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Governor Schwarzenegger Proclaims Drought and Orders Immediate Action to Address Situation
San Francisco’s Spring, driest on record:
The rainfall for the months of March, April and May in San Francisco were the driest in the City’s 159 seasons of record. The total this spring is just 0.47”, bringing the 2007-2008 season to 17.44”. Below are the Top 10 Driest SF Springs and the total for that respective season. Credit: Jan Null, GGWeather
|
Rank |
Year |
Spring |
Season |
|
1 |
2008 |
0.47 |
17.44 |
|
2 |
1959 |
0.68 |
10.46 |
|
3 |
1934 |
0.70 |
12.91 |
|
4 |
1997 |
1.03 |
22.63 |
|
5 |
1873 |
1.22 |
15.66 |
|
6 |
1972 |
1.30 |
11.06 |
|
7 |
1966 |
1.35 |
16.33 |
|
8 |
1916 |
1.40 |
27.12 |
|
9 |
2004 |
1.46 |
20.54 |
|
10 |
1877 |
1.52 |
11.04 |
From the press release issued June 4th, 2008:
Following two straight years of below-average rainfall, very low snowmelt runoff and the largest court-ordered water transfer restrictions in state history, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today proclaimed a statewide drought and issued an Executive Order, which takes immediate action to address a dire situation where numerous California communities are being forced to mandate water conservation or rationing. The lack of water has created other problems, such as extreme fire danger due to dry conditions, economic harm to urban and rural communities, loss of crops and the potential to degrade water quality in some regions.
“For the areas in Northern California that supply most of our water, this March, April and May have been the driest ever in our recorded history,” Governor Schwarzenegger said. “As a result, some local governments are rationing water, developments can’t proceed and agricultural fields are sitting idle. We must recognize the severity of the crisis we face, so I am signing an Executive Order proclaiming a statewide drought and directing my Department of Water Resources and other entities to take immediate action to address the situation.”
Today’s Executive Order directs the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to:
- Facilitate water transfers to respond to emergency shortages across the state.
- Work with local water districts and agencies to improve local coordination.
- Help local water districts and agencies improve water efficiency and conservation.
- Coordinate with other state and federal agencies and departments to assist water suppliers, identify risks to water supply and help farmers suffering losses.
- Expedite existing grant programs to help local water districts and agencies conserve.
This Executive Order also encourages local water districts and agencies to promote water conservation. They are encouraged to work cooperatively on the regional and state level to take aggressive, immediate action to reduce water consumption locally and regionally for the remainder of 2008 and prepare for potential worsening water conditions in 2009. As part of the Executive Order, DWR will work with locals to conduct an aggressive water conservation and outreach campaign.
Last month, DWR’s final snow survey of 2008 showed snowpack water content at only 67 percent of normal and the runoff forecast at only 55 percent of normal. As conditions continue to worsen across California, it underscores the state’s need for infrastructure improvements to capture excess water in wet years to use in dry years like this one.
“This drought is an urgent reminder of the immediate need to upgrade California’s water infrastructure. There is no more time to waste because nothing is more vital to protect our economy, our environment and our quality-of-life. We must work together to ensure that California will have safe, reliable and clean water not only today but 20, 30 and 40 years from now.
Read more from the press release and watch the video
Yeah, that happens in deserts.
Long time lurker; first time poster. Great blog! To the fellow upthread suggesting flooding Oregon with Californians: too late. They’re already here. Anybody thinking to grab water from Oregon had best establish air superiority first…although this year we’ll have plenty. Coldest spring I can recall, and snow forecast in the Cascades down to 4000 feet. From where I live, on a rare clear day, I can see snow on mountains where people should have been pitching tents or hiking a month ago. My tomato plants would appreciate some global warming.
In Mister Schwarzenegger’s homeland Austria this last winter was a special one; snowing and lower than normal temperatures started approx. half November (this is about 5 weeks earlier than normal). During the winter there was little snowfall and above normal temperatures. End of the winter strong snowing till the 10th of May (skiing possible).
Confused In New Jersey???
I though the west cost had record snow falls this past winter? The ski resorts couldn’t count the money fast enough. Here is the official NOAA report.
Northern Hemisphere Snow and Ice Winter 2007/2008
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2007/snow0708.html
Here is the graphic for just the west cost for March, April and May.
Mountain Snowpack on March 1, 2008
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/research/2008/feb/MtnSnowpack_1Mar08.gif
Mountain Snowpack on April 1, 2008
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/research/2008/mar/MtnSnowpack_1Apr08.gif
Mountain Snowpack on May 1, 2008
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/research/2008/apr/MtnSnowpack_1May08.gif
California appears to have gone from above average snowpack in March to below average snowpack in May. I am confused by the statement “very low snowmelt runoff” which can mean two things.
1. There is not much snowpack to melt.
2. The snowpack is not melting.
What are the temperatures in the California Mountains?
Arizona appears to be in very serious difficulties. They may not want to share the Colorado River waters with Arnold this year.
Mike
I know people may have moved on to more recent posts but required reading for anyone in the US southwest should be “Cadillac Desert” by Marc Reisner!!
SuperDBA: Spot on! We (CO) lived with low rainfall for several years, so we cut back on use. Had to tell the @ur momisugly#$% immigrants they couldn’t have Kentucky Blue grass lawns. Awwww. Then CA sues us to get more water from the Colorado. Right. Like we can control that.
Last time I was in southern CA, they still watered the medians of their freeways. Reality: CO is high plains desert. We live with it. The leftcoast should learn to do the same. (I recall a story about students at one of the major CA universities getting up in arms that the administration installed low-flow shower heads. DAISNAID)
People on the West Coast should get use to this. A cold PDO will mean dry, dry and still more dry climate regimes. Places like Oregon and Washington will see more precip, but California -esp in the north- could see colder, snowier winters, but hot dry summers. This could play havoc on thier argiculture industry and will certainly raise the cost of living.
If the AMO remains in a positive mode while the PDO is cold, drought could also move into the eastern Rockies and Plain states. If the Rockies overtime see less winter snowfall, and the ethanol plants in the Plains continue to grow in number, there will be major problems with the drying of the Ogallala Aquifer. Ethanol production requires tons of water.
I am terrified by the idea of water restrictions I could be trying to control my
water usage but my mentally ill sister is not goin to listen to anyone–and take a long, long , long shower–twice a day! My family has had fights over even each other’s methods of trying to save water! What can I do?
Housing prices are much more reasonable in Wisconsin or Michigan or South Dakota, If you don’t like blackouts and water shortages… or if you think it’s too hot where you are because of global warming… you may want to relocate.
The Farmers built and paid for that water infrastructure.
The cities should do the same for theirs.
Its BS that the former is being stolen by the latter.
I think that the State of California should open a bunch of corn ethanol plants and run them as state owned Co-op’s. Site one or two in San Francisco. They could use state money to subsidize the Ethanol and reduce the price of automobile fuel. All the time creating a greener planet and employing lots more people. It’s a win – win – win situation eh ?
Then a multitude of green ideas could fester in the same place. Just the processing part of Corn Ethanol uses 4 gallons of water for every gallon of Ethanol produced. This vandalism is already subsidized by $0.51/Gallon by the Federal Government.
What a pleasant prospect it is to be lead down the garden path by these people…. NOT.
Speaking of farmers I predict that if a serious drought arises the farmers will be cutoff. It becomes a national security issue when populated areas don’t get water. Water and electric have to flow or there will be blood.
17″ in SF for the 2007 – 2008 season to date … to put that in perspective, when I lived in SOMA, the normal rainfall was about 14.” Somewhere like Mt. Davidson it’s probably 25″. So, microclimate variation within the City alone is massive.
17″ at Dolores, while less than the “normal” 19 or 20″ or whatever it is (tangent for another day, the moves of the measurement location … just what is normal?), is respectable. Of course, the whole thing is bogus, since the important watersheds are miles away from SF.
From my perspective, we are in a light to moderate two year drought. For now. If it goes to the third year, then that’s a different discussion. We had a light 5 year drought in NoCal (7 year in SoCal) late 80s into the early 90s. That was actually pretty bad, we had rationing in a number of locales.
RE: 14″ per year in SOMA (especially South Beach). A little known Bay Area microclimate fact … there is a “subsidence desert” over the Bay, which impinges on the western and southern shores. At Pier 1, it extends only a few hundred yards inland, in Santa Clara it extends 2 miles inland. Back before the South Bay was built out, it was fascinating to drive across the mouth of the Santa Clara Valley and note the massive changes in flora through the transect. In Mt. View, open forest / oak savanna was native, in northern Santa Clara / Alviso, short grass and desert scrub. That is a distance of 5 miles.
Cadillac Desert (I own a copy) is a worst case combination of Gaia worship, doomer prognostication and general hatred of the LDS engineers who helped conquer the US West. Of course it makes some good points, but it’s very overblown. California is not Ancient Egypt.
In regards to “Cadillac Desert” after setting aside the writer’s personal view the book gives a good overall history of water politics in the US southwest.