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California Drought
On 5/20/2015 2:02 PM, songbird wrote [in part]:
the large CWP uses huge pumps to move water from the north to the south which also uses a lot of electricity (some which they regain on the other side from generation but the cost is still high). this is only a small fraction of the water used in CA for irrigation. to move a much larger portion of the Columbia would need many more pipelines than one. that's not a minor expense for pumping, materials to build it, maintenance, etc. The California State Water Project is possibly the largest customer for electricity in the state. -- David E. Ross Climate: California Mediterranean, see http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary |
California Drought
On Monday, May 18, 2015 at 11:42:19 PM UTC-7, David E. Ross wrote:
On 5/18/2015 6:00 PM, songbird wrote [in part]: as for your rant, i suspect they stagger watering days to keep the load on the overall system more balanced. No. Everyone in the community now irrigates on Mondays and Thursdays. Thousand Oaks (a neighboring city) proposed specific days for irrigating gardens, with odd addresses on certain days and even addresses on other days. The Public Works staff, however, pointed out that if everyone ran their sprinklers on their permitted days before 9:00am (beyond that time irrigating was already prohibited), there would not be enough pressure in the mains during those times to support fire-fighting. In some parts of Los Angeles, having alternating days for irrigating gardens resulted in aged mains rupturing, wasting thousands or even millions of gallons of water. Note what David said about "aging mains". Some of the municipal "plumbing" is 100 years old or more. Disaster waiting to happen. HB By the way, see my "Gardening During a Drought" at http://www.rossde.com/garden/drought.html. -- David E. Ross Climate: California Mediterranean, see http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary |
California Drought
David E. Ross wrote:
songbird wrote: I previously wrote [also in part]: By the way, see my "Gardening During a Drought" at http://www.rossde.com/garden/drought.html. i did. while most of it i agree with you don't say much about rainwater capture/storage, landscaping to retain water (slow, spread, soak) and wind breaks aren't really mentioned either. When we do get rain, more then 2/3 falls in December, January, and February; often, that is more than 3/4. A cistern large enough to supply water from March through November is quite out of the question. i wasn't meaning about your site in particular, but when speaking of arid climates there should be mentions that those sorts of things can help a great deal. many people have roofs and the downspouts go right into the drains, they have no features in their lawns to capture, slow, spread and soak rains, they have no mulch layers, they don't consider the wind and how it can dry out areas when it isn't blocked, etc. as for roof capture of rain and getting through an entire season, that is good, but even if that is too big a consideration, even a few hundred gallons every time it rains would make a dent in the water bill for a few months and take some of the damand off the central water supply. an entire city setup with a few hundred gallons for each household would take a lot of storm water that they used to have to treat and use it instead to irrigate and help recharge the groundwater (which many cities are now drawing on via wells to supplement their other water supplies). My landscape does indeed retain rain. Last week, we had 0.34 inches, which is a lot for the entire month of May. I have not run my sprinklers since last Wednesday and will not run them tomorrow. (The Monday and Thursday only schedule does not go into effect until 1 June.) that's good and of course it all helps. where you mention mulch it is to say enough to cover the soil which is better than nothing, but beyond that a deeper mulch can be much better, especially if you have drip irrigation below it. I try to maintain several inches of leaf mulch where there is no ground cover. Although I place twigs and small branches on top, the wind often reduces the thickness of the mulch. My valley white oak cannot survive without a thick mulch of leaves; I applied the mulch and then anchored chicken wire on top. This will require quite some effort to renew the mulch as it becomes compost. one of the nice things about an arid climate is that mulch lasts much longer. around here wood chips are good for a few years - well rotted wood chips turn clay into pretty good garden soil. songbird |
California Drought
David E. Ross wrote:
songbird wrote [in part]: the large CWP uses huge pumps to move water from the north to the south which also uses a lot of electricity (some which they regain on the other side from generation but the cost is still high). this is only a small fraction of the water used in CA for irrigation. to move a much larger portion of the Columbia would need many more pipelines than one. that's not a minor expense for pumping, materials to build it, maintenance, etc. The California State Water Project is possibly the largest customer for electricity in the state. i'd believe it because i've come across some of the numbers in recent readings. with the drought it is lowering the ability of the state to generate hydroelectric power and you folks are lucky that the state mandate for solar and wind has increased those supplies as that has helped a great deal, but also it is causing more natural gas burning. somewhat related: as i'd recently been reading up on Owens River/Lake/valley i was interested to come across this in the news: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...514-story.html for something that had been running since 1913 to be shut off until November gives an idea of how deep this drought has become. recent rains/snows in Colorado have upped some of the percentages for runoff so we hope this continued gift from El Nino keeps on rolling... songbird |
California Drought
thanks to a huge amount of new rainfall in the
upper Colorado River Basin and recent rains in southern California (Delores) you folks are getting a little more breathing room. i hope you use it wisely... songbird |
California Drought
On 7/19/2015 9:32 AM, songbird wrote:
thanks to a huge amount of new rainfall in the upper Colorado River Basin and recent rains in southern California (Delores) you folks are getting a little more breathing room. i hope you use it wisely... songbird Yesterday's rains (1.26 inches near my house) will do little to refill California's reservoirs. The primary source of water for the reservoirs is precipitation in central and -- most important -- northern California. Some cities in southern California -- including Los Angeles -- do attempt to capture rainfall and use it to replenish underground aquifers. And, of course, we all will be using less water for a while to irrigate our gardens. Where I live, we do not get any water from the Colorado River. A slight increase in its flow from storms in the northern part of its watershed will mean a slightly less demand for water from the California Water Project's dams and aqueduct. Thus, we are getting some minor relief. At this stage of the drought, even minor relief is welcome. Today, I have not seen any rain. The weather is hot, cloudy, and extremely humid. The 9:00am PDT forecast is for 50%-60% probability of measurable rain this afternoon, this evening, and daytime Monday. "50%-60% probability" means that 50%-60% of the area will experience some rain, not that all areas have a 50%-60% probability of rain. As of 30 June, 12 major California reservoirs were collectively at 37% of capacity. That is less than half the historical average for that date. -- David E. Ross Climate: California Mediterranean, see http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary |
California Drought
David E. Ross wrote:
songbird wrote: thanks to a huge amount of new rainfall in the upper Colorado River Basin and recent rains in southern California (Delores) you folks are getting a little more breathing room. i hope you use it wisely... Yesterday's rains (1.26 inches near my house) will do little to refill California's reservoirs. The primary source of water for the reservoirs is precipitation in central and -- most important -- northern California. Some cities in southern California -- including Los Angeles -- do attempt to capture rainfall and use it to replenish underground aquifers. And, of course, we all will be using less water for a while to irrigate our gardens. yes, however, my post was aiming more at the difference a few million acre feet of water will make over the next few years that as of a few months ago were not there. it was looking like they may have had to declare a shortage for Lake Mead water levels and that affects both Arizona and southern California water supplies above and beyond what is already lacking from the reserviors. Where I live, we do not get any water from the Colorado River. A slight increase in its flow from storms in the northern part of its watershed will mean a slightly less demand for water from the California Water Project's dams and aqueduct. this is a more structural and legal and or treaty difference than "slightly less demand" implies. however it is also important in other ways as it impacts how much electricity can be generated (they are currently upgrading the turbines at Hoover Dam to be able to generate electricity efficiently at lower water levels, but this is underway and not done yet). Thus, we are getting some minor relief. At this stage of the drought, even minor relief is welcome. oh for sure, and any little bit that can go towards groundwater recharge... however a large fraction is likely to be lost due to evaporation, but that might end up further to the east in the mountain ranges as rain or fog/mist/dew. at this point any single drop is better than none. Today, I have not seen any rain. The weather is hot, cloudy, and extremely humid. The 9:00am PDT forecast is for 50%-60% probability of measurable rain this afternoon, this evening, and daytime Monday. "50%-60% probability" means that 50%-60% of the area will experience some rain, not that all areas have a 50%-60% probability of rain. the radar is currently showing a nice pattern for the area to get more actual rain on the ground, i hope the rains can hold together long enough to actually get the ground soaked in places enough to give the trees and rivers a bit of a recharge. As of 30 June, 12 major California reservoirs were collectively at 37% of capacity. That is less than half the historical average for that date. and as they get emptier the problems get tougher (water quality gets poorer as they get warmer, with algae problems and pumping and treatment costs rise, hydroelectric generation reductions, etc.). also the losses in forest cover in the north will make things even worse as you lose your sponge and soaking zones, but you also lose your trace moisture capture capabilities (forest can trap, condense and soak up mists/fogs). songbird |
California Drought
On Sunday, July 19, 2015 at 5:10:55 PM UTC-7, songbird wrote:
David E. Ross wrote: songbird wrote: thanks to a huge amount of new rainfall in the upper Colorado River Basin and recent rains in southern California (Delores) you folks are getting a little more breathing room. i hope you use it wisely... [...] You can have 100% confidence in our decision-making process. The one thing we (or our "lawmakers") will not tolerate is any interference with the golf courses dotting the landscape East of Palm Springs. http://www.motherjones.com/environme...e-powered-poop 800,000 gallons a day for the average golf course! And let's not get into the water-hogging, highly reumunerative almond and cotton crops grown by agribusiness in the totally unsuitable Central Valley. Some growers are more equal than others... HB |
California Drought
On Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 7:44:31 PM UTC-7, Hypatia Nachshon wrote:
On Monday, May 18, 2015 at 11:42:19 PM UTC-7, David E. Ross wrote: On 5/18/2015 6:00 PM, songbird wrote [in part]: as for your rant, i suspect they stagger watering days to keep the load on the overall system more balanced. No. Everyone in the community now irrigates on Mondays and Thursdays. Thousand Oaks (a neighboring city) proposed specific days for irrigating gardens, with odd addresses on certain days and even addresses on other days. The Public Works staff, however, pointed out that if everyone ran their sprinklers on their permitted days before 9:00am (beyond that time irrigating was already prohibited), there would not be enough pressure in the mains during those times to support fire-fighting. In some parts of Los Angeles, having alternating days for irrigating gardens resulted in aged mains rupturing, wasting thousands or even millions of gallons of water. Note what David said about "aging mains". Some of the municipal "plumbing" is 100 years old or more. Disaster waiting to happen. HB Update: Disasters ARE happening. Every few days we get news that another ancient main has broken with resultant damage to houses, people displaced, traffic disrupted. Wonder who pays the bill for public safety personnel and replacement of infrastructure. MWD (Metropolitan Water District) has had a lot of nasty reports about management. HB By the way, see my "Gardening During a Drought" at http://www.rossde.com/garden/drought.html. |
California Drought
On 7/26/2015 3:07 PM, Hypatia Nachshon wrote:
Update: Disasters ARE happening. Every few days we get news that another ancient main has broken with resultant damage to houses, people displaced, traffic disrupted. Wonder who pays the bill for public safety personnel and replacement of infrastructure. MWD (Metropolitan Water District) has had a lot of nasty reports about management. The mains that have been breaking -- and wasting millions of gallons of precious water -- are under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LA DWP), not the MWD. And it is the LA DWP that has come under severe criticism in recent years for (among other things) a botched roll-out of a new computer billing system, payments to foundations controlled by the primary LA DWP labor union without any accountability of how the money has been spent, and millions of dollars transferred annual to the Los Angeles City budget but not having enough money to replace centry-old water mains. It is the LA DWP that reimburses businesses and home-owners for damaged caused when a LA DWP main breaks. The LA DWP will soon be paying several millions of dollars to UCLA for damage to campus buildings and equipment for a double break. The same break resulted in destruction of a number of private automobiles parked in an underground garage at UCLA, andother liability against the LA DWP. -- David E. Ross Climate: California Mediterranean, see http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary |
California Drought
On Sunday, July 26, 2015 at 4:15:54 PM UTC-7, David E. Ross wrote:
On 7/26/2015 3:07 PM, Hypatia Nachshon wrote: Update: Disasters ARE happening. Every few days we get news that another ancient main has broken with resultant damage to houses, people displaced, traffic disrupted. Wonder who pays the bill for public safety personnel and replacement of infrastructure. MWD (Metropolitan Water District) has had a lot of nasty reports about management. The mains that have been breaking -- and wasting millions of gallons of precious water -- are under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LA DWP), not the MWD. And it is the LA DWP that has come under severe criticism in recent years for (among other things) a botched roll-out of a new computer billing system, payments to foundations controlled by the primary LA DWP labor union without any accountability of how the money has been spent, and millions of dollars transferred annual to the Los Angeles City budget but not having enough money to replace centry-old water mains. It is the LA DWP that reimburses businesses and home-owners for damaged caused when a LA DWP main breaks. The LA DWP will soon be paying several millions of dollars to UCLA for damage to campus buildings and equipment for a double break. The same break resulted in destruction of a number of private automobiles parked in an underground garage at UCLA, andother liability against the LA DWP. -- David E. Ross Climate: California Mediterranean, see http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary You are correct. I apologize to MWD for indicting them for the mis/mal/non-feasance committed by DWP. They have been "untouchable" for far too long. We are still hearing/reading fallout from the incidents you cite, and many others. HB |
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