Category Archives: Supply Reliability

Listen to the Tree Rings on Sacramento River Hydrology

With a third and extreme year of drought, how will future hydrologic conditions compare to current ones? There are two strands of thought suggesting a challenging future:

  • the 20th Century was an unusually wet period
  • climate change will confront water managers with more severe drought conditions in the future

For the Sacramento River watershed in California, there is unexpected good news. While California must confront variability in hydrologic conditions, Department of Water Resources’ recently released tree-ring data suggesting that current severe drought conditions do not signal that California will be facing more severe hydrologic conditions in the future. Continue reading →

The Aftermath of Drought in Texas

While we here in California still face one of the worst droughts in our state’s history, some areas of the Western United States are enjoying the beginning of a reprieve from exceptional drought conditions. In particular, parts of Texas faced severe drought conditions over the last few years. Increased storms and precipitation in these areas of late has reduced the drought in these states. But is everything fixed with the rains these areas have received? The answer to that question unfortunately is no. While these areas have received rain to help alleviate drought conditions, Texas must also deal with the longer-term challenge of groundwater depletion that the drought caused. Hopefully California can use the case of Texas for how it will have to handle the challenges of water management after a drought. Continue reading →

The Legislative Landscape for Current Water Issues in California

In my Post last week, I focused on the groundwater depletion that the Colorado River Basin faces. During the historic drought that California and many western states face, water users have increasingly turned to groundwater to make up for the utter lack of rain or surface water supplies. Despite the torrential rains that some areas of California received in early August, the Los Angeles Times reports that these rains did little to dent the drought in the state. The rains either fell on areas that were not seeing the worst drought conditions in the state, or the rain did not permeate the soil effectively. As such, the state still has large areas stuck in severe and exceptional drought. Please see the picture below for a comparison of the drought in California on July 1st (on the left) versus August 12th. Continue reading →

Will the Drought Change the Public’s Attitude Regarding Recycled Water?

Across the western United States, both policymakers and citizens must change their ways to conserve what little water remains in the rivers, streams and aquifers. Here in California, we are bearing the brunt of the drought’s effects. Earlier this week, the California State Water Resources Control Board imposed a series of new sanctions to combat residential water waste. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Board gave local cities the power to impose fines of up to $500 per day for people who allow runoff from outdoor sprinklers, hose down sidewalks or driveways, or who wash their car with a hose that does not have a nozzle with a shutoff valve. Clearly the drought has gotten to a point where we need to think more creatively about finding more reliable water supplies for the long-term. Until this point, the general public has had an aversion towards the large-scale use of recycled water. But could the drought change this mindset? In this piece, I will discuss the potential uses for this sometimes overlooked water supply and address how the drought may change this mindset. Continue reading →