Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - [Livingontheland] Snow study shows California faces historic drought

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Snow study shows California faces historic drought
  • Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:17:13 -0700


Remember also a lot of produce was left unplanted due to tight credit. What
will prices do?

paul tradingpost@lobo.net
------------------------------------------

Snow study shows California faces historic drought
Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:00pm EST
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE50S7NK20090130

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A new survey of California winter snows on
Thursday showed the most populous state is facing one of the worst droughts
in its history, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said.

The state, which produces about half the United States' vegetables and
fruit, is in its third year of drought and its main system supplying water
to cities and farms may only be able to fulfill 15 percent of requests,
scientists said.

The snowpack on California's mountains is carrying only 61 percent of the
water of normal years, according to the survey by the state Department of
Water Resources. Last year the snowpack held 111 percent of the normal
amount of water, but spring was the driest ever recorded.

"California is headed toward one of the worst water crises in its history,
underscoring the need to upgrade our water infrastructure by increasing
water storage, improving conveyance, protecting the (Sacramento) Delta's
ecosystem and promoting greater water conservation," Schwarzenegger said in
a statement.

"We may be at the start of the worst California drought in modern history,"
added Water Resources Director Lester Snow in a separate statement.

Schwarzenegger has pushed for new dams and reservoirs to catch melting snow
which feeds rivers, although environmentalists have opposed the measures.
The Sierra snowpack alone provides two thirds of California's water supply.

December through January tend to be the wettest months but thus far the
Sierra has only received one third of its expected annual snowfall.

"A third of normal is devastating," said Elissa Lynn, a meteorologist with
the state. "January is the biggest month for precipitation in the Sierra."

"Climate change does indicate the possibility of more frequent droughts,"
said Lynn, "but it's hard to tell over a short time span."

This year ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific are cooler than
normal in a weather system called La Nina. In northern California, that
means less precipitation. Last year was also a La Nina year, but
precipitation didn't slow until March and April.

"This could be a crisis situation," said Lynn. "In addition to conservation
and rationing we could be paying higher prices for produce." Lynn said that
some farmers have left fields unplanted based on expected lack of water.

The state's largest irrigation district, Westlands Water in the major
farming counties of Fresno and Kings, told growers on Wednesday to brace
for zero water supply this year.

"We thought it was a critical time to tell them, being that it is time for
planting tomatoes and a lot of other crops," Westlands Water spokeswoman
Sarah Woolf told Reuters on Thursday. "They need to make decisions right
now whether they put seeds in the ground."

Twenty-five local water agencies are already mandating rationing. The state
Department of Water Resources is arranging water transfers through its
Drought Water Bank program and expects to release a full snowpack runoff
forecast in two weeks.






Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page