| Disasters
|
[
Disasters ] [ Main Menu ] |
|
|
|
8720 |
|
|
Date: February 01, 2014 at 06:08:40
From: La Man, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Unprecedented. CA state water project just shut the spigot off. |
URL: http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_25036886/california-drought-state-water-project-will-deliver-no |
|
Water deliveries from the SWP for 2014 are gone, period.
California drought: State Water Project will deliver no water this
summer
By Paul Rogers progers@mercurynews.com
Friday, Jan. 31, 2014 - 1:10 p.m.
At Folsom Lake, Calif., the boat ramp is several hundred yards from
the water's edge, January 2014. (Rich Pedroncelli / AP)
For the first time in its 54-year history, the State Water Project, a
backbone of California's water system, will provide no water to urban
residents or farmers this year because of the severe drought, state
officials said Friday.
The announcement does not mean that communities will have no
water this summer. But it does mean that every region is largely on
its own now and will have to rely on water stored in local reservoirs,
pumped from underground wells, recycled water and conservation to
satisfy demand.
Silicon Valley and parts of the East Bay -- particularly residents of
Livermore, Pleasanton and Dublin, who receive 80 percent of their
water each year from the State Water Project -- will feel the impact
the most in the Bay Area.
Hardest hit, however, will be the state's huge agriculture industry.
"We expect hundreds of thousands of acres of land in the Central
Valley to go unplanted," said Paul Wenger, president of the California
Farm Bureau Federation. "That will cause severe economic
problems in our rural regions -- loss of jobs and economic activity,
with all the heartache that entails."
The state's decision to turn off its main spigot will be re-evaluated
every month and could change if California sees significant rainfall in
February, March and April, state water officials said at a Friday
morning news conference.
Still, the news highlighted how California is in uncharted territory this
year. Last year was the driest in the state's recorded history back to
1850. The Sierra Nevada snowpack is at 15 percent of normal, even
after a storm this week. And January set more records for lack of
rainfall.
"Today's action is a stark reminder that California's drought is real,"
said Gov. Jerry Brown. "We're taking every possible step to prepare
the state for the continuing dry conditions we face."
Bay Area impact
The State Water Project, approved by voters in 1960 and a key
legacy of former Gov. Pat Brown, the governor's late father, is a
massive system of 21 dams and 701 miles of pipes and canals that
moves water from Northern California to the south. It essentially
takes melting snow from the Sierra Nevada, captures it and
transports it from Lake Oroville in Butte County through the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta all the way to San Diego. In
doing so, it provides drinking water for 23 million people from Silicon
Valley to the Los Angeles basin and irrigates about 750,000 acres of
farmland.
In November, because of the drought, officials at the state
Department of Water Resources announced that summer water
deliveries from the project would be only 5 percent of the amount that
the farms and cities who buy water from the project have under
contract. By comparison, the project allocated 35 percent last year
and 65 percent in 2012.
But even that proved to be too optimistic.
"Simply put, there's not enough water in the system right now for
customers to expect any water this season from the project," said
Mark Cowin, the department's director.
There are 29 water districts in California that receive allocations from
the State Water Project, including the Santa Clara Valley Water
District, the Metropolitan Water District in Los Angeles and the
Alameda County Water District.
"We anticipated this was a distinct possibility," said Marty Grimes, a
spokesman for the Santa Clara Valley Water District. "It makes a
challenging year even more challenging."
The Santa Clara Valley Water District board voted this week to ask
its 1.8 million customers to cut their water use by 10 percent
voluntarily. The district has a year's supply of water stored in
underground aquifers in Santa Clara County, nearly another year's
supply banked underground near Bakersfield, and a $50 million
recycled water plant under construction in Alviso to provide up to 10
percent of the county's water demand when it is finished in May. It
also has 10 local reservoirs that are 32 percent full.
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
[8726] [8722] [8721] [8724] [8725] [8896] |
|
8726 |
|
|
Date: February 04, 2014 at 17:06:19
From: terra11, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Unprecedented. CA state water project just shut the spigot off. |
|
|
|
I WONDERED HOW MONSANTO WAS GOING TO GET RID OF FARMERS AND ORGANICS. WELL NOW I KNOW!!!
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
None |
|
8722 |
|
|
Date: February 02, 2014 at 12:05:59
From: grzbear/AZ, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Unprecedented. CA state water project just shut the spigot off. |
|
|
why is it when these things happen... the golf courses, country clubs, entertainment industries, Vegas, etc. etc., seem to get their water to waste and it is **always** Joe schmo, whether they own a small business or not, that has to suck it up, sacrifice and go down the tubes?
grz-
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
None |
|
8721 |
|
|
Date: February 02, 2014 at 08:00:36
From: 4YourConsideration, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Unprecedented. CA state water project just shut the spigot off. |
|
|
Does this mean that the Hollywood elite ( movie stars, music mogels, film, and Obama's friends ) will let their 13 million dollar mansions lawns go brown? Will not fill their Olympic size swimming pools and let those go empty?
It makes one wonder who will go thirsty first,... those that live on the hill or the cliff over the ocean, or those who toil in the back quarters to serve the "important" and "famous" ones?
But, wait, .... it should be about time for the typical trio to step forward and make a commercial about saving water... and making money to line their pockets, again. Welcome to Hollywood, where millions of homes may be empty... nature's sense of humor is rather interesting for those whose sprinkler systems and pools probably cost more than most people's homes.
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
[8724] [8725] [8896] |
|
8724 |
|
|
Date: February 03, 2014 at 10:49:01
From: Poppie, [DNS_Address]
Subject: According to radio news, dryest year since 1540!!(NT) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
[8725] [8896] |
|
8725 |
|
|
Date: February 04, 2014 at 09:16:24
From: 4YourConsideration, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: According to radio news, dryest year since 1540!!(NT) |
|
|
Wow, now that certainly puts it into perspective. And, the difference being that "how many" people actually lived in the area at that time, called California. Dry back then, vs dry now, ... hmmm.
Time to turn to the Native American Rain Dance Ceremony.
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
[8896] |
|
8896 |
|
|
Date: July 19, 2014 at 20:11:37
From: Eve in FL, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: According to radio news, dryest year since 1540!!(NT) |
|
|
Long time dancing...gotta be thirsty.
~Eve
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
None |
|
[
Disasters ] [ Main Menu ] |