The forecast said high winds and up to an inch of rain in San Diego Tuesday. The winds showed, but the rain? That was a different story.
How much water you got from this latest atmospheric-river charged storm depended on where you live.
For an example, as of noon Tuesday, San Onofre had received a little over an inch of rain, but San Diego International Airport received just three-tenths of an inch.
California made historic investments in climate measures this year, as state leaders warned of current and escalating climate risks. “We’re dealing with such extremes that all our modeling, even updated modeling, needs to be thrown out,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom when he signed more than 40 bills to fight climate change in September. “The hots are just so much hotter. The dries are so much drier.”
Finally, the ball is rolling to force action on a plan to save the Colorado River. But will it come in time to make a difference? The seven states that rely on the river have been unable to voluntarily stop using enough water to keep a rapidly tanking Lake Mead and Lake Powell on life support. The feds stepped back from a threat this summer to force action if states couldn’t agree, preferring to rely on voluntary actions instead.
As the current drought stretches into its third year, demands to desalinate ocean water rise, especially in such places as Sonoma County and its more than 55 miles of coastline. But putting a desalination plant on the Sonoma County coast seems unlikely, especially after the California Coastal Commission in May rejected construction of a desalination plant in Huntington Beach that had been studied for more than 15 years, said entrepreneur John Webley.
On an afternoon in late June, the San Luis Reservoir – a nine-mile lake about an hour southeast of San Jose, California – shimmered in 102-degree heat. A dusty, winding trail led down into flatlands newly created by the shrinking waterline. Seven deer, including a pair of fawns, grazed on tall grasses that, in wetter times, would have been at least partially underwater. On a distant ridge, wind turbines turned languidly.
That day, the reservoir, California’s sixth-largest and a source of water for millions of people, was just 40% full. Minerals deposited by the receding waters had turned the reservoir’s lower banks white, like the rings on a bathtub. Discarded clothing, empty bottles, and a lone shoe sat scattered across the newly exposed, parched ground. An interactive graphic in the visitor’s center reported that this year’s snowpack – which provides the water that travels from the Sacramento River Delta into the reservoir itself – was zero percent of the yearly average.
Hydropower is the world’s biggest source of renewable energy, generating about 16% of the global electricity supply. And it will continue to play a key role as the world looks to meet net-zero targets, not least of all because, like a battery, it can store massive amounts of energy for later and quickly release it in moments of peak demand.
Officials have broken ground on a water recycling plant in East County, amid negotiations to resolve a pipeline dispute that threatens the $950 million system.
More than 150 people gathered Wednesday in Santee to celebrate the Advanced Water Purification Project, which should eventually treat more than 11 million gallons a day.
That risk is on display this week in the Plains states, where fierce winds are targeting parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado and Nebraska.
Imperial Irrigation District formed the Colorado River Committee at the April 12 meeting after debate on the need for another committee and the pre-appointments by Board President Jim Hanks of himself and Director JB Hamby.
Director Javier Gonzalez said he would not support the formation of another committee as with all the others, never is one reported on back to the board.
California’s wet season wrapped up as a big disappointment, setting the stage for a third year of drought.
Most of the state — about 96% — was categorized as having severe drought conditions as March came to a close, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The continuing drought suggests more water restrictions are forthcoming as supplies run low.
