Most of us living in south Orange County today value our water supply – especially during our recent dry years. However, throughout California’s long history, the cry of “water!” often has been as welcome as the cry of “gold!”
Of all the conditions that came together for the burst of development in and around South County in the 1960s, none was more important than the bringing in of an ample supply of drinking and irrigation water.
On Tuesday, February 16, representatives from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, City of Santa Monica Office of Sustainability and the Environment, TreePeople, Heal the Bay, and Natural Resources Defense Council showcased a new roadmap, that gives municipalities, businesses and homeowners with ways to help with LA County’s water management and planning through the use of non-potable water both outdoors and indoors.
According to a press release from the city of Santa Monica website, the new voluntary guidelines for non-potable water use are a first for LA County and possibly throughout the state of California.
When I started in the water industry more than 40 years ago, providing water to the San Diego region was relatively simple. Imported water deliveries from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California seemed plentiful and reliable, and the San Diego County Water Authority reliably conveyed those MWD supplies to local water districts.
The drought of 1987-92 ended that mirage. At that drought’s peak, the Water Authority faced 50 percent cutbacks from MWD, which provided virtually all of our region’s water. The 50 percent reduction was averted thanks to the Miracle March rains of 1991 – but we did endure a 31 percent supply cutback for more than a year.
It’s time to dust off the umbrellas. After temperatures soared in recent days, reaching the low 90s on Tuesday, the National Weather Service said the rest of the week will bring cooler temperatures, strong winds and rain. For those in the Sierra, expect heavy snowfall.
A southerly moving low-pressure system is forecast to roll in Wednesday, when temperatures in Southern California probably will cool to a high of about 70.
By studying more than a decade of measurements recorded by NASA satellites, scientists have documented a striking pattern in places around the world: many wet regions have grown wetter, while a number of dry regions have grown drier.
Researchers examined data from NASA satellites between 2002 and 2014 and found areas that have become wetter included the upper Missouri River basin, the northern Amazon and parts of Africa, as well as other parts of the tropics. Areas throughout the mid-latitudes became drier: in the Middle East and North Africa, parts of India and China, and across much of the southern and western United States, where drought-plagued California and the southern High Plains stood out for especially large losses of water.
Q: I’m looking to upgrade my landscape with plants that are both attractive and water-efficient. How can I learn about what to plant?
A: The drought doesn’t prevent you from enjoying a range of attractive, climate-appropriate plants that make our region beautiful. The San Diego County Water Authority offers tools to help homeowners choose the right plant for each part of their landscapes.
The technology one Southern California community is using to turn toilet waste into pure, drinkable water.
Normally we don’t think much about where our water comes from, but when I read this BloombergBusiness article about how one California community is turning raw sewage into water you can drink – I just had to see how they’re doing it.
It’s not just you. Even weather forecasters are wondering, “Where’s all the rain from El Nino?”
San Diego’s Lindbergh Field has recorded 6.06 inches of precipitation this season, about average for this date. There are no major storms in the forecast through Wednesday. And the region has been experiencing one of the warmest Februarys on record.
Did forecasters overestimate the impact of one of the largest El Ninos on record?
That “Godzilla” El Niño must have taken a nap this week.
Warm temperatures and clear skies have kept California dry. The latest numbers from the KPBS Drought Tracker show statewide rain and snowfall not budging over the past week — the snowpack has even decreased slightly in some areas due to melting.
As of Thursday morning, the state had received 76 percent of the rain that normally falls between Oct. 1 and April 1. That’s the same number observed last week, bending the seasonal rainfall curve flat for the past seven days. The average Sierra snowpack measurement was at 78 percent of the seasonal normal, just barely up from 77 percent the week before.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein filed a 184-page water policy bill Wednesday, calling it one of the most difficult bills she’s worked on in 23 years representing California.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve done, because you look for the sweet spot, the balance, and it’s very difficult because it’s very polarized,” Feinstein said. “There are some that don’t want anything and there are some that want much more.”
