David E. Ross wrote:

As of 1 May, the state-wide snowpack water content was only 3% of the
average for that date. As the rain and snow season ends, the 12 most
significant reservoirs were at 45% of capacity. The average for that
date is 77%. Note that the averages include prior drought years, not
only for the current drought but also for other droughts.

i didn't even think they bothered to measure it as
there was so little to measure?

but, yep, the snow pack situation is not good for
CA this snow melt season.

there has been a few rains recently and it looks
like more will be possibly coming soon, but until
it happens i sure wouldn't count on it.

this is the link i check (later in the day after things get
more updated):

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/reservoirs/RES

by far it isn't the whole story as there is much
ground water being pumped and some sewage now being
recycled and the water reused. desal is not really
an answer as it is very expensive compared to what
could be done instead with more storm water capture
more recycling and more adjustments to rivers and
ground water recharge basins.


Oregon and Washington also declared various drought emergencies.

rant
My local water agency imposed new restrictions on the use of water to
irrigate my garden. Micromanaging my water use, the agency not only
decreed that I can run my sprinklers only twice a week but also on which
days -- Mondays, and Thursdays. Normally, I work in my garden on
Thursdays; but now the ground will be too wet. I will have to change to
Wednesdays. Will they next come into my house a time how long I shower?

In the meantime across California, land developers are still getting new
water connections. While existing residents and businesses are facing
rationing, developers are creating demands for even more water -- water
that does not exist -- for homes, factories, offices, restaurants, etc.
Also, rice and cotton -- both very thirsty crops -- are still being
planted.
/rant

there is so much more recycling and rain water capture/storage and
reuse that can be done that the real shame in all of this is that the
amount of water that is being cleaned up and then dumped into the
sea that instead could be used for groundwater recharge and many other
purposes. California has plenty of water, it's just that up to now
it's been cheap enough to dump instead of figure out how to reuse
and it's been easier to direct rain/rivers to flow through the cities
instead of slowing and soaking in some of that instead.

right now the el nino is getting stronger and perhaps it will help
this last bit of spring for some moisture, but they are also hoping
it will help drive a wetter than normal year. we can hope so for
the sake of CA and the other Colorado River basin states.

as i've been watching the radars lately it seems that there is
a fair bit of rain and storms happening, but they are still not
dropping a large enough amount of snow or rain into the CR basin
or in northern CA. if we could have a few good storms in either
of those places that would help a lot...

Lake Powell and Lake Mead are at interesting levels and forecast
to still keep dropping. that means some interesting times possibly
this year or next for Arizona as their water gets reduced and a
slight reduction for Vegas, but Vegas has done a lot to recycle and
reuse (they pump treated water back to Lake Mead so they can draw
more water out, but they also require any places built to have a
plan for recycling and reusing water and reducing water, so they're
not quite as thirsty down there as compared to what they used to be).
still they are finishing up their emergency intake from Lake Mead
(that will work even if Lake Mead turns back into the CR again).

as for your rant, i suspect they stagger watering days to keep the
load on the overall system more balanced.

in any arid climate, rain water harvesting, deep mulching, wind
breaks, swales, etc are all very important elements if you're going
to try to grow vegetables or fruits on plants that aren't acclimated
to the climate.

it's been pretty dry here lately too, with perhaps an inch of rain
the past few weeks. as usual the storms go north and south of us
or break up due to the valley effect. i've had to water lightly a
few of the seeded areas i put in and the ditch out back is down
quite a bit from where you'd normally expect it to be this time of
the year. it's just how it goes here sometimes. the well is holding
up ok, we're down pretty deep and in the middle of the groundwater
flow too, so not too likely to dry up, i also try not to use it too
much as rainwater is much more preferable...


songbird