With the state in the grips of a historic drought, reservoirs in Santa Clara County are at extremely low levels, as seen in a new video from the county’s water provider.
Santa Clara Valley Water, which provides for and manages the water needs of two million people in the county, released a new video Wednesday illustrating the dire state of the county’s reservoirs.
It has been a very active monsoon season, especially in Arizona.
However, here in Southern California, we do not expect much rain during the summer, and the totals we have seen thus far will not be a drought buster.
What is the monsoon?
Here is a little recap: monsoon season occurs when upper-level winds shift, drawing moisture off the Gulf of Mexico and into the Southwestern United States. Typically, this mainly impacts New Mexico and Arizona but can also impact Southern California.
The Bay Area water system is a byzantine patchwork of agencies — more than 50 in all — that provides water to customers. Some are the ones you see on your water bill. Others are middlemen that provide water to local agencies at the wholesale level.
And some of that water makes a long journey. Southern California has the reputation for tapping far-flung sources for its water needs, but the Bay Area is in the same boat.
As climate-driven drought and wildfires rage in California, the Biden administration is struggling to navigate the hard politics that come with deciding who gets access to the state’s precious — and dwindling — water supplies.
Responding to the hot and parched conditions that have contributed to the wildfires and worsened the water shortages this summer has strained both federal and state capacity. Now the Biden administration is delaying action on the fundamental question at the heart of California’s long-running water wars: How much water should be reserved for species protections, at the expense of the state’s powerful agricultural industry?
Once your sustainable landscape makeover is in place, commit to best practices in maintenance. This includes regular composting.
Compost can also be used as mulch, applied directly to the soil surface. It can prevent erosion and help plants, and soil filter pollution, especially hydrocarbons and metals from road surfaces. Most greenwaste-based composts can be applied to a depth of three inches. Composted biosolids should be no deeper than two inches.
If you don’t produce your own compost on-site, it should be obtained from a reputable source that guarantees high quality. Commercially produced compost quality can vary significantly due to the diverse nature of feedstock, composting processes, and maturation standards.
For native plants in your sustainable landscaping, use roughly 15 percent compost by volume to repair disturbed or damaged soils.
Clay-based soil amended with compost will lead to more productive and healthy plant growth at a lower cost than amending the same soil with the necessary 45 percent sand. In general, poor soils that are compacted, lifeless, or subsoils should be amended with three to six cubic yards or high-quality compost per 1,000 square feet to improve soil structure,
Biosolids-based composts should be used sparingly if they are high in ammonium nitrogen.
How do you know when it’s ready to use? Your compost is ready to use when it has an earthy smell, when it’s cooled off, and when it doesn’t reheat when stirred. The color should be uniformly dark brown or even black. You shouldn’t be able to identify any of the original particles.
This article is part of a year-long series inspired by the 71-page Sustainable Landscapes Program guidebook. The Water Authority and its partners also offer other great resources for landscaping upgrades, including free WaterSmart classes at WaterSmartSD.org.
With the city’s sewage water recycling system moving forward and the desalination plant in Carlsbad already pumping out drinkable water, the San Diego region has some of the most ambitious water projects in the state.
Those are part of a long-term strategy that San Diego water managers say will provide the region sufficient supplies through 2045.
Nevertheless, the San Diego County Water Authority earlier this month urged customers to voluntarily reduce water use by 15 percent following a similar statewide request by Gov. Gavin Newsom. It was more an act of solidarity than one of actual need.
With the city’s sewage water recycling system moving forward and the desalination plant in Carlsbad already pumping out drinkable water, the San Diego region has some of the most ambitious water projects in the state.
Those are part of a long-term strategy that San Diego water managers say will provide the region sufficient supplies through 2045.
Nevertheless, the San Diego County Water Authority earlier this month urged customers to voluntarily reduce water use by 15 percent following a similar statewide request by Gov. Gavin Newsom. It was more an act of solidarity than one of actual need.
Read the rest of the column by Michael Smolens in The San Diego Union-Tribune: https://bit.ly/3sPTS0u
(Editors note: This is an excerpt from a column written by Michael Smolens)
An update on San Diego’s water supply during the current drought, and how climate change affects regional weather, was the main focus of a recent event sponsored by several organizations.
The Citizens Water Academy, Leaders 20/20 and San Diego Green Drinks hosted a lunch and learn session August 17 that also provided details on how weather and climate impacts water supplies, and how prepared the San Diego region is for drought impacts.
As drought and climate change strangle the Colorado River, a small county in Utah nevertheless continues forging ahead with a billion-dollar pipeline to suck more water from it to sustain its growing population.
The proposed Lake Powell Pipeline, a 140-mile straw from one of the country’s largest reservoirs to Washington County in southwestern Utah, has sparked backlash from other states in the Colorado River basin and environmentalists, and now has the Biden administration in a difficult position.
State and county leaders recently took a tour of Nacimiento and San Antonio dams to get a first-hand look of the impacts of drought and facility conditions.
Both reservoirs have reached near record lows, with Nacimiento at 14% capacity and San Antonio at 7%. Water releases from the reservoirs have ceased as of July 28, with the visible effects in the north county being a drying of the Salinas River.
Though the 7% at San Antonio amounts to 50,000 acre-feet of water, it can’t be released.
