In 2019 all reservoirs were full, giving us 5+ years, for farms & residential. But now... **nononono*
https://californiaglobe.com/section-2/ca-reservoirs-filled-to-top-in-2019-being-drained-by-state/ (https://californiaglobe.com/section-2/ca-reservoirs-filled-to-top-in-2019-being-drained-by-state/)
I read that millenia ago, California was a desert, and will some day return to that.Gee whiz. In geology class we heard that it was all seabed at one time, and will get back to that... :whistle:
Gee whiz. In geology class we heard that it was all seabed at one time, and will get back to that... :whistle:
Gee whiz. In geology class we heard that it was all seabed at one time, and will get back to that... :whistle:
The Central Valley, maybe. The Coast Range Mountains, the Sierra Nevada, the Tehachapi Mountains, and the Siskiyou Mountains, no.One thing about geology, sooner or later it all gets back to seabed. Some of it quickly, some of it one grain at a time.
Is this because population centers (LA, SF) are ciphoning water from rural, upstream sources to sustain more urban areas?
https://californiaglobe.com/section-2/ca-reservoirs-filled-to-top-in-2019-being-drained-by-state/ (https://californiaglobe.com/section-2/ca-reservoirs-filled-to-top-in-2019-being-drained-by-state/)
Actually reading the content of this link will answer questions about how & why water crisis is upon us - again.
They're just letting it flow out into the sea?!? Is this that Delta Smelt enviro-whacko thing again?Well, doggone it, they're smarter than the people who understood reservoirs retain water for dry years. They have PhDs.
Well, doggone it, they're smarter than the people who understood reservoirs retain water for dry years. They have PhDs.
9999hair out0000
Good question. Or is it irrigation for crops. I honestly don't know, but have wondered as well.
They drained huge amounts of water to the sea to "protect the river wild life"...
Another factor is they haven't maintained their reservoirs and were afraid it they had another wet year they'd fail. So the made room for what didn't come.
Yep, that's exactly what that article that @Skull posted said. There's never any accountability for these crazy policies. We have an open loop control system.As so often happens, people with advanced degrees use their credentials to beat people who know the land and the system into submission.
In what is shaping up to be the worst water crisis in generations, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said it will not release water this season into the main canal that feeds the bulk of the massive Klamath Reclamation Project, marking a first for the 114-year-old irrigation system. The agency announced last month that hundreds of irrigators would get dramatically less water than usual, but a worsening drought picture means water will be completely shut off instead.
This just couldn’t be worse," said Klamath Irrigation District president Ty Kliewer. "The impacts to our family farms and these rural communities will be off the scale."
At the same time, the agency said it would not release any so-called "flushing flows" from the same dam on the Upper Klamath Lake to bolster water levels downstream in the lower Klamath River. The river is key to the survival of coho salmon, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In better water years the pulses of water help keep the river cool and turbulent — conditions that help the fragile species. The fish are central to the diet and culture of the Yurok Tribe, California’s largest federally recognized tribe
As so often happens, people with advanced degrees use their credentials to beat people who know the land and the system into submission.
Unfortunately, an advanced degree is just a beginning of an education, not the whole picture, and those who do not recognize the value of 20, 30, 60 years of observations made living on the land and seeing what happens there (because agricultural success demands that or you fail), will consistently make decisions based on theory, not necessarily on observed and comprehensive data.
You can't get a feel for an ecosystem on weekend field trips unless you are there every weekend for years, and especially not if your focus is on one small aspect of that ecosystem and proving a thesis rather than truly studying what makes it tick.
So those academics are frequently working with a self-imposed failure to take all the data into account, an unfortunate part of the system of higher education that summarily discards 'layman' observations and denigrates common sense.
I guess my local buddies will be heading back to the Central Valley from Texas again to drill water wells for the farmers. They've made a fortune doing it....
Yes, hands-on experience is often worth a lot more than academics, and a smart academic will listen and not dismiss something because it's not coming from another PhD.Keep in mind that the smartest academics commonly gravitated toward industry rather than a Government job in a lot of fields.
Keep in mind that the smartest academics commonly gravitated toward industry rather than a Government job in a lot of fields.
The old saw remains:
Those who can, do.
Those who can't, teach.
Those who can't teach...
Following the Globe article Friday about the state draining reservoirs even with the dry year California is facing, we noted that California’s largest reservoirs less than two years ago were absolutely teeming with water from 107% to 145% of average. Water expert Kristi Diener said California’s reservoirs held enough water in 2019 for everyone who relies on them for their water supply, for 7 years.
A longtime friend of the Globe, Graig Gottwals, an attorney and professional bass fisherman, reported another infuriating aspect of the draining of California reservoirs – specifically Folsom Lake in the Sacramento region.
“I’ve lived near and bass fished Folsom for 17 years now,” Gottwals said. “Beginning roughly 10 to 12 years ago, the state decided that whenever the lake dropped under 400 feet in elevation, boaters had to abide by a 5 mph speed limit. This was for purported safety reasons – more of the bubble wrapping of America.”
As so frequently happens in California, a state that’s prone to cyclical droughts, California is suffering from a severe drought. Chris Mathys, who’s gearing up to run for the House of Representatives in Fresno, which is a major city in California’s Central Valley, has an idea: It’s time to declare the Delta smelt extinct and get the federal government to stop forcing massive amounts of Sierra run-off into the ocean.
So what ever happened to Prop 1 that was passed in 2014?
https://bondaccountability.resources.ca.gov/p1.aspxProposition 1 Overview
The Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 (Proposition 1) authorizes $7.545 billion in general obligation bonds to fund ecosystems and watershed protection and restoration, water supply infrastructure projects, including surface and groundwater storage, and drinking water protection.
So what ever happened to Prop 1 that was passed in 2014?
https://bondaccountability.resources.ca.gov/p1.aspxProposition 1 Overview
The Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 (Proposition 1) authorizes $7.545 billion in general obligation bonds to fund ecosystems and watershed protection and restoration, water supply infrastructure projects, including surface and groundwater storage, and drinking water protection.
PhD = Piled High and Deep
The question has evolved from OR-CA border to all of CA water troubles.