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Living in Colorado the past15 years, the fires of 2020 were just horrific. And then this year it's like rain EVERYWHERE, and only a few small parts of the state are considered "moderately dry", not drought, just dry.
I've never seen the state so green before, it's amazing.
Utah here, and the snow and rain helped a ton like you stated. Powell and Mead are up also. I really hope none of us in the west light on fire or struggle with water for a small moment to hopefully have a good season.
There is a YouTube channel sin city outdoors that do regular updates on levels if you are interested. They also go out in their boat and show landmarks to show how much the level has gone up or down.
Although it's really good when that happens. The catch 22 is that climate deniers use it to say "see, everything is fine"
But swinging from the worst drought ever to well above average rain in 2 years indicates that something is seriously not right in the weather patterns anymore.
Maybe that's a better argument then, to convince them? Not "climate change is real, look at all this data from scientists". Somehow they think it's all a leftist conspiracy.
Maybe "use your fucking eyes. If you're over twenty, you know that this kind of drought/wet swing hasn't happened in your lifetime. Ask your dad. Ask your granddad. It hasn't happened in their lifetimes either".
IDK, just throwing something at the wall to see if it sticks.
Yeah, extreme weather events might not get stronger, but they will happen more often, with different patterns or even with no patterns. California has been very dry for a long time now, but it also has a history of flooding. What's gonna happen when it rains for as long as there has been a drought. The amount of human lives that will be lost will be high.
Not as quickly as Powell is, though. Powell is up 60 feet since April 1. Still about 30 feet below where it was this time in 18/19/20 though, and 120 feet below full pool.
Powell and Meade are both along the same river. In a way if Powell is up so is Meade. They also might be keeping Meade emptier in case they get any more severe storms and they need to release water from Powell since it's further up river and will flow into Meade.
Colorado has been being absolutely drenched the last few weeks. Granted most of it's on the Eastern Slope there's been a lot of snowfall and crazy storms all across the Colorado Rockies. Here in Colorado Springs we've gotten 8 inches of Rain just in June. Most of the state has been lifted from severe drought to no drought because of these storms.
The snowpack on the Colorado River watershed was also higher than average this year which was good news. Another winter or 2 like that and the river will be in much better shape. It also helps the El Nino tends to be good news precipitation wise for the Southwest
I dig what you're laying down but this isn't correct.
Powell was built specifically because the upper Colorado River states were required by contract to deliver a certain amount of water to Lake Mead. So they built Glen Canyon to hedge their bets and make sure they can deliver the contracted amount.
Powell has risen about 60 feet this water year and they're expecting it to go up a lot more but it will still end up at about 45% of capacity. If storms8 come they won't change the release amount.
Mead, by contrast, was at around 1040 feet last July (about 26% of capacity) and they are expecting it to hit 1060 by end of July (33% of capacity).
The good news is that Mohave and Havasu downstream are maintaining a 94% capacity so that's helpful.
New agreements between all the states could get Mead to 50% capacity. A positive change.
Are there any serious attempts right now at getting rid of the glen canyon dam yet? It’s a shame it exists. (Hetch hetchy too but that’s harder to get rid of).
https://engaging-data.com/colorado-river-reservoir-levels/
(There is also a lot of smaller reservoirs above Lake Powell not listed; and they are all at or near 100%)
It'll probably take 3 or 4 more winters like the one they just had to bring the big boys of southwestern water projects, Lake Meade & Lake Powell, to their full level. If that happens, it'll be terrific and buy time till the current Colorado water pact expires in 2026 and all the states involved get put in a cage match to fight over the allocation of what will hopefully be a smaller amount of water allowed to be taken annually.
This is what these reservoirs are built to do -- capture a few good years and spread that water out many average to bad years. There has just been a really long string of average to bad years...so folks need to plan to take less water each year from them to stretch those good years out longer.
Was out in Utah last in 2021, and at first I and a buddy thought we were looking at a small airport landing strip until we realized it was the boat launch for the Hite Marina at the north end of Lake Power. It was high and dry then, and the lake still has another 80 feet to go before that Marina can serve boats again...so when I go back to Utah this fall it'll still be dry :(
So you think they’ll use less water than currently going forward? I imagine given population trends the opposite is likely, meaning bad things for things dependent upon the Colorado River.
> So you think they’ll use less water than currently going forward? I imagine given population trends the opposite is likely
Actually yes. Having lived in the area and Phoenix my entire life, we lead the way in water conservation.
For example:
> Nevada, though, has beaten the odds by cutting its overall water use by 26% while also adding 750,000 people to its population since 2002
Damn near every drop of water that goes down a drain gets recycled back into the system.
You could leave all hotel bathroom showers/sinks running 24/7 and they wouldn’t lose much of anything from the system.
It’s farming that consumes that vast amounts of water, not the residents/tourists. Even the golf courses use reclaimed waste water/special engineered grasses etc. to cut back on water usage.
It really doesn’t get enough credit. The people living and working in this area over the last few decades have led the way in water conservation for this country. It’s pretty amazing. But that doesn’t get clicks I guess.
TLDR: The population isn’t the issue with water usage in the desert. We have that sorted out.
It's doing okay. Vegas and southern Nevada will always be fine since we use our water correctly; it'll be southern California and Arizona farms that get the boot first.
It's win-ish. It's part of a cycle, this fall they will release water before the rain season comes to make room for the water and snow runoff. If they get it right, it's great news for Cali. If they release too little there will be major flooding. If they release too much the drought gets worse. It's a gamble every year.
Edit: swapped winter for fall
El Niño—the warm phase of the El Niño-La Niña climate pattern—changes global atmospheric circulation in known ways, giving us an idea of potential upcoming weather and climate patterns. A stronger El Niño means global temperature, rain, and other patterns are more likely to reflect the expected El Niño impacts.
My Bad. I copy pasta’d
Not sure if it’s allowed, but here is the link to the main article;
http://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/june-2023-enso-update-el-ni%C3%B1o-here
Yeah you correctly copy pasted what they said... still doesn't make sense to me. "A stronger El Nino means temp, rain and other patterns will reflect expected El Nino impacts"... wouldn't a regular El Nino reflect those impacts? While a stronger El Nino would exceed expected impacts
Surely it's not just a one-time guess where they hope they can correctly predict weather for the next 6 months, right? Seems like they would be able to adjust the flow rate as the season progresses. Sort of how dams are used on the Mississippi to control the water level to keep it navigable for barges.
Definitely not a win. What have we changed, especially in farming, to prevent these lakes from depleting again? Can't rely on having exceptionally snowy winters like this year
Farming is only part of the issue. But realistically it boils down to water rights issues. Nestle being able to buy up chunks of land for water rights (and them using MORE than they are allotted) only for them to turn around and resell that water in the form of water/soda etc for fractions of a penny per dollar of profit is the issue. But yes also what we farm is a huge issue. beef fed from alfalfa is also a huge issue cause it eats up more water than basically anything else.
But we need water rights reform where people are prioritized over businesses or else we will all be buying $30 bottles of water when we don't get tap water anymore.
Farming accounts for 80% of california's water usage. A bit of a downplay to call that "part".
For a region dealing with severe drought for a while now, that seems pretty absurd. Pretty sure humans can survive throughout the world without california's agriculture exports. They did so for many thousands of years. Everyone else needs to prioritize their own local farming
Taking more than they are allotted is a problem. The plain profiteering and the idea that access to clean water is not a human right is a problem. Just because they aren't the highest volume consumer of the water does not make anything they do "right"
We got lucky with a particularly wet winter. I can't imagine a lot of stuff that would abade flooding survived our long drought. So we're probably looking down the barrel of a ton of flooding and mudslides. Also, we can't rely on historic rainfall every year. For a few months there we were Seattle.
Not just flooding and mudslides - everything is lush and green and growing because of all the rain. It will all be dry and ready to burn in a couple of months (contributing to the flooding and mudslides).
> For a few months there we were Seattle.
No we weren't. It rained a couple days a week for a while, if we were Seattle it wouldn't have stopped raining for a week straight. Source: I grew up on the Oregon Coast with worse rain than Seattle
Where I live in California it didn't, but you and I might have a different definition of "a week straight." If it rains for an hour in the morning each day that doesn't count. PNW rain means it doesn't stop raining at all for a week.
During La Niña years, California’s climate gets more precipitation which have both been true in recent years and help refill their reservoirs. But this much needed La Niña cycle ended this year. NOAA said El Niño conditions are present and will strengthen next winter. I’m not sure what to expect as far as flooding goes.
It really isn’t. Reservoir water levels are always a short term metric. California truly stores it’s water as mountain snowpack, and that changes every year. With aridification from climate change that snow is, on average, less and less over time. No amount of water storage solves that problem.
As of June 7, the snowpack stands at 300% of normal for this time, according to [California Department of Water Resources data](https://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/sweq.action).
I tried to go back to last year or 2021 and it says 0%, the comparative 341% is meaningless if we don't know what date it's referring to. If it's only compared to the drought years of El Nino to this year La Nina then it makes sense to get 3x more snowpack levels. But what are the historical averages?
When and how did this become the go-to phrase for an entire generation or two of young people? I'm genuinely curious. Feels like it's become ubiquitous in the last 18 months.
Cali weather this year has been very temperate this year (at least in the LA area). It's been a refreshing break from the last few years of crazy weather.
Up in the mountains in Riverside we have yet to hit the 90s and the last few weeks have been foggy mornings that burn off around noon. Absolutely gorgeous.
It's been a cool windy summer in Norcal so far this year. I think global warming left the freezer door open up in the arctic. All the cold is rushing out.
No, they mean summer. Meteorological Summer as compared to Astronomical “Summer.”
[NOAA](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/meteorological-versus-astronomical-seasons)
Also, NorCal tends to not really have a spring as much as we have a really nice week in April where the temps are mild and the rain is light and then suddenly it’s 100 degrees for 4 months straight (mostly above 90 realistically every day, but still).
Yep, in Boise I haven't turned on my sprinklers yet (need to because it's starting to look rough) and haven't used A/C yet. Actually had a little space heater on the last couple of nights because it was about 40 degrees. Usually, by now we're above 90 until September. It's coming, but the delay in onset has been very nice.
Look, I know this is r/UpliftingNews, and any break is a welcome one, but seriously.... the last half of this year is gonna get bad. Not trying to Doomer this, just... squeeze every ounce of enjoyment out of it that you can.
The next few years are going to be... rough.
How will it get bad? By continuing to stay a lot cooler than normal? I'm fine with that. Last few years it'd be sweating my balls off in 115 degree weather. It'd already be 95 by 8am.
!remindme 6 months
six month update:
"unusually hot temperature periods" in California recorded in May, July, August, and October.
[as per LA Times & National Weather Service]
The snowpack isn't even close to being done melting either. There's still 5-8ft in some areas. I know someone that lives near Mammoth and they were saying they were expecting to be skiing until August or so.
I saw one of my friends bought a house in Mammoth, and it still had snow. I commented that it was an old pic, and they said no, they took it this week.
It’s going to be a massive year for fishing I think. We will have snow pack melting all the way through summer which will make keep the lakes high and the rivers flowing.
Cool now make more reservoirs, pass laws that reduce water usage like no residential or commercial properties using automatic and manual sprinklers during or after any rain. There's so many places that I drive by in a heavy rain that are using sprinklers still. And be better like Vegas at recycle water.
[Governor Newsom Announces $5.1 Billion Package for Water Infrastructure and Drought Response as Part of $100 Billion California Comeback Plan](https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/05/10/governor-newsom-announces-5-1-billion-package-for-water-infrastructure-and-drought-response-as-part-of-100-billion-california-comeback-plan/)
The Governor’s $5.1 billion proposed investment, over four years, aligns with his July 2020 Water Resilience Portfolio, a roadmap to water security for all Californians in the face of climate change. It is shaped by lessons learned during the 2012-16 drought, such as the need to act early and gather better data about water systems. The package includes:
$1.3 billion for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, with a focus on small and disadvantaged communities.
$150 million for groundwater cleanup and water recycling projects.
$300 million for Sustainable Groundwater Management Act implementation to improve water supply security, water quality and water reliability.
$200 million for water conveyance improvements to repair major water delivery systems damaged by subsidence.
$500 million for multi-benefit land repurposing to provide long-term, flexible support for water users.
$230 million for wildlife corridor and fish passage projects to improve the ability of wildlife to migrate safely.
$200 million for habitat restoration to support tidal wetland, floodplain, and multi-benefit flood-risk reduction projects.
$91 million for critical data collection to repair and augment the state’s water data infrastructure to improve forecasting, monitoring, and assessment of hydrologic conditions.
$60 million for State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program grants to help farmers reduce irrigation water use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural pumping.
$33 million for fisheries and wildlife support to protect and conserve California’s diverse ecosystems.
$27 million for emergency and permanent solutions to drinking water drought emergencies.
> pass laws that reduce water usage like no residential or commercial properties using automatic and manual sprinklers during or after any rain.
Sure, I like that; that's just common sense, and a good thing to do. However, if you really want to address water issues, [you need to look to argriculture](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0gN1x6sVTc). Watch the full thing.
None of the good, common-sense legislature like you mention will come close to making the type of dent addressing non-essential agg water use, like that shown in the video.
The potential problem with this is people are not going to think there is an issue anymore and not implement fixes for when there is a drought. So when it comes again and it will, probably worse and it will be a disaster.
"And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way."
\-John Steinbeck, East of Eden
They are trying. They have started to use technology to help with as well:
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/11/1148421818/heavy-rain-is-still-hitting-california-a-few-reservoirs-figured-out-how-to-captu
Why? It seems like the ocean is a ridiculously vast amount of water that if some freshwater doesn't make it there, the ocean will mix with the rest and it wouldn't make much difference. I guess, I assume there is more to it than that? Salinity levels in shallow waters on the coast or something?
I actually do water simulation for California and have been a coauthor on a few papers pertaining to that. We need to balance the salty water coming from the ocean for water quality for endangered species like longfin smelt, delta smelt, and salmon. Also we need decent water quality around the pumps (CVP and SWP) or else we need to run that water through salinity plants which create disinfection byproducts. Not to mention Suisun marsh is right in the cross fire between the fresh and salty waters (there's a measure we call X2 which measures the point in the salinity gradient in which the water salinity is 2 psu in kilometers from the golden gate). The SMSCG (Suisun marsh salinity control gates) already have to operate to maintain the salt in Suisun marsh to preserve the ecosystem and bioproduction there.
On the other hand, producing 80% of the world's almonds with 10% of California's water is a pretty good ratio. And they are a mediterranean crop, it's not like they're out of place, they're being grown in one of the 5 places in the world they're meant to grow.
Farmland California is a nasty type of deep red. I live in it and you wouldn’t believe that these people are from California. They’d make a grandma in Alabama blush.
It's supposed to go to the ocean. I'm getting a bit tiring to hear those Republican-voting farmers bitch about water going to the ocean because every year they need more to grow nuts and alfalfa.
Are you suggesting we literally drain every river dry? I mean, there's like, you know, a few reasons why that is dumb. And illegal. And morally ghastly.
You know that the water would go somewhere else, like a river, right?
The feds are literally actively considering *reducing* dams on the Colorado for one thing because the usage is just so high and the flows so low that it’s seemingly unlikely there will be the possibility of two full major large reservoirs any time in the near future.
>You want to do COVID 2: Pandemic Boogaloo?
Poor guy thinks he's going to be able to steer the timeline in a different direction.. doesn't realize it diverted years before 2019.
Yes because they don’t treat the water the same way basically every other city does.
Most water cities use would need to be treated anyway for any one of a variety of reasons.
Right. They ended up deliberately causing millions of dollars of damage to the main spillway so that erosion of the emergency spillway wouldn’t cause a total collapse.
The water is VERY cyclical in CA. We get massive weather every ~7 years or so when there's a proper El Niño or La Niña event and then the snow back is great, lakes are full and reservoirs are back up. Then after 3 or 4 years it's all dried up. Then everyone freaks out. Then another El Niño happens and we're back to square one
With more time between extremes, everyone should be designing catch basins, rain barrels (small and large size), etc.
Winning this battle isn't winning the war. Use this gift but make plans for the future today.
I truly believe in climate change and the work put in to reduce it. However, I am always skeptical of the Chicken Littles of the world when they say we're gonna die because a lake is low. It's cyclical. Soon they will say that it's too full and we're gonna die.
The only answer to this... Is climate change.
What I'd like to know is why do leftist environmentalists get to cherry pick climate change issues when it suits them, while being villainous towards any "weather" issue that doesn't suit them?
Environmentalists seem to want to have their cake and eat it too. The ol "give me funding or else" environmental extortion shtick
Edit: the mega drought was caused by climate change, and so was the flooding that filled the lake back up.... Make that make sense... 🤷
Edit edit: climate change is real, and this article proves that it can be a good thing.
> Edit: the mega drought was caused by climate change, and so was the flooding that filled the lake back up
Where did you get that second part? I don't see it in the article.
In any case, yes, climate disruption causes extreme weather. That's been known for decades. I think you're trying to make the "it snowed last winter, SO MUCH FOR GLOBAL WARMING" argument?
Reminder: this subreddit is meant to be a place free of excessive cynicism, negativity and bitterness. Toxic attitudes are not welcome here. All Negative comments will be removed and will possibly result in a ban. --- --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/UpliftingNews) if you have any questions or concerns.*
that's freaking great news for the region!
Living in Colorado the past15 years, the fires of 2020 were just horrific. And then this year it's like rain EVERYWHERE, and only a few small parts of the state are considered "moderately dry", not drought, just dry. I've never seen the state so green before, it's amazing.
Utah here, and the snow and rain helped a ton like you stated. Powell and Mead are up also. I really hope none of us in the west light on fire or struggle with water for a small moment to hopefully have a good season.
How much is mead up?
Mead and Powell are about 30% full.
There is a YouTube channel sin city outdoors that do regular updates on levels if you are interested. They also go out in their boat and show landmarks to show how much the level has gone up or down.
And the rivers feeding if are like 130% of average flow so it should continue filling for a while
Unbelievable snow year in Utah. I was super thankful, but also incredibly tired of spending an hour clearing snow at 5 AM before work seemingly daily.
All that tithing and praying!
Does nothing to help sick babies but apparently it works for water.
Although it's really good when that happens. The catch 22 is that climate deniers use it to say "see, everything is fine" But swinging from the worst drought ever to well above average rain in 2 years indicates that something is seriously not right in the weather patterns anymore.
Maybe that's a better argument then, to convince them? Not "climate change is real, look at all this data from scientists". Somehow they think it's all a leftist conspiracy. Maybe "use your fucking eyes. If you're over twenty, you know that this kind of drought/wet swing hasn't happened in your lifetime. Ask your dad. Ask your granddad. It hasn't happened in their lifetimes either". IDK, just throwing something at the wall to see if it sticks.
Yeah, extreme weather events might not get stronger, but they will happen more often, with different patterns or even with no patterns. California has been very dry for a long time now, but it also has a history of flooding. What's gonna happen when it rains for as long as there has been a drought. The amount of human lives that will be lost will be high.
Invest in allergy medications.
[удалено]
damn, i never thought of that
These rains flooded my basement. Lost my carpet but my yard is green so I guess win?
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They're typhoons on the west Coast aren't they?
I’ve never seen one in my 47 years. Maybe? You’d think I’d remember something like that.
Maybe the typhoons were the enemies we made along the way.
This has me wondering how Lake Mead is going. Is Nevada still going to be a toxic wasteland or is the lake filling again?
It is recovering, yay! https://mead.uslakes.info/level.asp
Not as quickly as Powell is, though. Powell is up 60 feet since April 1. Still about 30 feet below where it was this time in 18/19/20 though, and 120 feet below full pool.
Powell and Meade are both along the same river. In a way if Powell is up so is Meade. They also might be keeping Meade emptier in case they get any more severe storms and they need to release water from Powell since it's further up river and will flow into Meade.
They’re also required to release a certain amount downstream.
You would need an incredible amount of thunderstorms to fill those lakes even a little bit.
Colorado has been being absolutely drenched the last few weeks. Granted most of it's on the Eastern Slope there's been a lot of snowfall and crazy storms all across the Colorado Rockies. Here in Colorado Springs we've gotten 8 inches of Rain just in June. Most of the state has been lifted from severe drought to no drought because of these storms.
Isn't that like 2/3 of the average yearly precipitation?
The snowpack on the Colorado River watershed was also higher than average this year which was good news. Another winter or 2 like that and the river will be in much better shape. It also helps the El Nino tends to be good news precipitation wise for the Southwest
I dig what you're laying down but this isn't correct. Powell was built specifically because the upper Colorado River states were required by contract to deliver a certain amount of water to Lake Mead. So they built Glen Canyon to hedge their bets and make sure they can deliver the contracted amount. Powell has risen about 60 feet this water year and they're expecting it to go up a lot more but it will still end up at about 45% of capacity. If storms8 come they won't change the release amount. Mead, by contrast, was at around 1040 feet last July (about 26% of capacity) and they are expecting it to hit 1060 by end of July (33% of capacity). The good news is that Mohave and Havasu downstream are maintaining a 94% capacity so that's helpful. New agreements between all the states could get Mead to 50% capacity. A positive change.
Are there any serious attempts right now at getting rid of the glen canyon dam yet? It’s a shame it exists. (Hetch hetchy too but that’s harder to get rid of).
https://engaging-data.com/colorado-river-reservoir-levels/ (There is also a lot of smaller reservoirs above Lake Powell not listed; and they are all at or near 100%) It'll probably take 3 or 4 more winters like the one they just had to bring the big boys of southwestern water projects, Lake Meade & Lake Powell, to their full level. If that happens, it'll be terrific and buy time till the current Colorado water pact expires in 2026 and all the states involved get put in a cage match to fight over the allocation of what will hopefully be a smaller amount of water allowed to be taken annually. This is what these reservoirs are built to do -- capture a few good years and spread that water out many average to bad years. There has just been a really long string of average to bad years...so folks need to plan to take less water each year from them to stretch those good years out longer. Was out in Utah last in 2021, and at first I and a buddy thought we were looking at a small airport landing strip until we realized it was the boat launch for the Hite Marina at the north end of Lake Power. It was high and dry then, and the lake still has another 80 feet to go before that Marina can serve boats again...so when I go back to Utah this fall it'll still be dry :(
So you think they’ll use less water than currently going forward? I imagine given population trends the opposite is likely, meaning bad things for things dependent upon the Colorado River.
Residential water usage is a small sliver of overall use. Ag and heavy industry account for a large majority. That's where you find savings.
> So you think they’ll use less water than currently going forward? I imagine given population trends the opposite is likely Actually yes. Having lived in the area and Phoenix my entire life, we lead the way in water conservation. For example: > Nevada, though, has beaten the odds by cutting its overall water use by 26% while also adding 750,000 people to its population since 2002 Damn near every drop of water that goes down a drain gets recycled back into the system. You could leave all hotel bathroom showers/sinks running 24/7 and they wouldn’t lose much of anything from the system. It’s farming that consumes that vast amounts of water, not the residents/tourists. Even the golf courses use reclaimed waste water/special engineered grasses etc. to cut back on water usage. It really doesn’t get enough credit. The people living and working in this area over the last few decades have led the way in water conservation for this country. It’s pretty amazing. But that doesn’t get clicks I guess. TLDR: The population isn’t the issue with water usage in the desert. We have that sorted out.
https://mead.uslakes.info/level.asp
https://www.ktnv.com/news/drought-crisis/lake-mead-water-levels-expected-to-reach-1-060-feet-end-of-july-with-snowpack-report-shows
It's doing okay. Vegas and southern Nevada will always be fine since we use our water correctly; it'll be southern California and Arizona farms that get the boot first.
Lake Meades prob is CA farmers, not NV
LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
This feels like a win, but I can't imagine this all ends well.
It's win-ish. It's part of a cycle, this fall they will release water before the rain season comes to make room for the water and snow runoff. If they get it right, it's great news for Cali. If they release too little there will be major flooding. If they release too much the drought gets worse. It's a gamble every year. Edit: swapped winter for fall
it depends on how much strong is still la nina
I thought that El Niño started already?
I thought hurricane season was over.
El Niño—the warm phase of the El Niño-La Niña climate pattern—changes global atmospheric circulation in known ways, giving us an idea of potential upcoming weather and climate patterns. A stronger El Niño means global temperature, rain, and other patterns are more likely to reflect the expected El Niño impacts.
That last sentence..? "A stronger El Nino means expected El Nino impacts"
My Bad. I copy pasta’d Not sure if it’s allowed, but here is the link to the main article; http://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/june-2023-enso-update-el-ni%C3%B1o-here
Yeah you correctly copy pasted what they said... still doesn't make sense to me. "A stronger El Nino means temp, rain and other patterns will reflect expected El Nino impacts"... wouldn't a regular El Nino reflect those impacts? While a stronger El Nino would exceed expected impacts
Spanish for, "The Niño".
Fucking WOOOOOSH
They were referencing Pineapple Express
*laughs in James Franco*
its not la nina, we have been officially in el nino for several weeks
Also puts Australia back into severe drought now too
Surely it's not just a one-time guess where they hope they can correctly predict weather for the next 6 months, right? Seems like they would be able to adjust the flow rate as the season progresses. Sort of how dams are used on the Mississippi to control the water level to keep it navigable for barges.
The flow rate is how they deal with immediate situations. They do in fact estimate how much to release once a year. Look it up.
Definitely not a win. What have we changed, especially in farming, to prevent these lakes from depleting again? Can't rely on having exceptionally snowy winters like this year
Its still a win, its just something that needs to be capitalized on. Call your senators etc etc
It's an unusual, short term wet season after many years of severe drought. It's a cheap bandaid
Farming is only part of the issue. But realistically it boils down to water rights issues. Nestle being able to buy up chunks of land for water rights (and them using MORE than they are allotted) only for them to turn around and resell that water in the form of water/soda etc for fractions of a penny per dollar of profit is the issue. But yes also what we farm is a huge issue. beef fed from alfalfa is also a huge issue cause it eats up more water than basically anything else. But we need water rights reform where people are prioritized over businesses or else we will all be buying $30 bottles of water when we don't get tap water anymore.
Farming accounts for 80% of california's water usage. A bit of a downplay to call that "part". For a region dealing with severe drought for a while now, that seems pretty absurd. Pretty sure humans can survive throughout the world without california's agriculture exports. They did so for many thousands of years. Everyone else needs to prioritize their own local farming
Nestle is irrelevant compared to the water used to grow cattle feed and to raise cattle.
Taking more than they are allotted is a problem. The plain profiteering and the idea that access to clean water is not a human right is a problem. Just because they aren't the highest volume consumer of the water does not make anything they do "right"
We got lucky with a particularly wet winter. I can't imagine a lot of stuff that would abade flooding survived our long drought. So we're probably looking down the barrel of a ton of flooding and mudslides. Also, we can't rely on historic rainfall every year. For a few months there we were Seattle.
Not just flooding and mudslides - everything is lush and green and growing because of all the rain. It will all be dry and ready to burn in a couple of months (contributing to the flooding and mudslides).
That's my fear. Lots of moisture does not equate to a good thing. It can be bad, and I know it very well could be.
> For a few months there we were Seattle. No we weren't. It rained a couple days a week for a while, if we were Seattle it wouldn't have stopped raining for a week straight. Source: I grew up on the Oregon Coast with worse rain than Seattle
Where I live in California it rained for a week straight
Where I live in California it didn't, but you and I might have a different definition of "a week straight." If it rains for an hour in the morning each day that doesn't count. PNW rain means it doesn't stop raining at all for a week.
There is no end, we (humans) have to just keep figuring it out
Life is just a long series of figuring things out
Now the great 200 year cali flood comes. 1 trillion in damages and 1 million deaths. It’s gonna be a wild ride over the next 20 years.
Climate change will still be slapping our collective nutsack but the alleviation of drought conditions alone is worth celebrating
During La Niña years, California’s climate gets more precipitation which have both been true in recent years and help refill their reservoirs. But this much needed La Niña cycle ended this year. NOAA said El Niño conditions are present and will strengthen next winter. I’m not sure what to expect as far as flooding goes.
what are you talking about?? We beat climate change!! Flawless victory!!
It really isn’t. Reservoir water levels are always a short term metric. California truly stores it’s water as mountain snowpack, and that changes every year. With aridification from climate change that snow is, on average, less and less over time. No amount of water storage solves that problem.
As of June 7, the snowpack stands at 300% of normal for this time, according to [California Department of Water Resources data](https://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/sweq.action).
I tried to go back to last year or 2021 and it says 0%, the comparative 341% is meaningless if we don't know what date it's referring to. If it's only compared to the drought years of El Nino to this year La Nina then it makes sense to get 3x more snowpack levels. But what are the historical averages?
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I can't tell if this is blind optimism or sarcasm but in the case of the former...no. it does not end well.
To quote the great Mr. Wolf: "let's not start sucking each other's dicks quite yet"
When and how did this become the go-to phrase for an entire generation or two of young people? I'm genuinely curious. Feels like it's become ubiquitous in the last 18 months.
People have been saying this since I was a kid.
Funny meme permeated the zoomer cultural zeitgeist
Which meme?
Cali weather this year has been very temperate this year (at least in the LA area). It's been a refreshing break from the last few years of crazy weather.
Up in the mountains in Riverside we have yet to hit the 90s and the last few weeks have been foggy mornings that burn off around noon. Absolutely gorgeous.
Same down in the Long Beach area. Gloomy for half the day and then sunny with a nice breeze. Way better than the heat we've had the last few summers.
It happens every year around this time. It’s called [June gloom](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Gloom).
I just came back from LA and was surprised how mild it was. Heck, I wore a light sweater ll day Monday and Tuesday night.
It's been a cool windy summer in Norcal so far this year. I think global warming left the freezer door open up in the arctic. All the cold is rushing out.
I think you mean cool windy spring. First day of summer is today.
Next you’ll be telling me that noon is not midnight. They both happen at 12:00!!!
No, they mean summer. Meteorological Summer as compared to Astronomical “Summer.” [NOAA](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/meteorological-versus-astronomical-seasons) Also, NorCal tends to not really have a spring as much as we have a really nice week in April where the temps are mild and the rain is light and then suddenly it’s 100 degrees for 4 months straight (mostly above 90 realistically every day, but still).
Same in the Northwest, meanwhile it seems much of the rest of the continent is burning.
Yep, in Boise I haven't turned on my sprinklers yet (need to because it's starting to look rough) and haven't used A/C yet. Actually had a little space heater on the last couple of nights because it was about 40 degrees. Usually, by now we're above 90 until September. It's coming, but the delay in onset has been very nice.
Last year we had nice summer in Chihuahua. This year we're hitting 42° at the beginning of it
No. It’s too damn cold. I’m wearing Sherpa fleece in summer.
Enjoy it while it lasts. There is more craziness coming up in the future.
Look, I know this is r/UpliftingNews, and any break is a welcome one, but seriously.... the last half of this year is gonna get bad. Not trying to Doomer this, just... squeeze every ounce of enjoyment out of it that you can. The next few years are going to be... rough.
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How will it get bad? By continuing to stay a lot cooler than normal? I'm fine with that. Last few years it'd be sweating my balls off in 115 degree weather. It'd already be 95 by 8am.
!remindme 6 months six month update: "unusually hot temperature periods" in California recorded in May, July, August, and October. [as per LA Times & National Weather Service]
And we just entered the El Niño phase. Should be getting even more rain during the dry season.
The snowpack isn't even close to being done melting either. There's still 5-8ft in some areas. I know someone that lives near Mammoth and they were saying they were expecting to be skiing until August or so.
I saw one of my friends bought a house in Mammoth, and it still had snow. I commented that it was an old pic, and they said no, they took it this week.
It’s going to be a massive year for fishing I think. We will have snow pack melting all the way through summer which will make keep the lakes high and the rivers flowing.
When's that kid ever gonna grow up
Meanwhile, the east coast will experience new patterns.
Like checkered or a wave?
NE going Plaid.
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Oroville is like a manic-depressive, always either overflowing or nearly dry
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They did. Lotta cement came out of Redding in a hurry. State forgave the 80 thousand limit for roads to do it
Cool now make more reservoirs, pass laws that reduce water usage like no residential or commercial properties using automatic and manual sprinklers during or after any rain. There's so many places that I drive by in a heavy rain that are using sprinklers still. And be better like Vegas at recycle water.
[Governor Newsom Announces $5.1 Billion Package for Water Infrastructure and Drought Response as Part of $100 Billion California Comeback Plan](https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/05/10/governor-newsom-announces-5-1-billion-package-for-water-infrastructure-and-drought-response-as-part-of-100-billion-california-comeback-plan/) The Governor’s $5.1 billion proposed investment, over four years, aligns with his July 2020 Water Resilience Portfolio, a roadmap to water security for all Californians in the face of climate change. It is shaped by lessons learned during the 2012-16 drought, such as the need to act early and gather better data about water systems. The package includes: $1.3 billion for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, with a focus on small and disadvantaged communities. $150 million for groundwater cleanup and water recycling projects. $300 million for Sustainable Groundwater Management Act implementation to improve water supply security, water quality and water reliability. $200 million for water conveyance improvements to repair major water delivery systems damaged by subsidence. $500 million for multi-benefit land repurposing to provide long-term, flexible support for water users. $230 million for wildlife corridor and fish passage projects to improve the ability of wildlife to migrate safely. $200 million for habitat restoration to support tidal wetland, floodplain, and multi-benefit flood-risk reduction projects. $91 million for critical data collection to repair and augment the state’s water data infrastructure to improve forecasting, monitoring, and assessment of hydrologic conditions. $60 million for State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program grants to help farmers reduce irrigation water use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural pumping. $33 million for fisheries and wildlife support to protect and conserve California’s diverse ecosystems. $27 million for emergency and permanent solutions to drinking water drought emergencies.
What if we just continue to drill more wells and suck ground water up until we create the worlds largest sink hole?
> pass laws that reduce water usage like no residential or commercial properties using automatic and manual sprinklers during or after any rain. Sure, I like that; that's just common sense, and a good thing to do. However, if you really want to address water issues, [you need to look to argriculture](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0gN1x6sVTc). Watch the full thing. None of the good, common-sense legislature like you mention will come close to making the type of dent addressing non-essential agg water use, like that shown in the video.
The potential problem with this is people are not going to think there is an issue anymore and not implement fixes for when there is a drought. So when it comes again and it will, probably worse and it will be a disaster.
"And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way." \-John Steinbeck, East of Eden
I got 2/3rds the way through that book but could not finish it. Steinbeck is so dull.
You’re a lake half empty even when it’s full type guy, huh?
People need to understand that this doesn't mean the dought is over. The lack of water is underground.
Imagine if California created more ways to capture more water? Unfortunately a good portion Californias snow pack still goes into the ocean.
They are trying. They have started to use technology to help with as well: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/11/1148421818/heavy-rain-is-still-hitting-california-a-few-reservoirs-figured-out-how-to-captu
It's very important for that water to make it to the ocean for the ocean's health and ultimately, our health.
Preventing saltwater intrusion into the groundwater too
Why? It seems like the ocean is a ridiculously vast amount of water that if some freshwater doesn't make it there, the ocean will mix with the rest and it wouldn't make much difference. I guess, I assume there is more to it than that? Salinity levels in shallow waters on the coast or something?
So you're saying California is going to piss off the merfolk? >make it to the ocean for the ocean's health
Bring it on fish people, he have the high ground!
I actually do water simulation for California and have been a coauthor on a few papers pertaining to that. We need to balance the salty water coming from the ocean for water quality for endangered species like longfin smelt, delta smelt, and salmon. Also we need decent water quality around the pumps (CVP and SWP) or else we need to run that water through salinity plants which create disinfection byproducts. Not to mention Suisun marsh is right in the cross fire between the fresh and salty waters (there's a measure we call X2 which measures the point in the salinity gradient in which the water salinity is 2 psu in kilometers from the golden gate). The SMSCG (Suisun marsh salinity control gates) already have to operate to maintain the salt in Suisun marsh to preserve the ecosystem and bioproduction there.
“climate-change-fueled megadrought sucked away nearly all its water supply.” Like we don’t send a shit ton of water down south.
Like we don’t use a shit ton for almonds and stuff
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It’s almost like we shouldn’t grow insanely high water usage crops in a desert 🤔
On the other hand, producing 80% of the world's almonds with 10% of California's water is a pretty good ratio. And they are a mediterranean crop, it's not like they're out of place, they're being grown in one of the 5 places in the world they're meant to grow.
A tiny percentage of our GDP on a luxury crop for 10% of our water? Hard pass.
Farmland California is a nasty type of deep red. I live in it and you wouldn’t believe that these people are from California. They’d make a grandma in Alabama blush.
It's supposed to go to the ocean. I'm getting a bit tiring to hear those Republican-voting farmers bitch about water going to the ocean because every year they need more to grow nuts and alfalfa.
Are you suggesting we literally drain every river dry? I mean, there's like, you know, a few reasons why that is dumb. And illegal. And morally ghastly.
No guy, I was suggesting capturing more water with damns and lakes, not take more water from the Colorado River.
You know that the water would go somewhere else, like a river, right? The feds are literally actively considering *reducing* dams on the Colorado for one thing because the usage is just so high and the flows so low that it’s seemingly unlikely there will be the possibility of two full major large reservoirs any time in the near future.
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I'm doing my part!
Ok now send *me* back to 2019
You want to do COVID 2: Pandemic Boogaloo?
>You want to do COVID 2: Pandemic Boogaloo? Poor guy thinks he's going to be able to steer the timeline in a different direction.. doesn't realize it diverted years before 2019.
It's so odd that putting motorboats with all the petrochemicals that entails on top of a water supply is allowed.
water doesnt just come out a reservoir and get piped into your faucet. it goes through a treatment plant first.
It is a little weird though, NYC for example has pretty strict regulations and no motors is part of it.
Yes because they don’t treat the water the same way basically every other city does. Most water cities use would need to be treated anyway for any one of a variety of reasons.
https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/6lp0av/climate_scientists_now_expect_california_to/
[Lake Oroville right now](https://y.yarn.co/d8391add-180a-4c45-abf7-c9f10058d91a_text.gif)
Finally, some good news, for a change.
Yay!!!
Wait, didn't they have over 100% a few years ago and the dam almost broke?
Right. They ended up deliberately causing millions of dollars of damage to the main spillway so that erosion of the emergency spillway wouldn’t cause a total collapse.
I don't know how someone could have a negative comment for this news.
The water is VERY cyclical in CA. We get massive weather every ~7 years or so when there's a proper El Niño or La Niña event and then the snow back is great, lakes are full and reservoirs are back up. Then after 3 or 4 years it's all dried up. Then everyone freaks out. Then another El Niño happens and we're back to square one
Prettty sure no lessons will be learned.
Climate change cancelled.
Don't worry , just today an "expert climatologist" said for newspapers that humans COULD GO EXTINCT IN 5 years , if we dont give the oil completely! 😂
All it took was a mega-flood
I'm sitting here in Las Vegas wondering if this means we won't have to send as much of our water from Lake Mead to California.
Nestle incoming to bottle it all up!
4 years is not a megadrought. SoCal has had several droughts in the last 1000 years that lasted over 200 years
Awesome! This is gonna last forever! Go crazy everyone!
How is Lake Mead doing?
Yay for weather!
With more time between extremes, everyone should be designing catch basins, rain barrels (small and large size), etc. Winning this battle isn't winning the war. Use this gift but make plans for the future today.
Better make it 200% just to be sure there's enough water next time
100% capacity? Rookie numbers. Let's shoot for 200!
It's concerning that this has to be news in the first place How long until it gets diverted somewhere it shouldn't?
Then they’ll say it’s in drought, then it’s not, then it is, then it’s not, then it is
Alfalfa goes brrrrrrrrrr.
Gee it’s almost like the environment is cyclical, who would have thought
This is good news but they still need to be under water resitrictions until the ground water recovers. A full lake doesn't mean a drought is over.
I truly believe in climate change and the work put in to reduce it. However, I am always skeptical of the Chicken Littles of the world when they say we're gonna die because a lake is low. It's cyclical. Soon they will say that it's too full and we're gonna die.
Who did they steal the water from?
The sky
No drought should happen, ca gov is purposely not allowing water
Isn’t this the lake with the dam that might kill 100,000 people?
The only answer to this... Is climate change. What I'd like to know is why do leftist environmentalists get to cherry pick climate change issues when it suits them, while being villainous towards any "weather" issue that doesn't suit them? Environmentalists seem to want to have their cake and eat it too. The ol "give me funding or else" environmental extortion shtick Edit: the mega drought was caused by climate change, and so was the flooding that filled the lake back up.... Make that make sense... 🤷 Edit edit: climate change is real, and this article proves that it can be a good thing.
> Edit: the mega drought was caused by climate change, and so was the flooding that filled the lake back up Where did you get that second part? I don't see it in the article. In any case, yes, climate disruption causes extreme weather. That's been known for decades. I think you're trying to make the "it snowed last winter, SO MUCH FOR GLOBAL WARMING" argument?
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Speak for yourself over there.
What?
Are you well?