Last winter was a bountiful one in terms of water supply for California, but it’s still too early to tell whether 2020 will be as generous. The 2018-19 winter was one for the record books, with above-average precipitation. Snow continued to fall in late-spring, with several inches or more in the Sierra Nevada and the Southern California mountains. Ski seasons were extended into May and June, delighting skiers and resort operators.
Starting Monday, authorities in Tijuana and Rosarito will ration water for the next two months because of a limited supply, according to the Baja California Public Service Commission. Roughly 140,000 households and businesses in the border cities will go without water service for up to 36 hours every four days. The service disruptions will be spread throughout seven districts. Customers will receive a 24-hour notice whenever water services are shut off in their district, officials said.
In what will be the first time a public space has been powered by electricity made from poo, The Number Two Tavern is launching for a limited time in The Light, Leeds from 7th until 9th November.
The company is holding its first ever carbon week to spread the word and share knowledge about how we can all reduce our carbon footprint.
The power for The Number Two Tavern is coming from a ground-breaking process, called “anaerobic digestion,” which converts waste into biogas that can be used to generate heat and electricity. Yorkshire Water has charged a Hybrid Power battery with the poo-power, which is being created at Yorkshire Water’s Knostrop Recycling Centre.
Since the days of the Kumeyaay, survival in San Diego has depended on the availability of water. While blessed to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, the fact remains we must rely upon outside sources to meet our water needs. The level of this dependency, however, is more a matter of resolve rather than circumstance. In the late 1990s, this situation reached a critical point when San Diego County found itself importing more than 90 percent of our water, and our primary supplier, the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) in Los Angeles, was taking action that could reduce our water allocation by up to 50 percent.
Mayors of cities along the U.S.-Mexico border are meeting in San Diego this week to strengthen binational ties and address issues such as immigration, cross-border sewage, and new trade agreements. This level of binational cooperation was a stark contrast from the divisive rhetoric and partisan fighting coming from each nation’s capital. “Part of the challenge that we have in border towns is basically convincing Washington and Mexico City to work like we are working here in this region,” said Tijuana Mayor Arturo Gonzalez Cruz.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors, who are also the board members of the San Diego County Sanitation District, approved a joint powers agreement for the East County Advanced Water Purification Program. The supervisors’ 5-0 vote October 30 also appointed Supervisor Dianne Jacob as the sanitation district’s representative on the Joint Powers Authority board which will also include representatives from the Padre Dam Municipal Water District, the Helix Water District, and the City of El Cajon.
In Florida, Nestlé is taking heat from environmental groups and others concerned about the future of one of the state’s most endangered natural resources — its freshwater springs. Florida has more than a thousand freshwater springs, which provide drinking water, important natural habitat and places for recreation. Nestlé wants to begin taking more than a million gallons of water each day from Ginnie Springs, a popular destination in north Florida for swimming, canoeing and tubing.
Morro Bay leaders hoped construction of the new Water Reclamation Facility would begin in October, but a frog has delayed those plans. The site, located near the intersection of South Bay Boulevard and Highway 1, is habitat for the California red-legged frog, a threatened species according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS). Environmental leaders at the USFWS worry construction could impact the species, which is already on the verge of being endangered.
It’s been a year since two devastating wildfires on opposite ends of California underscored the harsh new realities facing water districts and cities serving communities in or adjacent to the state’s fire-prone wildlands. Fire doesn’t just level homes, it can contaminate water, scorch watersheds, damage delivery systems and upend an agency’s finances.
Last winter was a bountiful one in terms of water supply for California, but it’s still too early to tell whether 2020 will be as generous.
The 2018-19 winter was one for the record books, with above-average precipitation. Snow continued to fall in late-spring, with several inches or more in the Sierra Nevada and the Southern California mountains.
Ski seasons were extended into May and June, delighting skiers and resort operators.
The snowfall, and a boost from late-season storms, increased the northern Sierra snowpack in May 2019, which was “atypical,” according to Alexi Schnell, water resources specialist with the San Diego County Water Authority.
The statewide Sierra Nevada snowpack was 164% of normal, with the northern Sierra at 172% of normal on May 23, 2019.
Most major California reservoirs are above their historical averages as of November 8, 2019. (Graphic: California DWR)
The 2019 water year (October 1 – September 30) pushed snowpack levels well-above average and swelled major reservoirs to above-average. There were more than 30 atmospheric rivers, with many making landfall in Northern California. The state’s snowpack on April 1 was 175% of average.
The California Department of Water Resources said that makes a great start to 2020.
“We start the new water year in a good place,” said Karla Nemeth, director of the DWR. “However, we all know too well that California’s weather and precipitation are highly variable. What we have today could be gone tomorrow.”
Water Year 2020 begins with robust reservoir storage in California, boosting water supply. @sdcwa Water Resources Specialist Alexi Schnell says last season was “atypical.” https://t.co/oCsKHYN4yf #cawater #reservoir #WaterSupply #cawx #climate pic.twitter.com/31XzMskS9r
— San Diego County Water Authority (@sdcwa) November 8, 2019
While the biggest gains in precipitation over the past year were in Northern California, the San Diego region also benefited. Water Year 2019 ended with the region at 125% of average rainfall at Lindbergh Field. The rainfall helped increase supplies in regional reservoirs.
Schnell cautioned that the climatological cycle in California can bring several consecutive years of drought, like the 2015-17 period, which prompted mandatory water-use reductions statewide.
NOAA reported on November 6 that California experienced above-average to much-above-average temperatures from January through October 2019. The average U.S. temperature during that same period was 55.5°F, (0.5 of a degree above 20th-century average) “ranking in the warmest third of the record,” according to NOAA.
NOAA reported that California has had above-to much-above-average temperatures from January to October 2019. (Graphic: NOAA)
Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, or CW3E, just released an analysis that calculated the odds of water year 2020 reaching 100% of water year normal precipitation totals. The odds range from 20 to 40% of the Southwest reaching 100% of water year normal precipitation.
Odds of reaching normal precipitation for Water Year 2020. (Graphic: CW3E, Scripps, UC San Diego)
The three-month seasonal precipitation outlook for November-December-January by the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center shows below-normal to normal precipitation in Central to Northern California and equal chances of below, near- or above-normal in southern California and much of the Southwest.
The November-December-January precipitation outlook from the National Weather Service. (Graphic: NWS/NOAA)
“There will always be fluctuations based on weather and other factors, but the San Diego region continues to embrace water-use efficiency,” said Schnell. “The Water Authority and its 24 member agencies continue to increase San Diego County’s water supply reliability through supply diversification to provide a safe, reliable water supply to the region.”
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
