An other blizzard swept Mammoth Mountain on Wednesday, the precursor to a string of storms expected to bring up to 20 feet of fresh snow in the next 10 days, the resort says. Since Tuesday, 26 to 48 inches of fresh snow had fallen, with the deepest totals at the summit. Plows were working furiously to keep lots and streets clear. Normal resort operations could be affected as personnel struggle to deal with the snow.
California water conservation took a slight step backward in November, officials announced Wednesday, possibly due in part to an unusually wet fall and months of successful conservation efforts. Californians used 18.8% less water this past November compared with November 2013, the benchmark year for state conservation measurements. In November 2015, residents statewide cut back usage 20.2% compared with 2013.
In its last weeks in power, the Obama administration is helping speed up environmental review of California’s plan to build twin tunnels through the Delta in an effort to overhaul the state’s water delivery system. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on Wednesday issued an executive order directing federal wildlife regulators to issue an initial opinion by Jan. 17 on whether the $15.7 billion tunnels would harm endangered fish species — a key ruling in the future of the project.
On Tuesday, state water officials trudged into the Sierra Nevada for the first snowpack survey of 2017. Snowpack levels are crucial indicators of whether California will have enough water after the winter, as the melting snow flows into the state’s reservoirs. The reading at Phillips Station, near Lake Tahoe, however, is a largely ceremonial exercise, attracting attention in part for its visual interest. (See photos below.) After dipping poles into the snow, surveyors said the snowpack there was at roughly half the historical average.
The several feet of snow expected in the Sierra this week is expected to considerably change the look of California’s drought map. At this time last year, 45 percent of the state was in an exceptional drought, which is the worst possible rating. Officials said only 18 percent of California currently remains dry. “Our biggest reservoir is all the snow that falls during the winter because when it melts it can fill all the big reservoirs throughout the state,” said Marty Grimes, spokesperson for the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
The multi-day siege of flooding rain and Sierra snow has begun in California, which may eventually prove to be too much of a good thing for residents still thirsting for relief from a five-year drought. Several landslides were reported in parts of northern California Tuesday night and early Wednesday, particularly in Santa Cruz County. Up to 2 feet of water was reported near downtown Yountville, and two right lanes of the 101 freeway in downtown San Francisco were flooded by a couple feet of water.
The resort town of Phillips high in the Sierra Nevada has long been a barometer of California’s drought. Snow measuring station 3 in the El Dorado County town was where Gov. Jerry Brown came in April 2015 to announce major drought restrictions, using the dry, snow-less landscape as a stark backdrop. On Tuesday, Frank Gehrke of the California Department of Water Resources performed the manual measurement at the same spot, this time covered in three feet of snow. It measured just 53% of the seasonal average, but officials took that as further proof California’s six-year drought was easing.
Yosemite National Park expects so much rain, snow and possible flooding over the next several days and into the weekend park officials say they may close the whole park. Citing visitor and employee safety amid predictions for significant rainfall in Yosemite Valley that put the Merced river well above flood stage, park officials say that people planning trips to the park, beginning tomorrow, Thursday January 5, 2017, should make alternate plans as the park may close. A Yosemite area forecast is in our weather section here.
With the Bay Area experiencing a relatively wet and lush winter, it’s easy to forget that nearly half of California is still suffering from extreme and exceptional drought levels. That’s why the State Water Resources Control Board is moving forward on a revolutionary new plan to develop and adopt measures to convert recycled water into drinking water. People, realize that “recycled water” is just a more pleasant-sounding euphemism for wastewater, or sewage.
Droughts are already getting longer and more severe because of human-caused climate change in the American Southwest and around the world. But the drought-climate connection goes both ways: California’s prolonged dry spell has also made climate change a little bit worse.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
