As state water regulators consider extending drought restrictions though the fall, officials reported Tuesday that urban Californians had reduced their water use by 18.3% during December.
The savings, which are compared with December 2013 water usage levels, were the smallest in seven months of reporting and put California’s cumulative savings at 25.5%, down from 26.3% in November.
Most of the water agencies in San Diego County fell short of their state-mandated conservation targets in December, according to data released Tuesday by the state Water Resources Control Board.
The lagging savings totals reflected the state as a whole, which cut back by 18.3 percent in December, missing Gov. Jerry Brown’s order to reduce water use by 25 percent statewide.
San Diego’s overabundance of water during one of California’s worst droughts has reached a new, absurd level. The San Diego County Water Authority has dumped a half billion gallons of costly drinking water into a lake near Chula Vista.
Now that drinking water has been poured into a lake, the water must be treated a second time before humans can consume it. And here’s another kick in the gut. The drinking water that’s now been dumped into the lake includes desalinated water, some of the most expensive treated water in the world. Water officials will now have to spend even more money to make the once-drinkable desalinated water drinkable once again.
Southern California got drenched Sunday, with some areas getting up to three inches of rain. It’s an El Niño year. So does that mean Southern California’s rainfall is ahead of normal this year?
Not yet.
As of Monday morning, the region has received 41.1 percent of a normal winter’s precipitation. That’s behind even the median, or typical year, which by February is at 56.3 percent.
And if you look at just recent years with strong El Niños, median precipitation is even further ahead by this point: 78.8 percent.
Workers across the county were hustling Monday to clear streets of the broken trees that were blown into traffic Sunday by a powerful wind and rain storm that also caused major power outages.
Winds gusted as high as 65 mph along the coast and hit with particular force in La Jolla, clogging parts of North Torrey Pines Road with the twisted remains of trees. Motorists also are being slowed in such communities as La Mesa, Oceanside and the Rancho Bernardo area.
More than 3.7 inches of rain fell on the mountains above Azusa, winds topped 70 miles per hour and the San Fernando Valley escaped the possibility of a”small, brief tornado” as a strong squall line of rain blew through today.
The line of strong storms, moving east, was in a line from Malibu to Burbank during the 1 p.m. hour, forecasters said. It moved east across L.A. County at about 50 miles per hour, with pockets of sun and rain alternating behind it.
Just how far could a wet winter go toward replenishing Southern California’s water reserves? Some. Maybe even a lot. But by itself that will not be enough to ensure we have the water for years ahead and inevitable droughts. Capturing and delivering sufficient supplies in a typical year is what really determines the reliability of a water system. And for that, today’s system is not as effective as it needs to be.
In yet another step to further protect against drought, the city of Carlsbad unveiled expansion efforts of its recycled water plant on Wednesday. Along with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld, Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall touted the $37 million project.
Blumenfeld also announced the EPA is distributing more than $182 million, including the Carlsbad project, throughout California to invest in statewide improvements for water infrastructure.
A powerful storm moved into Southern California on Sunday, bringing unusually strong winds of up to 70 mph to Los Angeles and Ventura counties.Officials warned that the storm is forecast to bring heavy rain and a risk of flash floods, especially in recently burned areas that could see mud flow down hillsides.
Strong winds were expected to cause flight problems at Los Angeles International Airport, and forecasters said there was enough instability aloft that there could be a 36% chance of thunderstorms in parts of the L.A. area. Waterspouts and even weak tornadoes are possible.
Hopping from one rock to another, Sue Ann Arens led her two boxers one recent afternoon up and down the uneven slopes of Folsom Lake, which years of drought have stripped bare. Their daily walks along Sacramento’s backyard reservoir had become a hike through the lake bed.
Well-worn trails threaded through clusters of brush in areas usually covered by water.By the next afternoon, Arens had to change course. A morning storm had submerged part of her trail. In the distance, water rippled over an island that had surfaced last year when the lake hit bottom.
