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===Climate change===
===Climate change===
{{main|Climate change in California#Drought}}
{{main|Climate change in California#Drought}}
Climate change causes more dry years, more wet years, and also more average years.{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}}
Climate change causes more dry years, more wet years, and also more average years.<-This makes no sense whatsoever. {{Citation needed|date=January 2017}}


===Water rights complexity===
===Water rights complexity===

Revision as of 03:57, 22 February 2017

Percent Area in U.S. Drought Monitor Categories

There have been several severe droughts in California history. As the most populous state in the U.S. and a major agricultural producer, drought in California can have a severe economic as well as environmental impact. Drought may be due solely or in combination to weather conditions; economic or political actions; or population and farming.

A dry riverbed in California, 2009

Causes

Water in California is very closely managed, with an extensive pipeline network to serve the most populated and dry areas of the state. Precipitation is limited, with the vast majority of rain and snowfall occurring in the winter months, in the northern part of the state. This delicate balance means that a dry rainy season can have lasting consequences.

Lack of new infrastructure

Not much water infrastructure has been built since 1979, despite a doubling of the population since that year. [1] [2]

Limited Reservoir Capacity

The state's reservoirs are not even big enough to hold 1 year of precipitation. On February 11, 2017 -- less than 1 year after the worst drought in 1200 years[3][4][5][6][7][8] -- 3 of the largest reservoirs were simultaneously dumping water into the ocean for flood control. Lake Oroville reached 101% of its design capacity for the first time in 48 years.[9] Combined outflow from lakes Shasta, Oroville, and Folsom was 370,260 acre-feet that day.[10] This water would have been worth $370M if it had been available for watering lawns.[11] Residents who ripped out their lawns less than 6 months ago watched in horror as all of this water spilled into the Pacific Ocean in 1 day.[12]

Leaky distribution systems

In Water Year 2015 (October 2014-September 2015) 9.4 Million acre-feet was dumped into the San Joaquin Delta, but only 1.9 Million of these acre-feet were recovered into water distribution systems.[13]

Reservoir capacity reserved for flood control

Due to limited spillway flow design, reservoirs cannot be quickly drained in anticipation of major storms. This limits how much of a reservoir's capacity can be used for long-term storage.[14]

Shasta Lake limited to 87 percent capacity

On March 18, 2016, during a period of increased rainfall due to El Nino weather conditions,[15] the discharge rate at Shasta Lake (California's largest reservoir) was increased to 17,515 CFS, [16] or more than 3 times normal summer usage. This rate of discharge has not been seen since June 7, 2011. [17] This water is being dumped into the Pacific Ocean for flood control reasons (more rain predicted for the week of March 21, 2016) and the rate of release will increase to 20,000 CFS.[18]

Lake Oroville limited to 85 percent capacity

On March 27, 2016, during a period of increased rainfall due to weather conditions,[15] the rate of releases from Lake Oroville (California's second largest reservoir) were tripled to 7,000 CFS.[19] Even though the water level was 46 feet from the top, this was enough to hit the flood control limit [20][21][22] and has led operators to open the spillway for the first time in 5 years.[23]

Folsom Lake limited to 60 percent capacity

A flood risk exists when Folsom Lake is above 60 percent.[24] On March 7, 2016, Folsom Lake was at 68% capacity.[19] The excess 8% of capacity is not allowed to be used [25] and had to be released to avoid potential property damage.[26]

A spillway improvement is scheduled to be completed in 2017. This will allow short-term weather forecasts to be taken into consideration rather than using the crude 60% rule. This is possible because the river below the dam is wide enough to handle large releases on short notice.[27]

The spillway improvement at Folsom lake is still under construction.[28] Because the improvement is still under construction, 8000 acre-feet had to be released from Folsom Lake on March 7, 2016 to meet the US Army Corp of Engineers rule mandating a maximum 60 percent capacity during the winter.[29]

On Tuesday, March 8, 2016, releases were scheduled to double from 8,000 CFS to 15,000 CFS.[30] This resulted in 29,000 acre-feet in being released.

From March 7 to March 19, a cumulative 280,000 acre-feet of water was released into the Pacific Ocean via the Folsom Dam spillway.[31]

Missing precipitation

According to the NOAA, a rainy year does not end the drought.[32] Academic articles tend to define drought as missing precipitation (or dry years), while news and politics tends to focus on water shortage.

Weather cycles

The 2012–15 North American Drought was caused by conditions of the Arctic oscillation and North Atlantic oscillation which removed winter storms from the U.S. the winter of 2011–2012.

Climate change

Main article: Climate change in California § Drought

Climate change causes more dry years, more wet years, and also more average years.<-This makes no sense whatsoever. [citation needed]

Water rights complexity

Main article: Water in California § Water rights

Without changes in water use, it would take about 6 dry years to deplete the state's reservoirs. [33]

Large water consumers

Approximately 2.7 trillion gallons are effectively exported from California every year in cattle feed. [34] This is more than California's annual urban water consumption, which is only 2.3 trillion gallons. [35] California's annual cattle feed production is worth only $1.3 billion. [36]

Also, from 2008–2015, 1.4 trillion gallons were dumped into the ocean to save 36 Delta smelt. [37] An alternative, salinity barriers, is being installed.[38]

Supply and Demand

Water is not a free good. [39] In fact, it's expensive. [40] These conditions lead to awareness of water management challenges. [41]

In rain rich states and countries, which are not drought prone, the water, as elsewhere, is managed by government consent, which assumes ownership and management of all free flowing rivers, lakes, and bodies of water in its parameters. The water being used for commercial purposes, such as NESTLE'S 72 brands of bottled water, is done so only as permitted and granted by governmental authorities. Lately, locales have been fighting back against the "stealing" of precious resources by opposing and not allowing huge water draw down facilities to be set up. [42] In some instances, water tables underground have dropped from 100 to 400-600 feet deep, basically shutting down most private well owners from their own water sources. [43] [44]

Effects

Irrigation restrictions in cities

Rules are imposed on local water agencies.[45]

In response to the severe California drought, in April 2015, Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order mandating statewide reductions in water use. The mandate aimed to reduce the amount of water consumed statewide in urban areas by 25% from 2013 levels. The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) proposed regulatory instructions that grouped urban water utilities into nine tiers, with conservation standards ranging from 8% to 36%.[46]

Increased water prices for farmers

Water costs have soared from $140 per acre-foot in 2013 to $1,100 per acre-foot in 2014. [47] This has a crippling effect on the industry. For example, dairy farmers are going out of business. [48]

Historic droughts

Since 1900, the following dry years have had significantly below-average precipitation.

  • 1917–21
  • 1922–26
  • 1928–37
  • 1943–51
  • 1959–62
  • 1976–77
  • 1987–92
  • 2007–09
  • 2012–16

[49][50]

1929–1934

The Central Valley Project was started in the 1930s in response to drought.[51]

1950s

The 1950s drought contributed to the creation of the State Water Project.[51]

1976–77

1977 had been the driest year in state history to date.[52] According to the LA Times, "Drought in the 1970s spurred efforts at urban conservation and the state's Drought Emergency Water Bank came out of drought in the 1980s."[51]

1986–1992

California endured one of its longest droughts ever observed from late 1986 through early 1992. Drought worsened in 1988 as much of the United States also suffered from severe drought. In California, the six-year drought ended in late 1992 as a significant El Niño event in the Pacific Ocean (and the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991) most likely caused unusual persistent heavy rains.[53]

2007–2009

2007–2009 saw three years of drought conditions, the 12th worst drought period in the state's history, and the first drought for which a statewide proclamation of emergency was issued. The drought of 2007–2009 also saw greatly reduced water diversions from the state water project. The summer of 2007 saw some of the worst wildfires in Southern California history.[54]

2011–2016

Main article: 2011–17 California drought
Progression of the drought from December 2013 to July 2014

The period between late 2011 and 2014 was the driest in California history since record-keeping began.[55] In May 2015, a state resident poll conducted by Field Poll found that two out of three respondents agreed that it should be mandated for water agencies to reduce water consumption by 25%.[56]

The 2015 prediction of El Niño to bring rains to California raised hopes of ending the drought. In the spring of 2015, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration named the probability of the presence of El Niño conditions until the end of 2015 at 80%. Historically, sixteen winters between 1951 and 2015 had created El Niño. Six of those had below-average rainfall, five had average rainfall, and five had above-average rainfall. However, as of May 2015, drought conditions had worsened and above average ocean temperatures had not resulted in large storms.[57]

The drought led to Governor Jerry Brown's instituting mandatory 25 percent water restrictions in June 2015.[58]

Many millions of California trees died from the drought - approximately 102 million, including 62 million in 2016 alone.[59] By the end of 2016, 30% of California had emerged from the drought, mainly in the northern half of the state, while 40% of the state remained in the extreme or exceptional drought levels.[60] Heavy rains in January 2017 were expected to have a significant benefit to the state's northern water reserves, despite widespread power outages and erosional damage in the wake of the deluge.[61] Among the casualties of the rain was 1,000 year-old Pioneer Cabin Tree in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, which toppled on January 8, 2017.[62]

Mitigation

Plastic shade balls were floated on reservoirs to prevent evaporative losses, beginning about 2008.[63][64]

Long-term mitigation

Voters' approval of the Proposition 1 water bond in 2014 has been interpreted as an eagerness to add flexibility to California's water system.[65]

In early 2016, Los Angeles County began a proactive cloud-seeding program.[66]

See also

References

  1. ^ "California Drought: Bad Policy, Poor Infrastructure".
  2. ^ "California Faces Lost Decades in Solving Drought".
  3. ^ "California Just Had Its Worst Drought in Over 1200 Years".
  4. ^ "California drought the worst in 1,200 years, new study says".
  5. ^ "California Drought Worst in 1,200 Years: Study".
  6. ^ "California Drought Worst In 1,200 Years".
  7. ^ "California Is In The Middle Of Its Worst Drought In 1,200 Years".
  8. ^ "California's worst drought in 1,200 years in pictures".
  9. ^ "Thanks to storm runoff, there's a lot of water over California's second-largest reservoir".
  10. ^ "Daily Reservoir Storage Summary".
  11. ^ "LA County Water Rates".
  12. ^ "California Turf Replacement Initiative".
  13. ^ "Day Flow Calculations 2015".
  14. ^ "California Reservoirs Are Dumping Water in a Drought, But Science Could Change That".
  15. ^ a b "US Drought Monitor".
  16. ^ "Shasta Dam – 03/19/2016".
  17. ^ "Shasta Dam – 06/14/2011".
  18. ^ "Sacramento River releases to take big jump".
  19. ^ a b "Daily Reservoir Storage Summary".
  20. ^ "Lake Oroville hits flood control limit, may have to release water".
  21. ^ "Water released from Lake Oroville to prevent flooding".
  22. ^ "Engineers consider releasing water from Lake Oroville Dam".
  23. ^ "Lake Oroville Spillway Opened For First Time in 5 Years".
  24. ^ "Sacramento: Why Is Army Corps Releasing Water from Folsom Lake Amid Drought?".
  25. ^ "New watering restrictions imposed amid California drought".
  26. ^ "Los Angeles County Waterworks Districts".
  27. ^ "Sacramento agencies ask: Why release water from Folsom Lake during drought?".
  28. ^ "Leak stabilized at Folsom Lake spillway construction site".
  29. ^ "Folsom Lake Reservoir forced to dump water during California drought".
  30. ^ "Folsom Lake water releases rise as rain continues".
  31. ^ "Folsom Lake".
  32. ^ "El Nino May Ease California Drought, but Not End It, NOAA Says".
  33. ^ "Another dry year could be bad news for California".
  34. ^ "Cows Not Almonds Are Biggest Water Users".
  35. ^ "California Agricultural Production Statistics".
  36. ^ "CDFA Statistics".
  37. ^ "Forget The Missing Rainfall. Where's the Delta Smelt?".
  38. ^ "Drought Triggers Need for Installation of Emergency Salinity Barrier on Delta Channel".
  39. ^ "water is a human right but not a free good".
  40. ^ "LA County Water Rates".
  41. ^ "California Drought".
  42. ^ "Groveland Battling Water Bottler (Niagra) to Preserve Chance of Future Growth".
  43. ^ "Nestle Continues Stealing World's Water During Drought - Nestlé is draining California aquifers, from Sacramento alone taking 80 million gallons annually. Nestlé then sells the people's water back to them at great profit under many dozen brand names".
  44. ^ "Nestle Outbids Township That Wanted Well For Drinking Water".
  45. ^ "LA Watering Restrictions".
  46. ^ Buck, Steven; Nemati, Mehdi; Sunding, David (2016). "The Welfare Consequences of the 2015 California Drought Mandate: Evidence from New Results on Monthly Water Demand" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-07-01. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  47. ^ "California Water Prices Soar For Farmers as Drought Grows".
  48. ^ "California Dairy Farmers Struggle to Survive Prolonged Drought".
  49. ^ "Drought background". California Department of Water Resources. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  50. ^ "MAJOR FLOODS AND DROUGHTS IN CALIFORNIA". USGS.
  51. ^ a b c Curwen, Thomas (7 June 2015). "California drought: No rain, but 'the sky is not falling'". LA Times. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  52. ^ The 1976–1977 California Drought: A Review (PDF). Department of Water Resources. May 1978.
  53. ^ Water Resources Support Center, Institute For Water Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (1992). Lessons learned from the California Drought (1987–1992). ASCE Publications. p. 122. ISBN 9780788141638. Retrieved 2013-06-11.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  54. ^ California’s Drought of 2007–2009: An Overview (PDF). California Department of Water Resources. September 2010. pp. 1–2.
  55. ^ Ellen Hanak; Jeffrey Mount; Caitrin Chappelle (January 2015). "California's Latest Drought". PPIC.
  56. ^ Alexander, Kurtis (19 May 2015). "California drought: People support water conservation, in theory". SF Gate. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  57. ^ Rogers, Paul (14 May 2015). "California drought: El Niño conditions strengthening, but don't break out the galoshes yet". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  58. ^ "The California drought: What would you ask Gov. Jerry Brown?". USC News. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  59. ^ USDA Office of Communications (2016-11-18). "New Aerial Survey Identifies More Than 100 Million Dead Trees in California". USDA/U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  60. ^ USDA Brad Rippey (2016-12-26). "U.S. Drought Monitor California". Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  61. ^ rogers, Paul (January 9, 2017). "California storms add 350 billion gallons to parched reservoirs". The Mercury News (San Jose). Bay Area News Group. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  62. ^ Andrews, Travis M. (January 9, 2017). "Morning Mix: Winter storm fells one of California's iconic drive-through tunnel trees, carved in the 1880s". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  63. ^ "Millions of Shade Balls to Prevent Evaporation in California Reservoirs".
  64. ^ Marco Chown Oved, "Shade Balls: Just Ad Water. Toronto Star, October 23, 2016
  65. ^ "Commentary: Lessons of 1986 floods continue to reverberate".
  66. ^ Reynard Loki, Conspiracy Theories Rain Down, Salon Magazine, March 24, 2016

External links

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