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).
A sprawling $1.5 trillion fiscal 2022 spending deal is awash in cash for water and natural resources projects, including a number of Republican proposals to gird coastal communities against the effects of climate change.
The omnibus package is the first in years to contain congressionally directed spending, also known as earmarks. Lawmakers revived them under tight rules and only for certain parts of the federal budget.
The last two years have been California’s most destructive fire seasons. Thirty-six people lost their lives, and more than 14,000 structures were destroyed or damaged. In addition, more than 7.3 million acres burned in California, which is larger than all of Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties combined. To put it simply, California’s forest lands are in crisis.
Away from the lights and fountains of the Las Vegas Strip, bulldozers are working overtime as the suburbs of Sin City are bursting out of their seams.
Las Vegas is growing at a staggering rate. Clark county, where the city is located, is home to roughly 2.3 million people, but forecasts predict the population could go beyond 4 million by 2055.
Attracted by the lure of cheaper costs of living, lower taxes, and newly built homes, more than half a million people are expected to flock to southern Nevada in just the next 15 years.
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.
A small bucket loader scraped Wahweap Bay’s expanding strip of red mud and gravel, its operator smoothing the shoreline where concrete workers were busy chasing a lake in retreat.
To the left, where the bay had long offered kayakers and water skiers a loop around Lone Rock, the monumental slab now rose from dust flats instead of from flat water. To the right, in the channel that leads to Glen Canyon Dam and the Colorado River’s sunken bed, formerly submerged islands and peninsulas mapped out a warming climate’s continuing transformation of one of America’s great water stores and pleasure grounds.
A desert flooded by impounded waters in the last century has visibly reasserted itself in this one.
A new science report from the United Nations spells out in excruciating detail the pain of climate change to people and the planet with the idea — the hope really — that if leaders pay attention, some of the worst can be avoided or lessened.
One scientist calls it the “Your House is On Fire” report.
While these reports often can come across as depressing, to scientists and world leaders, the idea isn’t to lower people’s spirits.
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 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. Due to investments we’ve collectively made in seawater desalination, conserved water, reliable infrastructure, and increased storage capacity, the San Diego region has transformed its water supplies from highly insecure to some of the most reliable in the nation.
(Editor’s Note: Gary Croucher is chair of the San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors.)
