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).
In the coming days, Lake Powell, a major reservoir on the Colorado River, is expected to drop below a critical threshold, a sign of the water stress facing the region amid a prolonged drought, warming temperatures and changes in how water cycles through the environment.
Forecasters with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency charged with managing much of the West’s water infrastructure, expect Lake Powell to fall below a key low-level water mark within a matter of days.
Santa Barbara County supervisors had the bad news confirmed that the drought is on and not about to end, but water agency manager Matt Young also brought some promising ideas to the mix.
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.
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 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
The City of San Marcos and the Vallecitos Water District partnered on a new project with funding from the San Diego County Water Authority and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to encourage water conservation and reduce the use of plastic.
Five hydration stations have been installed in San Marcos parks to encourage the use of refilling reusable bottles during outdoor activities instead of using purchased bottled water. Both the City of San Marcos and the Vallecitos Water District are committed to reducing single-use plastics.
The new hydration stations help conserve water and avoid the production of single-use plastic bottles. Photo: Vallecitos Water District
The hydration station project received $25,000 in grant funding from the Water Authority and MWD to cover the purchase and installation of the stations and educational signage informing the public about the benefits of tap water over bottled water. The signage also offers several additional steps people can take to conserve water.
“Adding hydration stations throughout the community has been a longtime goal for Vallecitos and is a step in the right direction to increase access to clean drinking water and reduce single-use plastic waste for environmental sustainability,” said Vallecitos board member Mike Sannella. Sannella accepted a proclamation from the City of San Marcos commemorating the partnership, making this project possible.
(L to R): Vallecitos Water District Board President Mike Sannella, San Marcos City Councilmember Randy Walton, Mayor Rebecca Jones, Councilmembers Maria Nunez, Ed Musgrove, Sharon Jenkins, and Vallecitos Water District Board Jim Pennock. Photo: Vallecitos Water District
Each of the five new hydration stations features a quick-fill mechanism to encourage reusable water bottle use, a regular water fountain spout, and a dog bowl. Vallecitos worked with the City of San Marcos’ Public Works Department to install hydration stations at Mission Sports Field Park, Woodland Park, Bradley Park, Connors Park, and Buelow Park.
Bottled water is a wasteful convenience. According to the Water Footprint Calculator, it takes 1.5 gallons of water to manufacture a single plastic bottle holding 16 ounces of drinking water. All plastic drinking bottles are made from new plastic material, so there is no recovery due to recycling.
(Editor’s note: The Vallecitos Water District is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)
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.
