Drought/Water Usage

[Barry Sloe]

With all the rain and snow coming down in the west and southwest the question pops up "Is the drought over?"  

Last year the politicians were talking about water restrictions.  At the same time there was an advertisement on the radio for the new water park in Phoenix.  I get heartburn when I hear talk about restrictions, but all around town (Tucson) new subdivisions going in. 

I ask myself when will the politicians figure out that we are in the middle of a desert??

 

Okay, rant is over.  Have a great day. 

 

BS

 

[Whiskey Hicks]

Just my understanding, and I’m open to being corrected: isn’t the water for usage and measurement of draught rather dependent on the mountain ice pack?

 

Run-off ground water from rain and snow is a pittance that doesn’t stick around like the mountain pack. 

[Caladisi kid]

Let's see, 1 cubic foot of snow contains 5-30% water, depending on density, so say you have a wet, dense snow you would get 3-4 inches of water in your square foot.  One acre foot of water is 43,560 sq, ft.  One square mile is 640 acres.  So if you have an aquifer that you have a well drilled into and your water table had dropped 10' and your water table covers 25 square miles than nope, drought is still a problem for many years till it is replenished.   

Snow pack in the mountains is the time honored way to store water year round due to the melt in summer IF you do not use more than is available to replenish the aquifer and other uses.  You see lakes, reservoirs and streams dry up and people worry and complain BUT you do not see underground aquifers dry up so they do not get the same crisis status unfortunately.

12 inches of rain covering one square mile is A LOT of rain!

[Dirty Dan Dawkins]

With all these “migrants” coming over you’d think these granola crunching tree huggers would have a fit over their burden on an already scarce water supply.

From an environmentalist perspective, a scattered, rather than a concentrated, population density would be less burdensome on local resources.

In other words, deport illegals, finish the wall, and suspend immigration and Silicon Valley visas. It is for the environment.

[J.D. Daily]

The water resources folks haven't called it yet.  The snow pack while being at record or near record depths the water content is lower than normal.  The precipitation in the last few days didn't help because it was too warm to snow.  Rain on the snow pack means snow melts, fills creeks & rivers & fills reservoirs until winter flood control level is reached.  Then it runs into the Pacific.  The flows can be at flood stage especially on the Carson in Douglas County.  Same as it does in the summer when a thunder bumper passes through.  

[Dusty Devil Dale]

On 3/7/2023 at 3:45 PM, Caladisi kid said:

Let's see, 1 cubic foot of snow contains 5-30% water, depending on density, so say you have a wet, dense snow you would get 3-4 inches of water in your square foot.  One acre foot of water is 43,560 sq, ft.  One square mile is 640 acres.  So if you have an aquifer that you have a well drilled into and your water table had dropped 10' and your water table covers 25 square miles than nope, drought is still a problem for many years till it is replenished.   

Snow pack in the mountains is the time honored way to store water year round due to the melt in summer IF you do not use more than is available to replenish the aquifer and other uses.  You see lakes, reservoirs and streams dry up and people worry and complain BUT you do not see underground aquifers dry up so they do not get the same crisis status unfortunately.

12 inches of rain covering one square mile is A LOT of rain!

An acre ft of water is actually 43,560 cubic feet. 

4" of water (1/3 ft), 

If it can percolate in the available soil, will raise the water table by 4" (minus consequential  evaporation and plant evapo-transpiration).  A 10' drop in water table would thus take 30 years to replenish IF there is only one foot of snow or 4" of water content applied. 

 

But California is experiencing average annual snowfall (in mountain aquifer source areas) of more than 30' this year (or 30 times the amount in your example).  So IF it can percolate and not just run off to the ocean, it could restore the 10' of water table overdraft in roughly one year.  

 

However, it normally requires about 1-1/2 to 2 years for applied bulk surface water to percolate down into the deep aquifers, so the benefit of this blg snowfall will not be immediately measurable.

[bgavin]

Here in the Sac Metro area, the dams are releasing water at a furious rate.
No doubt they have to get rid of it all so we can be prepared for no-water in the summer.
The (non-indigenous) Delta Smelt must be getting a real bath right now.

 

[irish ike, SASS #43615]

The SIerra's are 200% over average snowfall. Mammoth has had 40" of snow so far. As to water content in the snow who knows. The lakes are filling and the snow really hasn't started a serious melt yet. When I moved to Reno in 97 it was a year of record snow fall and then heavy rains and warmth, after a 5 year drought. That resulted in portions of downtown Reno flooding along with the airport. We're in that same situation right now. Also the lakes filled up.

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

I think, If I were King of California, I would be finding a way to build* more water retention facilities, but that's just me.

 

* Protestors would be doing some of the digging.

By hand.

OK, with a shovel.

[Rip Snorter]

Just now, Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 said:

I think, If I were King of California, I would be finding a way to build* more water retention facilities, but that's just me.

 

* Protestors would be doing some of the digging.

By hand.

OK, with a shovel.

They are too busy trying to remove dams and hydropower.

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

1 hour ago, Rip Snorter said:

They are too busy trying to remove dams and hydropower.

 

So, just how do they intend to power all those EVs?

Acres and acres and acres of solar panels?

Nuclear reactors?

 

AHHHHH!!!!!

NIMBY!!!

[Rip Snorter]

Montana is the 7th largest hydro electric producing state, we also have coal, oil and gas, but some significant power comes from the northwest under contract.  If they shut down, even here there will be some energy shortages, never mind what they do to their own folks.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

On 3/7/2023 at 4:03 PM, Barry Sloe said:

With all the rain and snow coming down in the west and southwest the question pops up "Is the drought over?"  

Last year the politicians were talking about water restrictions.  At the same time there was an advertisement on the radio for the new water park in Phoenix.  I get heartburn when I hear talk about restrictions, but all around town (Tucson) new subdivisions going in. 

I ask myself when will the politicians figure out that we are in the middle of a desert??

 

Okay, rant is over.  Have a great day. 

 

BS

 

Your rant may be over but the idiocy of governments (plural: they are ALL guilty from HOAs to the feds) is never over and I see no light on this horizon.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

3 hours ago, Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 said:

I think, If I were King of California, I would be finding a way to build* more water retention facilities, but that's just me.

 

* Protestors would be doing some of the digging.

By hand.

OK, with a shovel.

California wastes more money on crap than anyplace else I've ever seen, but they can't build anything to save water, not even a simple coffer dam or a decent catch basin.

[Dusty Devil Dale]

5 hours ago, Rip Snorter said:

They are too busy trying to remove dams and hydropower.

I think the king of California has his eye on Biden's job in 2024 and he is thinking about nothing else.  He has a lot of billionaire backing from SF and Silicone Valley, so watch out if he comes your way.  A total loser fruit-loop whose hands have never in his life been dirty.