California Drought

[Egon]

Huh?

Since all the usable water in California goes through dams the volume is known pretty precisely.

The only undammed rivers are minor ones up on the north coast, where there's no practical route up over the Coast Range to the urban or ag users hundreds of miles away who need more. (I think there is one tunnel that does send water over to the Central Valley).

Then downstream in the San Francisco Bay and adjacent inland delta, water quality is closely monitored because the volume arriving is barely adequate to keep salinity low (so the farmlands there aren't destroyed by salinity) and to save what's left of natural aquatic life. The 'trash' small fish are the basis, feedstock, for the larger bass, salmon, etc that are declining drastically.

Winter floodwater in wet years goes to the ocean unused but the rest of the time water volume and quality throughout the state are precisely managed.

Colorado Delta. Where is the water that started out in the river?

 

[ForestGrump]

There are a hellofalotta Midwesterners that would say bye bye

That's nice!

 

[lilranch2001]

Police? Dams? Bridges? Highways? The aqueducts sending all the water to SoCal? Life here would be pretty primitive if all the employees and public works disappeared.

Efficiency could be improved, yes, but the functions of government are worth what it costs us.

As a conservative/libertarian I would dispute that full statement, in many cases we are not getting our moneys worth out of government.

In regards to this part I would agree "Police, Dams? Bridges? Highways? The aqueducts"

In todays world, there are to many areas where the WRONG PART OF GOVERNEMENT is inserting its nose where it does not belong

 

[lilranch2001]

Quote Originally Posted by ForestGrump View Post
That's nice!


I thought so

 

[California]

Colorado Delta. Where is the water that started out in the river?
View attachment 499784

Las Vegas?

Imperial county ag?

The water sure isn't getting down as far as Mexico!

That's a huge example. A minor one near here is one of the North Coast rivers, the Russian River. It goes through two reservoirs then the quantity that reaches the mouth where it meets the ocean .... is less than the sum of dairy farm runoff into the river upstream. When I was a kid we could swim at Johnson's beach, Guerneville, Now, I don't think that's a good idea.

 

[dickfoster]

Las Vegas?

Imperial county ag?

The water sure isn't getting down as far as Mexico!

That's a huge example. A minor one near here is one of the North Coast rivers, the Russian River. It goes through two reservoirs then the quantity that reaches the mouth where it meets the ocean .... is less than the sum of dairy farm runoff into the river upstream. When I was a kid we could swim at Johnson's beach, Guerneville, Now, I don't think that's a good idea.

Actually Las Vegas gets most of it's water from wells. A whole lot of the Colorado goes to CA including LA plus a lot of AG and another bunch of it goes to AZ. Mexico gets very little of it anymore. However, it starts here so if we keep it that's OK because those Mexicans would probably just use it to swim up here like they do the Rio Grande.
A now past friend of mine used to have an avocado ranch in SoCal way over next to the coast and he used a lot of Colorado river water for it but Mexico and NAFTA took care of that for him. I think the Imperial Valley is pretty much the last stop for the Colorado today. If you want a sad case look at what LA did to the Owens Valley. It probably takes all of that water just to flush LA's toilets.

 

[Cat_Driver]

The moronic gov. said today he needs to raise taxes to pay for the dam he ignored. Typical liberal never let a disaster go by without raising taxes.

 

[NoTrespassing]

More rain and snow headed toward the west coast starting Sunday with two systems lined up over the Pacific.

Kevin

 

[RedNeckGeek]

More rain and snow headed toward the west coast starting Sunday with two systems lined up over the Pacific.

Kevin

Yep, but here in NorCal at least, they're not expected to bring much in the way of rain. A few hundredths at best. And most of next week will be dry and sunny.:cool2:

Lord knows we could use a break...

 

[downsizingnow48]

Map shows main infrastructure conveying water to the Central Valley, Imperial Valley, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Yep, but here in NorCal at least, they're not expected to bring much in the way of rain. A few hundredths at best. And most of next week will be dry and sunny.:cool2:

Lord knows we could use a break...

Even though we consider ourselves technically advanced we always seem to be able to underestimate the capabilities of mother nature. The experts know that we've had very wet years in the past but for some reason they don't think it will happen again? Imagine what will happen if the trend continues through April.

Kevin

 

[downsizingnow48]

The Don Pedro dam on the Tuolumne River is another balancing act the next several months.

Feds deny request to keep Don Pedro Reservoir spillway open | The Modesto Bee

 

[turnkey4099]

Even though we consider ourselves technically advanced we always seem to be able to underestimate the capabilities of mother nature. The experts know that we've had very wet years in the past but for some reason they don't think it will happen again? Imagine what will happen if the trend continues through April.

Kevin

I've seen things on the net that show some people think there will never be another drought.

 

[orezok]

Two things I've gleaned from this thread.

You can't fix stupid & Haters gonna hate. Choose your poison.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

You can't fix stupid & Haters gonna hate. Choose your poison.

I'd add an unhealthy dose of ignorance and bigotry to that list. My "ignore" list is growing because of it.

 

[TomSeller]

Quote Originally Posted by ForestGrump View Post
That's nice!

I thought so

I didn't

 

[California]

It seems the trolls from 'Friendly' Politics have found this thread.

 

[prichard]

Unfortunately there are some who seem to have a goal of getting all California threads pushed over to FP.

I love what I've seen of California but dislike the politics so I don't live there but find no reason to insult people who do.

 

[California]

Thanks for your voice of reason and civility.


So much for this Saturday 'storm'. I worked in the orchard all day, got some very light sprinkles that ended before I decided to stop work. Now 9pm, clear skies and the stars are out.

Forecast for tomorrow, Sunday - similar. Forecast is clear sky then estimated 50% sky cover starting late afternoon and possible .04" rain late afternoon through overnight.

 

[beowulf]

I love what I've seen of California but dislike the politics so I don't live there but find no reason to insult people who do.

Thank you. There are a h#ll of a lot of us here who also dislike the politics. Wish it was different. I never see it changing. I am retired but can't move as other family members have their jobs here, and I choose to remain near them.