Recent storms have eased our water worries to a degree - the state Department of Water Resources reports that the Sierra snowpack is at 80% of normal. But because of the dry winters of 2007 and 2008, California still needs much more precipitation:
Elissa Lynn, a meteorologist for the Department of Water Resources, said the water content in the snow would have to be between 120 to 130 percent of normal by April 1 to replenish the state's reservoirs, the largest of which are less than half full. "That's just the snowpack," Lynn said. "We need to have rainfall in the mountains continuing through the spring, contributing to the total water supply. That's what we had hardly any of last year."
Rain and snow would have to fall virtually every day this month to get back to normal, a highly unlikely scenario, according to Steve Anderson, meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
The LA Times uses these numbers to explore whether proponents of new dams and canals are overstating the crisis in order to generate support for their favored water projects:
The water interests who have spit out grim news releases the last two months were silent Monday in the face of the growing snowpack.
Those who would like to build new reservoirs and canals and to weaken environmental regulations have invoked the drought like a mantra in recent weeks...
Sen. Dave Cogdill, a Republican who represents agriculture-dependent Modesto, called the drought "epic" when he introduced a $10-billion water bond package last week that includes funding for new reservoirs and other infrastructure.
There's no doubt that folks like Cogdill are trying to take advantage of the crisis - but the water crisis is real, even if it's not quite as bad right now as it looks. On a regional basis the situation is still serious - the Monterey Peninsula, for example, overshot its carrying capacity long ago and has been overdrawing the Carmel River for decades. Growing propulations and more water-intensive agriculture have strained existing resources. And global warming will lead to less water availability for California.
Still, it's important to refuse to let California get shock doctrined by those pushing bad water solutions using the drought as a cover. That was the message Debbie Cook delivered on desalination in a post at The Oil Drum:
The next worst idea to turning tar sands into synthetic crude is turning ocean water into municipal drinking water. Sounds great until you zoom in on the environmental costs and energetic consequences. It may be technically feasible, but in the end it is unsustainable and will be just one more stranded asset.
We're debating desal here in Monterey as well, and Debbie Cook's criticisms of the concept are extremely valuable to us - and to a state that, despite this week's rain, still has to figure out how to secure its water future. |
