California Drought

[jerrybob]

Trump brought the water back to California, like he promised if elected.



Bruce

Make America wet again!

 

[houstonscott]

No matter how much it rains, California only has capacity to hold what the reservoirs will hold, all the rest goes into ocean. Without more capacity to hold more the droughts will continue. HS

 

[dickfoster]

Here's a photo showing the South Yuba River right now, one of many origins for all that water.

Today on the South Yuba River

Source w comments:

Raging water on the South Yuba River : Sacramento


(Photos - Normal summer water levels there)


That's sort of my 'back yard', I used to go 4-wheeling on the fire roads in that region years ago. Grandpa was a mining engineer in charge of several gold mines up that canyon. Dad and I explored and found a couple of the sites where he had worked for his father 60 years prior.

In Nevada County, the South Yuba is my backyard. I think I'll go to Washington today and have a look to see if the town is still there. The river should be rip roaring. That first picture looks like the old Hwy 49 bridge.

 

[California]

Make America wet again!

Sounds like that's a specialty of his!

 

[TomSeller]

No matter how much it rains, California only has capacity to hold what the reservoirs will hold, all the rest goes into ocean. Without more capacity to hold more the droughts will continue. HS

You are not accounting for water having time during a flood to become ground water and recharge the aquifers. It is not just what reservoirs can hold. Flooding fields also lets sediment deposit in the fields like it was intended.

 

[ultrarunner]

Last night the main county road to the farm washed out... simply gone where the road crossed the creek...

Some of this weeks rain totals have been impressive... 4 to 13 inches.

Honestly, many have not given much thought to wet weather after years of little precipitation.

Only January and the dams/reservoirs here are over capacity...

Several of the downtowns too have been flooded.

For most the damage nearby could have been worse.

 

[California]

I-80 over the summit (Donner Pass, California to Reno) is still 'must drive single file, chains required, 30 mph limit, low visibility'. Still intermittent snow.

Caltrans has 150 lane-miles of this mess to clean up before the pass is back to normal.

USA Today - Too much snow closes ski resorts in California, Nevada. Nobody can get in or out.

 

[houstonscott]

I-80 over the summit (Donner Pass, California to Reno) is still 'must drive single file, chains required, 30 mph limit, low visibility'. Still intermittent snow. Caltrans has 150 lane-miles of this mess to clean up before the pass is back to normal. USA Today - Too much snow closes ski resorts in California, Nevada. Nobody can get in or out.

Happens several times every winter. HS

 

[ultrarunner]

I believe first time in 10 years that Caltrans issued a Winter Blizzard advisory...

 

[houstonscott]

I believe first time in 10 years that Caltrans issued a Winter Blizzard advisory...

Grew up in Bay Area, Sunnyvale. Can't tell how many times 80 was closed to all but 4x4 or all traffic, several times every year. I had an FJ40 in those days, and we had a cabin in both south and north Lake Tahoe. CHP would check to see if I had front hubs locked up and off we'd go. Believe me it's normal, the drought is not an anomaly, either. Tree ring data does show droughts in California can last 200 years, it's happened before. Nothing special here... I skied at Alpine once where several hundred people were trapped on slops because a whiteout blizzard struck, some people had to just stop where they were and wait to be picked up by snowcat. People tend to think the WEATHER they observed while living there is normal, that may not be true, because it's all constantly changing. Anyway all the newbies in California may not understand the history of the State. HS

 

[beowulf]

You are not accounting for water having time during a flood to become ground water and recharge the aquifers. It is not just what reservoirs can hold. Flooding fields also lets sediment deposit in the fields like it was intended.

I agree. But here in the foothills most just flows on by and it would be nice to have storage for a lot of the water that passes on down to the ocean. Every Summer there are discussions about not having enough water in the reservoirs for release to farmers and for demands of the environmentalists. Having more storage would make those allocations much easier.

 

[ultrarunner]

Anyway all the newbies in California may not understand the history of the State. HS

This is a huge part of the problem... many in flooded areas are new to the area... interviewed some who said they lived their 9 years an never had anything like this... then they interviewed a local who said... 1955... 1961, 1985, etc...

The slides are also a huge problem and trees...

Slides because some could be avoided simply by property maintenance for drainage.

Trees are a huge issue here... a permit for a fee and public comment is required to remove just about any tree... many simply stop there and then a storm comes and the trees go over.

We had a planted old Walnut at one home... it took 6 weeks to get a permit to remove and the neighborhood was placarded with information should anyone object in writing or in person... for a backyard non-native tree and the tree company needed to be city approved with a city tax certificate... $1800 when it was all said and done.

Another place has a planted Redwood... for all intents it is protected but does a lot of damage to sewer, sidewalk, gutters... it is fight I will most likely leave to someone else.

 

[flusher]

Pilot programs have been started in CA recently to recharge the groundwater by flooding thousands of acres of orchard located near the Sacramento River and it's tributaries. Apparently almond trees can tolerate several weeks of flooding without damage to the roots. Orchard growers have to use D9 Cats with giant rippers to break up the clay layer when establishing a new orchard for drainage so the tree roots are happy.

Unfortunately this won't work for the half million acres of rice field north of Sacramento since those fields still have a clay layer under the topsoil so the water doesn't percolate into the ground. These fields are flooded early in the growing season and then drained when the crop is established. Rice growers are quick to point out that their crop uses less water than alfalfa or orchard crops.

 

[houstonscott]

What people don't understand is the California water project was created to supply water to agriculture, and control flooding. The dams the aqueducts are all for agriculture not drinking water. Over the last 100 years the agricultural people who own the water have sold water to communities, but maybe with exception of SF communities have not provided for their own supply of drinking water. Recharging aquifers takes decades of good water supply years. HS

 

[jerrybob]

Sounds like that's a specialty of his!

Careful..........somebody will report you for being political!:laughing:

 

[dickfoster]

This is a huge part of the problem... many in flooded areas are new to the area... interviewed some who said they lived their 9 years an never had anything like this... then they interviewed a local who said... 1955... 1961, 1985, etc...

The slides are also a huge problem and trees...

Slides because some could be avoided simply by property maintenance for drainage.

Trees are a huge issue here... a permit for a fee and public comment is required to remove just about any tree... many simply stop there and then a storm comes and the trees go over.

We had a planted old Walnut at one home... it took 6 weeks to get a permit to remove and the neighborhood was placarded with information should anyone object in writing or in person... for a backyard non-native tree and the tree company needed to be city approved with a city tax certificate... $1800 when it was all said and done.

Another place has a planted Redwood... for all intents it is protected but does a lot of damage to sewer, sidewalk, gutters... it is fight I will most likely leave to someone else.

Good thing I don't have that kind of nonsense up here. If I need to take down a tree, I get out the chainsaw and the tree is gone, no muss no fuss. Soon after it's down, if it's the right species, it's firewood.

 

[jerrybob]

Good thing I don't have that kind of nonsense up here. If I need to take down a tree, I get out the chainsaw and the tree is gone, no muss no fuss. Soon after it's down, if it's the right species, it's firewood.

Same up here.....yesterday I dropped 5 alder trees......they grow like weeds up here. These trees were behind the shop.....probably about 6 years old.......trunks were a good 12 to 14 inches......some were 50ft. tall at least. No permission was requested or needed.

 

[dickfoster]

I'm pretty much convinced that all cities are run by complete morons.

 

[prichard]

Same up here.....yesterday I dropped 5 alder trees......they grow like weeds up here. These trees were behind the shop.....probably about 6 years old.......trunks were a good 12 to 14 inches......some were 50ft. tall at least. No permission was requested or needed.

Alders grow to 50' and 14" trunk in 6 years? Wow!

 

[dragoneggs]

Alders grow to 50' and 14" trunk in 6 years? Wow!

Well jb may be stretching it a bit but they do grow very, very fast in wet rich soil.