Tag Archives: California drought

Infrastructure, Rainwater Catchment

California Drought – Immediate Action is Required

1 Comment
Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times The effects of California’s ongoing drought are evident at Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet as shells, once under water, lie in the soil of recently exposed banks.

When a NASA scientist writes that the California drought has reached such epic proportions that the state is in danger of turning into a dustbowl, we need to stand up, take notice and act.

According to Jay Famiglietti, the senior water scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech and a professor of Earth system science at UC Irvine, in an op-ed article for Los Angeles Times. “Statewide, we’ve been dropping more than 12 million acre-feet of total water yearly since 2011.” 

Famiglietti also writes, “Right now the state has only about one year of water supply left in its reservoirs, and our strategic backup supply, groundwater, is rapidly disappearing. California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought like this one (let alone a 20-plus-year mega-drought), except, apparently, staying in emergency mode and praying for rain.

In short, we have no paddle to navigate this crisis.”

Please click here to read this interesting and compelling article in LA Times.  Click here to read another report on the California drought from FeelGuide.

Action throughout the world on conservation is needed now – and it must be immediate and decisive.

Infrastructure

Special Report From California Water Alliance

droughtThe California Water Alliance (CalWA) recently requested that the California Water Commission endorse Governor Brown’s commitment to the public to use dedicated water bond funds to build water storage facilities, considered to be a large reason why voters approved California’s water bond ballot measure last November.

Excerpted from the press release, according to California water alliance member Bittencourt, “We are in the fourth year of a crippling drought; each rainfall that passes through is a lost opportunity. Creating more reservoirs will protect the state from future disaster and should remain a top priority for the Governor, the legislature, and the Commission as it already is a top priority for Californians.”

The report goes on to say that 67% of voters passed Proposition 1 to fund water quality, supply, treatment and water storage projects.

Recent reports indicate that 80 % of California is experiencing “extreme drought”, creating third world living conditions for some residents in central California.

The California Water Alliance is calling on Governor Brown and the California Water Commission to enforce the promise of water storage be part of that program.  Click here to read the entire release.

Rainwater Catchment, Rainwater Harvesting Education

Managing Drought with Conservation Techniques

Could the recent storm in California have put a dent in the drought?

slimline tanksWe can’t change the weather, but we can make better use of it.

With a reported 2 – 4 inches of rainfall in Los Angeles county and 4 to 5 inches in San Diego county from this recent winter storm, widespread flooding was what we heard about on the news. News station weather centers were quoted as saying, “While the rains in California have been generous, they are far from enough to put a dent in the drought.” Since 80% of California is experiencing drought, while this record rainfall caused some flooding and damage, it was also an opportunity to see how we can apply conservation techniques to harness water for toilet flushing and laundry facilities.

For an average 3,500 square foot home in San Diego, four inches of rainfall could have collected approximately 7,500 gallons of water. In Los Angeles with only 1.5” of rainfall, the same house could have collected 2,780 gallons. If this hypothetical 35,000 square foot home collected, stored and used this rain from this single event, merely for toilet flushing, it would equal over 2,225 flushes or approximately 10 flushes per day for the whole year. Applying the same scenario to the San Diego house could mean the same 10 flushes per day PLUS 168 loads of laundry per year! Imagine how much water could be collected if a commercial building, with its larger roof space was to apply this practice.

Drought can be managed if the right conservation techniques are applied.

Photo: Ray Chavez/Bay Area New Group