Over the past 12 months, my research group has published a series of satellite-based studies that paint a most dire, space-based picture of changing freshwater availability. Some of our maps were published as part of The Desert Sun-USA TODAY series (Dec. 10, 2015) along with Ian James’ compelling narrative of the equally-grim view from the ground. There is no escaping the realities of the world’s shifting water landscape and humanity’s need to adapt.
The excellent Desert Sun-USA TODAY global groundwater depletion series brought a growing world problem to center stage. But it also sadly reminded me that ‘The more things change, the more they remain the same.’ We’ve been down this road before. To illustrate that, I’ll return to my hydrology graduate school days at the University of Arizona. There, I first learned of the water woes in the Texas portion of the Ogallala aquifer and the southern Central Valley aquifer system.
The Desert Sun and USA TODAY recently published a five-part series examining the dire consequences of groundwater depletion in places around the world. Now that multimedia project has grown into a documentary film that will be shown on April 4 at the American Documentary Film Festival in Palm Springs.
The film, titled “Pumped Dry: The Global Crisis of Vanishing Groundwater,” was co-produced by Steve Elfers of USA TODAY and Ian James of The Desert Sun, and was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
Drought, as applied to agriculture practices in the US State of California, must be evaluated on a different basis than in other parts of the country.
Typically there are extended periods every Summer with little or no precipitation. This is the normal and expected condition. So, a deficiency of the precipitation becomes significant in the State when the normal Winter Water supply fails to materialize. Winter range is also very important in the livestock industry. An abnormally dry Winter can be disastrous to the raising of cattle. Approximately 90% of California’s Water supply is used for Agriculture.
El Nino conditions are calming down and several areas that normally see precipitation were left dry. This will magnify water management in the future and that will continue to be a driving subject of conversation.
Department of Water Resources Climatologist Michael Anderson says El Nino conditions are calming down but those weather pattern predictions don’t always mean precipitation. Anderson says we most likely will see some rain through the next month or two, however the storms are missing the areas that normally see water during El Nino conditions, such as the southern coast.
Parts of Louisiana, Arkansas and eastern Texas, which have already suffered widespread flooding this year, will continue to be at risk of flooding through June, according to the newly released spring outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The report also said that communities along the Mississippi and Missouri River basins and parts of the southeastern U.S. from Alabama to North Carolina are at risk of minor to moderate spring flooding, too.
It comes as no surprise to anyone living in Southern California that the drought is still going strong in the region, and forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that will likely continue through the spring and summer.
NOAA’s annual spring outlook predicts above average precipitation in parts of California, like the Central Valley, but not in the south. Overall, temperatures are expected to be warmer than average as El Niño’s effects wane.
The first stretch of the legislative year is over, and lawmakers are going down under. Seeking to impart lessons from Australia’s 15-year “millennium drought,” the nonprofit California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy is paying for a handful of lawmakers to fly across the world during the Legislature’s spring recess next week. They’ll be joined by various interest group representatives.
The organization sponsored a drought-focused Australia trip last year as well. This year’s participants are Sen. Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, and Assemblymen Rob Bonta, Jim Cooper, Jimmy Gomez, Christopher Holden, Evan Low and Rudy Salas.
Cities and farmers who rely on the State Water Project will receive the most water they’ve received since 2012. The California Department of Water Resources announced today that it plans to meet 45 percent of requests for deliveries.
It’s a major increase from December, when the state planned to fulfill only 10 percent of requests. Paul Wenger with the California Farm Bureau says it is welcome news. But he and other farmers are hoping the federal Central Valley Project will be able to meet requests.
California’s rivers are running higher now than they have in years, and Central Valley farmers are upset that water project pumping in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is not rising in tandem with the rivers. Water managers work in real time to maximize water supply from the Delta. Rather than bicker about project operations, it’s time to fix the projects for the long term. That’s what Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing with California WaterFix.
