The San Diego County Water Authority’s water-energy partnership with San Diego Gas & Electric is seeking $1.8 million in additional funding through 2026 to continue saving water and energy for thousands of income-qualified residents across the San Diego region. For more than 25 years, the Water Authority’s Water-Energy Nexus Program, or WEN, has maximized energy savings while supporting water efficiency in the San Diego region
I don’t think it’s any surprise to anyone reading this blog that the past couple of months have been astonishingly dry across nearly all of California. The official stats certainly reflect this: the 2 month period during January-February 2022 was the driest such period in well over a century of record keeping for a majority of California (i.e., the northern 2/3).
People and companies are competing for the world’s most basic resource – water- in California. We’re in Madera County, California, where a never-ending drought is pitting citizens against corporations.
Prior to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s State of the State speech, there is one item to examine that serves as a building block for all the issues the governor will address – water.
Despite unexpected storms in late 2021, California is braced for another year of drought.
The water we do have must move throughout the state by way of a complicated system of reservoirs, dams, canals, pipes and treatment plants. That movement is managed by an equally complicated network of federal, state and local officials.
No rain or snow in January and February certainly added to the drought in California. L.A. Times reporter Ian James reported on Feb. 24 that many farmers in the federal Central Valley Project will not receive water from the federal system this year. In mid-February, the federal Bureau of Reclamation announced a zero-water allocation for many irrigation districts that supply farmers throughout the Central Valley. Makes one wonder: Where our food will be grown?
The San Diego County Water Authority’s water-energy partnership with San Diego Gas & Electric is seeking $1.8 million in additional funding through 2026 to continue saving water and energy for thousands of income-qualified residents across the San Diego region.
For more than 25 years, the Water Authority’s Water-Energy Nexus Program, or WEN, has maximized energy savings while supporting water efficiency in the San Diego region. SDG&E and the Water Authority have worked together to trim water and energy use and costs in one of the longest-running partnerships of its kind in California.
California just notched its driest January and February on record, sounding alarms about a third year of record drought.
Across the Pacific Ocean, thousands are fleeing record flooding in Australia. Officials in Brisbane reported 31 inches of rain in six days, and Jonathan Howe, a government meteorologist quoted by the Associated Press, called the amount of rainfall “astronomical.”
Meanwhile, in the eastern Horn of Africa, prolonged drought is raising the frightening specter of famine for millions.
California officials have urged residents to prepare for a third year of drought and urged people to conserve water.
“With only one month left in California’s wet season and no major storms in the forecast, Californians should plan for a third year of drought conditions,” said California Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth.
California officials have urged residents to prepare for a third year of drought and urged people to conserve water.
“With only one month left in California’s wet season and no major storms in the forecast, Californians should plan for a third year of drought conditions,” said California Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth. “A significantly below-average snowpack combined with already low reservoir levels make it critical that all Californians step up and conserve water every day to help the state meet the challenges of severe drought.”
A dry February has our Sierra snowpack below average for this date. With only one month left of the rainy season, Californians should prepare for #drought conditions to continue if snowpack levels are not rebuilt with heavy storms by the end of the winter season.
–#cawater pic.twitter.com/VUIOQ7lAaH— CA – DWR (@CA_DWR) March 1, 2022
The DWR conducted the third snow survey of the season March 1 at Phillips Station.
Following a January and February that will enter records as the driest documented in state history, the manual survey recorded 35 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 16 inches, which is 68% of average for this location for March, according to the DWR. The snow water equivalent measures the amount of water contained in the snowpack and is a key component of DWR’s water supply forecast. Statewide, the snowpack is 63% of average for this date.
The La Niña pattern continues next week, according to @NOAA’s @NWSCPC.
Northern areas look relatively wet, while CA, the Southwest, and Southern Plains look dry. At least parts of the South/Southeast may buck that trend.
Winter temps return for the West Coast to the Midwest. pic.twitter.com/l3D3U3uIUY
— NIDIS Drought.gov (@DroughtGov) March 3, 2022
“As we enter a third year of drought, we encourage residents and businesses in San Diego County to increase their water conservation efforts,” said Jeff Stephenson, water resources manager with the San Diego County Water Authority. “While the Water Authority and its 24 member agencies have worked to create multiple sources of water supply for the region, there are still opportunities, including rebates, to save more water.”
In San Diego County, the website, watersmartsd.org, provides sources of residential and business rebates, including indoor and outdoor incentives, agricultural programs, and free landscape makeover classes.
Stephenson added that the region has reduced its reliance on imported water supplies, including from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta, which means more of that source is available for other parts of California.
“As the world continues to warm, precipitation is pushing toward extremes. Even when we see large storms producing a lot of snow early in the season, all it takes is a few dry weeks to put us below average." -Jeremy Hill, Manager of DWR’s Hydrology and Flood Operations Branch. pic.twitter.com/3nIzMHhvqn
— CA – DWR (@CA_DWR) March 1, 2022
Governor Gavin Newsom has asked all Californians to cut back water use at least 15% compared to 2020 levels. Regionally, the Northern, Central, and Southern Sierra snowpacks are all standing just above 59% to 66% of average for this date, impacting watersheds across the state, according to the DWR.
“As the world continues to warm, precipitation is pushing toward extremes,” said Jeremy Hill, Manager of DWR’s Hydrology and Flood Operations Branch. “Even when we see large storms producing a lot of snow early in the season, all it takes is a few dry weeks to put us below average. This new pattern challenges forecasting efforts that have relied on historical patterns, so DWR has led the charge to adopt new technologies and utilize the best available science to manage water in real time and use forecasts that give us time to make decisions to get the most benefits and minimize the hazards.”
An extremely dry January and February have wiped out an early season surplus and brought the February snowpack below average. With no storm relief in sight, Californians should prepare for drought conditions to continue, the DWR tweeted March 1. Graphic: California Department of Water Resources
Although early season storms helped alleviate some drought impacts, a lack of storms in January and February heightens the need for conservation. The Governor has asked all Californians to cut back water use at least 15 percent compared to 2020 levels. Regionally, the Northern, Central, and Southern Sierra snowpacks are all standing just above 59 percent to 66 percent of average for this date, impacting watersheds across the state.
“With below average precipitation and snowpack up until this point, our latest statewide snowmelt forecasts are only 66 percent of average,” said Sean de Guzman, Manager of DWR’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit. “That is not enough to fill up our reservoirs. Without any significant storms on the horizon, it’s safe to say we’ll end this year dry and extend this drought a third year.”
"That is not enough to fill up our reservoirs. Without any significant storms on the horizon, it’s safe to say we’ll end this year dry and extend this drought a third year.” – Sean de Guzman, Manager of DWR’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit.
–#saveourwater pic.twitter.com/2h9tdfMcTw— CA – DWR (@CA_DWR) March 1, 2022
A dire United Nations climate change report confirms what water lawyers in the West have known for a long time—that drought is becoming the norm in the region, and adaptation is essential.
“Every time we see it written down, it gets a little more real,” said William Caile, a water lawyer who is of counsel at Holland & Hart LLP in Denver, referring to the report’s forecasts of water scarcity.
The report, released Monday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is a 3,675-page deep-dive into what the latest scientific research says about what’s at risk as fossil fuels continue to warm the planet. Water scarcity amid rising air and streamwater temperatures will afflict much of North America, exacerbating biological diversity losses, agricultural productivity decline, and wildfire, the report found.
The Southwest is among the regions that the IPCC says will soon be profoundly different. The Colorado River, which provides water to 40 million people from Denver to Los Angeles, courses through the increasingly arid Southwest, which is approaching a “tipping point” at which long-term water scarcity conflict with high water use and farming, the report concludes.
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