“Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink” – From Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner“
A couple of weeks ago, my attention was captivated by a television news story about people in a Memphis apartment complex who had gone five days without access to water. Portable toilets had been set up around the complex.
While California and Nevada remain virtually drought-free, climate experts say extreme heat and wildfire risk may continue plaguing the West for months.
Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said during a webinar Monday that ongoing heat events across the West present a major risk to vulnerable communities, despite a good water supply outlook for the region.
Another bout of prolonged heat has kicked off across California and much of the West, expected to again bring several days of triple-digit temperatures to most inland areas.
July’s second major heat wave isn’t forecast to be as extreme as the last event, which set several all-time records for high temperatures. Nevertheless, the National Weather Service predicted that it will be a “long-duration heat wave,” which creates uniquely dangerous conditions — especially when temperatures barely drop at night.
Continuing my comments from last week regarding California’s water supply and conservation, I am reminded of a trip to Chico some 35 years ago. Our family was living through our second drought since moving here in 1973. You may recall a couple of years ago I wrote how this state is subject to recurring droughts roughly every 7 to 10 years. Dry years are nothing new.
We were in Chico in August and it was hot. In San Diego County we had already been warned about water usage and how to conserve. So when I drove around Chico I was shocked to see how many yards were being watered around noon-time. I was a bit unnerved seeing so much water running down curbsides when we down south had to curtail our consumption.
California residents are using about 8 fewer gallons of water per day than they did during the last drought emergency, according to newly released state data. Between April 2023 and last April, urban water users consumed an average of 77 gallons per person per day. That comes out to a 9% decrease since the drought emergency ended in March 2023.
Facing a future of shortages, California is entering a new phase of water conservation: Cities and towns must meet new mandates ramping down use over the next 15 years — and some will be hit harder than others.
Continuing my comments from last week regarding California’s water supply and conservation, I am reminded of a trip to Chico some 35 years ago. Our family was living through our second drought since moving here in 1973. You may recall a couple of years ago I wrote how this state is subject to recurring droughts roughly every 7 to 10 years. Dry years are nothing new.
Chronic water scarcity in California is indeed the new normal, but it’s not because of climate change. Even if the state is destined to experience lengthier droughts and reduced snowpack, most scenarios also forecast an abundance of years when the state is inundated with a series of so-called atmospheric rivers. That diluvian scenario was experienced by Californians this past winter, and even more so in the winter of 2022–23. Yet water remains scarce.
The US Treasury Department on Friday sanctioned two alleged members of a Russian cybercriminal gang that has claimed responsibility for a slew of hacks against US critical infrastructure providers, including a cyberattack in January that caused a tank at a Texas water facility to overflow.
Another round of significant heat across California’s interior is expected to bring potentially dangerous conditions back to the state, with weather officials warning of “relentless” heat risk over the Southwest beginning this weekend.
The National Weather Service warned of a mid-July heat wave building across the western United States — including the majority of inland California, most of Nevada and parts of Arizona, Oregon and Idaho — with “hazardous heat” expected from Saturday through at least Tuesday.
