California’s second snow survey of the season arrived on the heels of one of the state’s driest Januarys on record, and officials are warning that a third dry year is possible unless more rain and snow arrive soon.
Surveyors from the California Department of Water Resources gathered Tuesday at Phillips Station near South Lake Tahoe to announce their latest findings. Statewide snowpack has dwindled to 92% of average for the date, they said.
Like the 49ers fourth-quarter lead in Sunday’s NFC Championship game, California’s once-impressive Sierra Nevada snowpack is steadily shrinking.
Only a month ago on New Year’s Day, after big atmospheric river storms in October and December, the statewide Sierra snowpack stood at an impressive 168% of normal for that date, boosting hopes that the state’s severe drought might be ending.
But on Monday, the magnificent became mediocre: The snowpack had fallen to just 93% of its historical average.
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the cost of water — and that makes sense given the economic realities faced by many residents, farmers, and businesses. But it also seems that newer generations of San Diegans do not know that there was a time when we didn’t have water when and where we needed it.
Thankfully, that’s not a problem in San Diego County today even though elsewhere drought-stricken communities face the potential of only having enough water to meet basic health and safety needs.
Despite California’s drought, a proposed statewide November ballot measure to speed up the construction of new dams and other large water projects — and provide billions of dollars to fund them — has fallen short in its fundraising goals and is likely to be withdrawn by early next week.
The initiative would require that 2% of California’s general fund, or about $4 billion, be set aside every year to expand water supplies. Those could include new dams and reservoirs, desalination plants, recycled water plants and other projects such as upgrading canals and pipes. The measure also would streamline permitting for those projects.
California is nearing that make-or-break point to pick up some rain and snow totals. January has turned out to be a total bust for big storms, continuing that winter whiplash of wet to dry weather.
Almost all the gains we’ve made reducing the severity of our two-year drought came from storms in October and December. In October, those gains were from one big atmospheric river sitting over the state for days. December saw multiple storms ending in a record setting snowiest month for the Sierra.
One dozen San Diego County water agencies are looking for the best in landscaping makeover projects for the 2022 regional WaterSmart landscape competition. This annual competition showcases residential water-saving landscaping projects to inform and inspire other homeowners to consider replacing their turf-based yard designs.
The contest deadline for all participating agencies is Friday, May 13.
What happens in the weeks ahead will have huge implications for the summer dry season. Almost all of the precipitation that nourishes soil and fills reservoirs in the western United States falls from November through March.
Sunny skies. Balmy temperatures. Walks on the beach. Umbrellas back in the closet.
After a soaking wet December that ended fire season, delivered more 15 feet of snow to the Sierra Nevada, and boosted hopes that California’s severe drought might be coming to and end, dry weather is back, in a big way.
Like a baseball player stuck in a hitting slump, it hasn’t rained significantly in the Bay Area for 14 days, since Jan. 4. Although reservoirs received a nice boost from big storms in December and late October, they still remain well below normal levels in most parts of the state.
Sweeping cutbacks in water allocations to farms are leading to widespread underemployment in some of California’s most vulnerable communities. Lawmakers are scrambling for policy solutions.
The impact to paychecks has been raising food insecurity and malnutrition issues as food prices soar, while the reduced spending is reverberating through local businesses and economies. And the situation is exacerbating a mental health epidemic already made worse by the pandemic.
“Too often, these human impacts are overlooked,” said state Senator Melissa Hurtado of Sanger, in opening a recent hearing for the new Select Committee on Human Security. “We sometimes miss the impacts that drought has on food security, health, labor and the communities themselves.”
A modest storm drenched parts of San Diego County late Monday night and early Tuesday, providing much-need rain in a region where seasonal precipitation totals have been falling behind, says the National Weather Service.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
