use tons of water to get a green lawn.

In my entire yard, I have one tree, a nice pine, maybe 60 years old, but it was just killed by pine beetles. Went from green to brown in about 1 month.
G_Gnome

Trad climber
Cali
Mar 10, 2015 - 11:34am PT
Ultimately you know they will build a pipeline from Canada to Colorado and on down thru Nevada, Arizona and California. In the end there won't be any other choice. At least spills won't cause any environmental damage.
Roger Brown

climber
Oceano, California
Mar 10, 2015 - 12:12pm PT
Desalination Plants? (I probably spelled that wrong) I have heard they are not cost effective. Vandenburg Air Force Base on the central coast of California is a really big place. There are six different space launch complexes there and I think they only use one of them. All government land....like free land on the California Coast. Free land would cut the cost a bit. Billions for a bullet train? A multi billion dollar desalination plant would probably be the biggest of it's kind in the world. Could something like that be part of the solution?
skcreidc

Social climber
SD, CA
Mar 10, 2015 - 02:32pm PT
Desalination is not cost effective yet. But as the cost of water goes up it will become so. Down here in San Diego County, there's been plant under construction in Carlsbad. I believe it's supposed to go on line sometime in 2016. Supposedly, it will produce 50 million gallons of water per day and will provide 7% of the potable water needs for the San Diego region. An even higher percentage if we get rid of the lawns and a few golf courses. How will it be payed for? Well, everyone down here will pay a small fee, even if their area does not use any of the water. This way the costs are spread out over many more people. Upside/downside? Upside is 50 million gallons of water per day. Downside is the waste stream which will consist of sea water with twice the salinity of normal sea water. And, it uses energy to produce this water (RO).
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