California's Terrifying Drought.. as seen from Space

In my passive income properties I've seen the water usage go higher than I've ever seen. I don't know if my tenants have added secret occupants, simply more apathetic about water conservation, or what.

Likewise, this year has been the driest for California in what, history, or a century.. anyways with rising temperatures and a higher sun as we go into spring and summer months, what will we face.

Sure, there are other topics but this one is about how Cali's drought is o severe, its observable from space

Thats awful, Cali is about to have some serious issues in the near future. I wonder what the plan for state of emergency will be

reply to post by EyesOpenMouthShut


FEMA will save the day.

That's just my prediction.

I am sure I read here on ATS that FEMA have just placed a $1 billion order for coffins, maybe that is there contingency plan.

I know it is a rather gloomy prediction but the possibility of mass dehydration or even major unrest in extreme situations parallel to this one, such as you see in third world countries, lies squarely within the realms of distinct possibility, unless the correct counter measures are put in place immediately.

There is no reason to rely on the weather changing and mother nature saving the day, even during my short lifetime I have observed the weather becoming increasingly unpredictable.

reply to post by gardener



Well if you measure rain properly from

October 1 to September 30th.'

Technically measuring rain fall by winter (as is proper as opposed to dec-jan)

There have been drier years, as an example 2012 by that measure was as well.

California is a naturally a desert that man has made green, expect droughts.

As an example, Showering for gym during my JR and High school years was prohibited in So CA due to droughts.

A couple of days back I posted those exact photos from space on this thread www.abovetopsecret.com...

Aside of that most people are still watering their lawns here. Went out today and saw sprinklers on all over the place. It is one thing to declare a drought emergency, it is a a lot more difficult for people to truly understand the scope of the emergency.

Most people seem to think cutting back 20% will be enough, it won't. Also most here will not conserve until they are forced to. IMO every single person that attempts to keep their lawn green should see the a huge fine after being warned once.

All car washes should be shut down, having a clean car should be an automatic ticket.
Drinking water in restaurants should be brought out only when requested. (My uncle came up with that idea a long time ago and it was implemented by him during the last drought).
All outdoor swimming pools should be shut down.
All outdoor water features turned off, especially those in Vegas. (Vegas uses 300 gallons per day, per person inside the city limits).

This is serious folks and for what it is worth it is a trend that is quite likely to continue. There will be a couple of wet years here and there but the overall trend is a bit scary.

BTW my Uncle is HUGE in water policies in this state. I kinda know what I am talking about it. It is going to get much worse than most people can imagine.

So, does this mean the fracking wells will now all come to a halt, or are they all still permitted to carry on guzzling water?
maps.fractracker.org...
Just askin.

reply to post by doobydoll


They will get to do WTF ever they want. And if they can't do they will do it anyway and just deal with the miniscule fines the EPA doles out.

Mamatus
reply to post by doobydoll

 

They will get to do WTF ever they want. And if they can't do they will do it anyway and just deal with the miniscule fines the EPA doles out.

Just as I thought.

It makes my blood boil.

Lived in California for over 30 years. I know the weather patterns there. People are making way too big of an issue over this.
Next year or the year after they will be complaining about flooding and mudslides due to too much rain. They will be letting the water out of the dams and forget about this drought and possible future droughts and no water will be conserved for the next drought.

I'm not all that familiar with California's climate statewide, but I could have sworn a sizable portion of it was considered at least semi-arid (steppe climate) naturally. Considering the amount of water waste in desert areas/states to maintain green lawns and outdoor water attractions, I don't actually feel all that sorry for them. You made your bed, now sleep in it. People in that kind of climate should know full well what kind of water waste they're doing, especially via evaporation, to make their yard purdy, or to keep an olympic sized outdoor pool full, or the in the case of Vegas, garner oohs and ahhs at giant fountains. Arid climates are what they are, funneling water into them to alter the flora appeal is pointless.
Hindsight is 20/20, maybe it'll take a scary critical shortage for people to give up on lushness & aesthetic augmentations in arid zones & learn to appreciate the land as it is...

benrl
California is a naturally a desert that man has made green, expect droughts.

Yup and it drives me crazy why people move to the desert and then grow grass because they miss the midwest like my neighbor I just want to tell him to move back.

reply to post by calstorm


Sorry buddy, I would have to differ with you. Then again my Uncle was only the Deputy Director of Department of Water resources for many years and is still highly involved in water solutions and policy. He is not prone to exaggeration, panic or anything but the hard truth. Many Water experts are freaked out by this one.

To think it is no big deal is so far off the truth........

reply to post by Mamatus


there was a weatherman in calif. who went through all the written records and noticed (without fail) that whenever there was drought,about 3 years later there would be a really wet flooding kind of year to make up for it....don't know if this will still hold ,time will tell

this is a really bad drought, especially if feb march and april don't bring much rain, those are our normal wet months....gonna be a hell of a fire season come summer

research100
reply to post by Mamatus

 

there was a weatherman in calif. who went through all the written records and noticed (without fail) that whenever there was drought,about 3 years later there would be a really wet flooding kind of year to make up for it....don't know if this will still hold ,time will tell

this is a really bad drought, especially if feb march and april don't bring much rain, those are our normal wet months....gonna be a hell of a fire season come summer

Standard Cali disaster cycle, Earth quake, drought, Fires, Floods with landsides.

All around good time in my book...

thesaneone

Yup and it drives me crazy why people move to the desert and then grow grass because they miss the midwest like my neighbor I just want to tell him to move back.

Yes/Yes/Yes from Cochise County , Arizona.

Where does this strange mentality come from ... hey, that place is great - why don't we go there and screw it up ?

reply to post by Bazart


it is the Hubris of man alone to think they can change nature, well man and Beavers...

reply to post by research100

Us simple humans think it short periods of time. A single season at a time or at the very outside two or three seasons at a time.
There will always be wet years in a long term drought cycle. So while a single wet year will relieve the pain of a drought it does not fix a decade long problem.

I make my living by the weather and have for 25 years now. The decisions I have to make involves other people lives and their safety. Weather is literally what I live by, small changes big changes and trends all affect my profoundly.

The trend is for more and more dry years with less and less wet years. Currently it would have to rain (and snow at elevation) every day, all day between now and May to fix this years water issues. no amount of rain will change the outcome for California between now and then. It's trouble, lots of it.

Ya know what really bends me? SoCal filled up their reservoirs before the rain stopped. they have plenty to get through this summer. Northern and Central California are in trouble.

All of our local ranchers reduced their herds by 90% (or sold all of the cows) this winter. Guys with 2k head down to 200 and probably gonna sell them off pretty quick. If you guys think beef was expensive this last year? Just wait.... Veggies also as many Central Valley farmers will be cut off.

A 4500 person exclusive gated community out here has their own reservoirs that fill off of the Consumes River. They are in emergency mode and may very well end up trucking in water at extremely high rates just to take a shower or have water come out of the tap.

Mamatus
reply to post by calstorm

 

Sorry buddy, I would have to differ with you. Then again my Uncle was only the Deputy Director of Department of Water resources for many years and is still highly involved in water solutions and policy. He is not prone to exaggeration, panic or anything but the hard truth. Many Water experts are freaked out by this one.

To think it is no big deal is so far off the truth........

Yep, I'll back you up with a map from the University of Nebraska (US Drought Monitor): droughtmonitor.unl.edu...

Pretty scary stuff and even more frightening that people aren't limiting their water usage now. Never ceases to amaze me at how short sighted and arrogant people can be. However, when the drought monitor shows one's state in shades of red, it's time to let the car get dirty and the lawn dry out.

I lived out on the Navajo rez during an extreme drought in 2002. That's ranch country just like a good chunk of California is. There was so much dying livestock (both horses and cows) due to lack of water/grass that the town that I lived in was filled with black flies and the stench of death. Scarred me for life, especially when people started running out of water out there and were having to drive dozens of miles just to get water. So yeah, completely understand why those experts are freaked because California has both the cattle and is infinitely more densely populated.

benrl
reply to post by Bazart

 

it is the Hubris of man alone to think they can change nature, well man and Beavers...

In recent years both beavers ( who naturally ' pool ' water , which may evaporate more quickly than running ) and cottonwoods have been blamed for the impending loss of an endangered local river . 50 + thousand people in the middle of a desert pumping groundwater couldn't be it... at least that's what the chamber of commerce says...

Shade trees and beavers , oh my !