The Official Drought Thread

[Northwestcoug]

How is that different from how Utah and Arizona get their water? It all comes from rain and snow.

Not materially different. It's just that we never worry about the reservoir levels.

[wapiti]

Not materially different. It's just that we never worry about the reservoir levels.

I don't know why Utah worries about it so much. Drought = clicks and ratings.

[bluegoose]

How is that different from how Utah and Arizona get their water? It all comes from rain and snow.

I took it as he was making the point that it came from snow and not rain. Lake Shasta is California's largest reservoir by far and it is filled about 90% by rainfall. Other reservoirs in the state, particularly those in the shadow of the Sierra, are much more reliant on snow melt. Minor distinction, but still significant.

[cowboy]

To answer the question, yes, there is still a drought in much of the west, but conditions have improved dramatically. It takes more than one banner year to restore aquifers after the drought much of the West has had, but I'm not a hydrologist, so that's about all I understand about the subject.

[Northwestcoug]

I took it as he was making the point that it came from snow and not rain. Lake Shasta is California's largest reservoir by far and it is filled about 90% by rainfall. Other reservoirs in the state, particularly those in the shadow of the Sierra, are much more reliant on snow melt. Minor distinction, but still significant.

Yeah that too. We get ~12 inches of rain a year. It's pretty dry but we don't have to worry about water levels the way Arizonans do. The snow falling on the Cascades accounts for the vast majority of Bend's water. We have a handful of small reservoirs for other areas in Central Oregon.

To answer the question, yes, there is still a drought in much of the west, but conditions have improved dramatically. It takes more than one banner year to restore aquifers after the drought much of the West has had, but I'm not a hydrologist, so that's about all I understand about the subject.

Yikes, it looks like I'm still in the severe drought category. I guess I should say, city residents don't worry too much about water, but I assume the farmers do.

[myboynoah]

Yeah that too. We get ~12 inches of rain a year. It's pretty dry but we don't have to worry about water levels the way Arizonans do. The snow falling on the Cascades accounts for the vast majority of Bend's water. We have a handful of small reservoirs for other areas in Central Oregon.



Yikes, it looks like I'm still in the severe drought category. I guess I should say, city residents don't worry too much about water, but I assume the farmers do.

lol at nwc who was all "I'm in great shape; we got our aquifiers, our snowbanks, and our mountain run offs. Suck it the rest of you people!"

[dabrockster]

Some pretty cool photos of before and after from the Arizona Fish and Game.

What they said:
When were the Pinetop area lakes last full? After a bad water year, it’s easy to forget how great full lakes look! However, seasonal draining and filling is common in our water storage reservoirs. According to AZGFD observations, Woodland Lake and Rainbow Lake both last spilled in April 2017; Scott Reservoir, Show Low Lake and Fool Hollow Lake all last spilled in February 2017. These photos taken last summer compared with this week is a good reminder about how important winter precipitation (especially snowmelt) is. Scott will revive catchable size catfish this spring and Woodland will get trout and fingering catfish. #fisheriesfriday




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[Northwestcoug]

Those are always wild photos.

For the record, central Oregon east of bend was very dry last year. One reservoir had a trash pickup day, where a ton of trash was removed from the dried up areas. They had to cancel a yearly bass fishing tournament also. It’s just the areas closer to the eastern bench of the Cascades that are less reliant on reservoir levels.

[Uncle Ted]

It seems the west is going to dry up and blow away...

US West prepares for possible 1st water shortage declaration

The man-made lakes that store water supplying millions of people in the U.S. West and Mexico are projected to shrink to historic lows in the coming months, dropping to levels that could trigger the federal government’s first-ever official shortage declaration and prompt cuts in Arizona and Nevada.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released 24-month projections this week forecasting that less Colorado River water will cascade down from the Rocky Mountains through Lake Powell and Lake Mead and into the arid deserts of the U.S. Southwest and the Gulf of California. Water levels in the two lakes are expected to plummet low enough for the agency to declare an official shortage for the first time, threatening the supply of Colorado River water that growing cities and farms rely on.

It comes as climate change means less snowpack flows into the river and its tributaries, and hotter temperatures parch soil and cause more river water to evaporate as it streams through the drought-plagued American West.

The agency’s models project Lake Mead will fall below 1,075 feet (328 meters) for the first time in June 2021. That’s the level that prompts a shortage declaration under agreements negotiated by seven states that rely on Colorado River water: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
[...]

https://apnews.com/article/arizona-c...50459f3dcb771f

[Northwestcoug]

It seems the west is going to dry up and blow away...


https://apnews.com/article/arizona-c...50459f3dcb771f

I’m shocked that an official shortage hasn’t been declared before. I’ll never understand how southern Arizona has enough water for its population.

[Joe Public]

I’ll never understand how southern Arizona has enough water for its population.

It doesn't.

[Moliere]

It seems the west is going to dry up and blow away...


https://apnews.com/article/arizona-c...50459f3dcb771f

I’m sure climate change has an impact but the booming population in those areas has to be the biggest driver.


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[Uncle Ted]

I’m sure climate change has an impact but the booming population in those areas has to be the biggest driver.


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I hope they find more water for that booming population so they don't pick up and move to Texas like everyone else.

[Moliere]

I hope they find more water for that booming population so they don't pick up and move to Texas like everyone else.

It’s getting insane. At least Houston appears undesirable to most so we are spared but Austin is turning into a CHAZ waiting to happen.


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[Color Me Badd Fan]

Recently there have been some attacks on eating meat, particularly beef, with some idiots saying the best thing we can do to personally reduce our carbon contribution is cutting out meat. Another point of attack is they mention how much water is required to produce a certain amount of beef without acknowledging that the overwhelming majority of that water comes from the grass/plant material grazed by the cattle. Then they talk about all the land that is used up by livestock -- as if that is also land that we could just instead just start growing cabbage, tomatoes, etc on the same land.

The amount of misinformation that is coming out of this is staggering. My grandfather moved his family out to California in the early 50s and proceeded to become a millionaire in the meat (beef) packing/processing business by the early 70s. One of his roles in the business was to go out to northern Nevada, buy cattle and arrange for their transportation back to California. It's absurd to think the land being grazed by the cattle had any other agricultural value -- and it's the same for massive swaths of the Western US and Canada along with places like Australia.

California has a persistent drought problem and farmers from Bakersfield on up through north of Sacramento have had to pump more groundwater due to a variety of factors -- but apparently the wells are drying up. Those crops are relatively water efficient compared to what comes out the Salinas Valley. The amount of water it takes to grow everything in the Salinas Valley is staggering -- the artichokes, strawberries, spinach, etc and the nutritional value of these pales in comparison to the nutritional value of beef. What's particularly galling to me is that many of the same people worried about the water, carbon, etc with regard to beef production then turn around and insist everything be grown organically while they chug down almond milk. It's hilarious.

This video does a good job of dealing with the idiotic hysteria regarding beef and it includes a few clips of Mark Rober who really should know better: