How bad water shortage in California?

[Hogtamer]

Thought some of you western guys might chime in...and what's the prognosis? I recently watched a documentary "Last call at the oasis" made in 2011 that now seems pretty accurate and prophetic even with the benefit of hindsight.

[Bzcraig]

Do we need rain and snow, yes! Is this the worst ever drought? I don't know, I guess NOAA records would reveal that but in my 57 years in CA I have heard the 'drought' word many times. In the area of Central CA I live it is an arid enviornment and in an average year we get about 13" of annual rainfall. Though I don't know the specifics, we also experience rain cycles measured best in term of years/decades that are more indicative of actual drought conditions and that is rarely addressed by the media outlets. For me personally, I might get concerned if we have another year as dry as the current. The real problem comes in summer and fall when we start to have wildfires. I have heard the Farmers Almanac says we will have a very wet spring, will have to wait and see, but it is usually more accurate than weather prognosticators.

[hithard]

I can say this, the river's that I pan for gold in are exposing places that I have never had access to, and I am 47 years old. I just drove over the Sierra Nevada mountains yesterday and there was but a few inches of snow, less than a foot. There should easily be many feet. I also stopped at a few of the resevoirs along the way that should be at or near the top, well we can now call them holes. My friends that are fishing the delta tell me that the salt water intrusion from the bay is up further in the delta than they have ever seen. These are guy's that have lived their whole live's here fishing these waters.

We ship alot of our northern water south, I mean alot, they can change the flow of the delta when all the pumps are running. Hindsight projects were stopped along time ago due to all of the EPA regulations and the environmentalist here in California. Yes, we have fu....ed ourselves. It will be interesting to see if some of that changes due to this awesome shortage.

I beleive we will all see some of the highest prices for fruit's and vegetable that we have ever seen by a large margin. I am getting things ready for a big garden this year. I plan on getting my water from the grey water from the house. I'm currently looking into the best way to do this.

Let's not even talk about what the salmon are doing in those river's right now.

[462]

Currently, reservoir levels and the Sierra snow pack are at historically low levels. California droughts are nothing new, with evidence of them as far back as the pre-Medieval days, and lasting up to 150 years.

The problem is multi-faceted and totally political. The southern part of the state gets most of its water from the northern part, and takes more than its allotted share from the Colorado River, creating water level problems at Lake Mead and Lake Powell. Fish have been given more rights than humans, thus water storage has not been increased in many years, a number of dams have been dismantled, and the amount of water allowed to be pumped from some rivers has been decreased. Unabated growth has outpaced any means of supplying sufficient water, making voluntary water rationing an ongoing reality in many areas.

Rather than looking for realistic ways in which to increase water supplies, state and local politicians (bought and paid for by nut-case environmentalists and other special interest groups) have mandated policies to reduce the amount of water usage, i.e. low-flow faucets and toilets (which require multiple flushes) and low water usage appliances. While not wasting water is commendable, it's immoral, for those who supply our water, to do nothing to increase its availability.

[Iowa Fox]

I think everybody needs to get their victory garden in this year, lots of produce comes out of that corner of the USA.

[olereb]

Don't mean to hijack the thread but I'm curious do you have water usage restrictions in CA for watering your lawn and that kind of stuff?. Here in SW FL we have water usage restrictions so that we don't run out of fresh water,i thought I read that CA doesn't have any which if true amazes me with the water problems I always hear about there.

[Charley]

Not to slam California (well ok, a slam) here in Texas we've had a severe drought for the last three years...currently officially "severe", up from "extreme". Because we are considered "flyover country", very little notice has been taken by the news media on the coasts, but the California story is everywhere you look. Here are some picture of Medina lake, to the WNW of San Antonio, levels are about 5% of "normal". Water rationing, pumping limits for private and public well has been ongoing for three years.//http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=How+Low+Is+Medina+Lake&FORM=RESTAB

[462]

The water company that supplies my area has had voluntary water usage guidelines in place for about 30 years, and they include lawn and garden watering.

In the past, we have been mandated to 50 gallons per day per each person in a household. I suspect the mandated usage will soon be reinstated.

[Love Life]

I was in the Sierra's today, and we have a little over a foot at 7,500 ft. All the reservoirs are low and it will need to snow about 20 feet in the next couple months to make us sort of right.

To answer the OP- The drought is pretty legit. Remember how Georgia was during the big drought when Big Hart turned into a creek? That's us right now, except we don't replenish as fast.

[Duckiller]

The drought is almost real. So Cal has water meters, Nor Cal is getting water meters. There are no restrictions on building houses. So far it is just a matter of money. If the politicians really believed in the drought we wouldn't be able to have unrestricted building. When some areas in Cal have had REAL water shortages you couldn't build a new house with three bathroom unless you took three existing bathrooms out of use, ie you bought three small houses. Most of Cals water comes from the snow pack in the Sierras and Rockies. Not sure about the Rockies but the sierra snow pack is very low. The snow pack for the entire west coast is down. Friend just came down from Corvalis Ore area. ski slopes not open, no snow. If the drought measures are enforced I don't think we will have victory gardens. No water to irrigate them. With present reserves no water is being released for farms or normal residental useage. All that is left is being held for emergencies. If we don't get some serious snow fall in Feb, Mar and Apr then California will cease to be the golden state and The rest of the country will soon figure just how much of their produced is from California when it is not available. Based on tree rings there have been some long trem severe droughts in the west. If this is what we are entering then there will be major relocations of populations. Everyone in the rest of the country should hope and pray that the west coast gets reasonable rain so they can still pick on California.

[ph4570]

1.8" so far this year while typical is about 40" at the same time of year where we dwell in northern calif mountains. It will be dry, dangerous fire season and water will be rationed in muni regions.

[Love Life]

Very well written post Duckiller.

[Hogtamer]

The graywater works well for the garden...if you have easy access under your house.

[Bad Water Bill]

If it is YELLOW let it mellow.

If it is brown will take on a whole new meaning.

There are many ways to save,conserve water that the desert folks can teach folks with short supplys.

The folks in apartment buildings will be the hardest hit.

Private residences still have options.

#1 collect and use lots of rain bbls while you can.

[bhn22]

One big problem is that you have too many people in California for the resources available. Deport half the population, and everything will fall back into line naturally.

[MT Gianni]

When it is really a shortage they will shut down watering golf courses.

[Freightman]

Just don't send them to Texas we don't need any more people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GOPHER SLAYER]

What we need to remember is the fact that much of the populated part of California is a coastal desert. When it was part Mexico there were very few people who lived here for that reason. A man named Mulholland changed that when he conspired to steal the water from Owen's valley and turn that area into a dust bowl but he made the mega city of Los Angeles possible. When we moved to are present location, which is over a hundred miles from the coast there was a large grove of beautiful oak trees close to our home. All of them are now just rotting stumps. We have drown down the aquifer until they could no longer get enough water to survive. Our governor Brother Moon Beam wasn't lying last week when he said we have a serious water problem. I think it will get much worse. What humans have trouble with is the fact that the earth nor nature cares what our plans are. We could have a drought for a thousand years and there is nothing we could do about it. It has happened before in other parts of the world. In ancient times, North Africa was a green and lush place to live.

[Bad Water Bill]

When it is really a shortage they will shut down watering golf courses.

How about saving the water in those swimming pools for fire use only.

Put a seal over them to prevent evaporation.

[tomme boy]

Better find out if you can have a rain barrel or not. Some states it is almost as bad as a felony if caught collecting rainwater.