Southern California Facing "Perfect Drought"
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 06.27.07
Southern California may be in danger of succumbing to a “perfect drought” if actions aren’t taken soon to help remedy the situation, according to a recent article in Guardian Unlimited. Leading climatologists, environmentalists and city planners have warned that the use of water may need to be severely curtailed in light of the drought-like conditions prompted by the lowest amount of rainfall (only 8.15 cm in the year ending June 30) since 1877.
With no rain forecast before September and supplies from the Sierra Nevada mountains, which typically provide Los Angeles with up to 50% of its water, running low, strict measures such as mandatory hosepipe bans and restrictions on car washing may soon be in the offing. These cutbacks come in the face of rising demand for scarce water supplies as a result of the tremendous population growth witnessed in Southern California (2-4 times higher than the national average) over the past 5 decades.
“I call it the dry incendiary summer of 2007,” said Bill Patzert, a NASA climatologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Mother nature is converging with human nature. With population growth and the decline in the water there are the elements in the equation which you could call the perfect drought.” The growing influence of global warming, some have argued, means that elevated temperatures and a lack of rainfall may soon become the norm.
To make any headway in their effort to prompt a rethink in a population used to consuming large amounts of water, experts agree that enacting planning measures to force developers to consider its use will be key. “It’s disgusting that Los Angeles parks and golf courses are being irrigated with potable water,” said David Nahai, the president of the board of Los Angeles’ water and power commissioners. “We have to re-educate people about living here.”
In addition, land use and flood control measures need to be revised to make the city more sustainable and less dependent on water traveling hundreds of miles through aqueducts and pipelines, according to Melanie Winter of the LA-based River Project. Implementing such reforms would go a long way towards ensuring that the city have a dependable, constant supply of water. “We spend $1 billion to import water and $500,000 to throw local [rain] water into the ocean. In 30 years we may be able to provide 65% of our drinking water locally rather than 15%,” she explained.
Via ::
Scarce water and population boom leads California to 'perfect drought' (newspaper)
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my city's major dam is at 16% and falling with its collective total at 18% across our supply. pipeline relief is years away from being finished and will only provide maybe 1/3 of our requirements. we have had increased rain with flood to the north and south recently, but in 4 days of divided rain we only got a week or so of water in the dam.
yet we have our water parks still open and less then a year before its possibly all gone.
you can see brisbane, QLD AUStralia water levels and use at seqwater.com.au , we average about 0.05% a day i think. which is about 20 days to one percent. it doesnt look good, we are in the heaviest water restrictions onrecord i believe.
"they" say it will change with el nino breaking up or something. 10 years ish back they banned tanks, now there's rebates to have them install. everyone opposed a big water plan 10 years back to stop this happening with industry water grid, nother dam and etc... now we are screwed with not enough time left to build anything to help.
please dont quote me, this is just my personal rant. as tv and newspapers here hype it up both ways so its hard to tell except for the level itself. im not feeling secure and keeping myself out of debt and ready to move back to mums place ;p
The LA basin is home to 16 million people. On June 30, 2007 we eclipesed the driest year (3.21 inches) since the inception of record keeping in 1877.
Clearly, we need to re-think how we use water.
All new homes throughout North America and elsewhere should follow Australia's lead on requiring only ultra low flow toilets and shower heads.
Consider being water smart when planting your new yard. If you are not sure, ask your local nursery which native plants use less water.
Do not plant non-native vegetation.
Eucalypts are lovely trees but they belong in Australia not in California, for instance.
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There's an elephant in the room that no one mentioned.
Conservation is necessary for Southern California, but the majority of water use in the state (which could be transferred to Southern Cal) is agricultural. 85% of water use in California is by wasteful agricultural irrigation methods. Some inroads have been made in rice farming, but if the farmers managed a 25% reduction in water use, the state would have more than DOUBLE the water available for personal use. Help people use water wisely, but start with the real water hogs at the trough. The farmers are encouraged by subsidies. That might be where to start.