Since Governor Jerry Brown announced sweeping new mandatory water reductions in an executive order in early April, the news media and blogging communities have been quick to point the finger at many different types of water users as the “culprit” and “poster child” of the drought. As I mentioned in my last post, new land development is now in the crosshairs of water issues in the state. In addition, articles have pointed the finger at everything from swimming pools, green lawns, almonds, rice, bottled water and breweries in the Golden State, saying that they all have been a contributor to the State’s declining water supplies. Continue reading
Rebutting the NRDC on Ways to Deal with California Drought
“Climate change is likely to increase the frequency of warmer winters and low snowpack”. – Ben Chou, Natural Resources Defense Council, “California Needs Proactive Ways to Deal with Drought”, EnergyNewsData.com, April 3, 2015.
But such a climate change prognostication is a classic case of a self-fulfilling prophecy because California already has warmer winters and lower snowpack during normal dry years! You can’t predict the present.
Land Development: The Next Target in the Crosshairs of the Drought?
Since California Governor Jerry Brown issued an Executive Order mandating water reductions amid the state’s relentless drought, two things have interested me. First, the finger-pointing between water interests began almost immediately. Former Hewlett Packard CEO and Senate Candidate Carly Fiorina called the current situation “The Man-Made Water Shortage in California.” Other articles such as a piece in the LA Times argue that Governor Brown’s Executive Order went too easy on agricultural interests. (In my opinion, however, this argument does not hold water. Governor Brown ordered a 25% mandatory water reduction aimed mostly at municipal users. The order does not specifically order reductions in agricultural water use. In most cases however, the drought conditions are curtailing agricultural water use far beyond 25%. As I wrote in a post in March, the State Water Contractors are only getting 20% of State Water Project deliveries. The State Water Project Draft Reliability Report assumes a long-term average delivery rate of 58%, so this year’s allocation is significantly lower than average. For the second year in a row, the Central Valley Project will deliver no water to most agricultural users for a 100% reduction in supplies.) Continue reading
The Dwindling Delta Smelt Population: What does it mean for the species and humans that rely on the Delta?
The drought in California unfortunately continues unabated. According to the most recent US Drought Monitor, 41.41% of the Golden State remains in exceptional drought. Much of the land area in the Central Valley and major population centers such as Los Angeles remain stuck in the exceptional drought category. Only about .15% of the state’s land area is drought free, about 245.5 square miles by my calculations. As you can see from the map below, the only area of the state that is designated as drought free is a rural area of southeastern San Bernardino County, generally between Lake Havasu and Parker, AZ. Continue reading