El Niño: Drought In California

The drought is not a result of Global warming because the California drought is caused by a lack of Pacific subtropical storms and the Nina ocean current pattern. However, Global warming does make California’s drought more severe in effect due to the rise of temperature which only contributes to hotter days resulting in more inland water evaporating into the atmosphere. As global warming persist and increases California’s current or future droughts will only become more severe. The implications Globe warming causes in just one state’s drought should be a realization of what global warming can cause in areas of drought at a larger

I.) Water and Drought in California: Facts and data show that the weather we are experiencing here in California is that there is a difference between La Niña that brings the ocean temperature down and making them cooler and El Niño brings much warmer ocean temperatures. Currently california is experiencing a weakened La Niña. With a 55% chance of this weather continuing for the next 3 months. La Niña affect patterns of rainfall, atmospheric pressure, and global atmospheric circulation. Even though California is in a severe drought, with coordination, modernization, and compromise, California should be able to provide enough water for a growing population and growing economy.

Yet, humans have limited control on natural events, so this only reinforces the importance of managing water wisely. Recently California’s government has begun to focus more on sustaining and restoring the water supply. Dale Kasler (2016) articulates in his article some of the steps they have decided to make to solve this serious issue. The government has made the following investments: “$415 million for watershed restoration and other environmental aid for Lake Tahoe; up to $335 million for two proposed reservoirs in California, including the Sites reservoir north of Sacramento; $880 million for flood-control projects on the American and Sacramento rivers in Sacramento; and $780 million for flood-control projects in West Sacramento” (para. 10). This could be the first step to restoring the water to California. But these

In my opinion, the affordable water solution includes two main directions: Taps new resource and reduces expenses of water. There are many ways to create the new water resource and the feasible methods are 1. Building desalination plants 2. Building new the dams 3. Rain harvesting system. California has very long coastline and it provides the very great opportunity to utilize sea water to generate drinking water by desalination plants. NBC news “Solutions to California's Water Crisis from Half a World Away” showed the interesting comparing data between California and Israel in table 1 [2]. The desalination plants will contribute large amount of water to California’s drought. We need to consider if low snowpack and high temperature will happen frequently in the future, this is a right time to make a foresight plan to build the desalination plants. If the weather is still drought, agriculture must pump more water away from aquifer. There is not only the land is sinking but also influence the eco system.

This will help save water because seventy-five percent of our water is used by farmers who use flood irrigation which is very wasteful. The second way to be resourceful is xeriscaping which is dry landscaping. By Xeriscaping water is being saved there’s no need to water your lawn or plants. Residential Californian’s spend about fifty percent of our water on watering the outdoors; that’s more than the rainfall we receive to be wasted on plants and lawns. The third way to be resourceful is desalinization technology which is by taking water out of the ocean and treating the water so there aren’t any impurities or salt in the water so it can be digested. This method is very costly and could also cause harm to the environment. Dozens of desalinization plants have been proposed to be built in California, but it isn’t cheap. The fourth way to be resourceful is by water recycling which is being used in parts of California; but isn’t used for drinking. However, the groundwater replenishment system has purifiers which make recycled water safe to drink. This is one of the best ideas on how to be resourceful because we already have groundwater replenishment systems in California. Water recycling is cheaper than desalinization and doesn’t cause harm to our environment. Lastly in being resourceful is conservation the average Californian household uses two-hundred gallons of water a day. Some good ways to conserve are: taking shorter showers, turning off water when not in

Most of us consider drought as a period of dry and hot weather with too little or no rain, and while any or all of these conditions might be existent during drought, the definition of drought is more complex and subtle. According to the United States Geological Survey, California Water Science Center (as cited in Congressional Digest, 2015, p. 2):

“Israel now gets 55 percent of its domestic water from desalination, and that has helped to turn one of the world’s driest countries into the unlikeliest of water giants.” (Jacobsen) Desalination is not a new idea it has been around for along time as far back as Aristotle in the 4th century and re emerging again the 1800s. Desalination is probably not going to be the magic solution to California 's drought problem at least not completely after all even the world’s biggest desal plants are only supplemental. The plants tend to not make enough water to support an entire population. Israel 's desal plant provide enough water for 2.8 million people, but California 's population is five times as bigger than israel 's and our agricultural industry is about thirty two times bigger. It can also be twice as expensive as treating other water sources due to having to heat the water. And there is also the problem of what to do with the leftover water or brine. Apparently you can’t just dump it back into the ocean as it could cause death to the nearby sea creatures due to it being too salty.

Californians are being heavily fined for using a certain amount of water a month, which impacts the daily lives of everyone. Water is a natural resource that is crucial to everyone’s survival. Whether if it’s being used for cooking, showering, gardening, washing your car or just simply drinking purposes; water is a necessity for everyone. Though the bill has not yet been passed by congress and officially has not become a law, the issue still remains on the table. The drought in California has taken a massive toll on agriculture, the environment and infrastructure. The drought is on its route to damage California’s climate change. In the past three consecutive years the average rain fall has drastically decreased, and the winter temperatures have increased. Since majority of California’s water comes from the Western Rocky Mountains, the water supply there is dropping resulting in more strict laws and regulations on how much water can be consumed by the average

With the Pacific Ocean lining the California coast line some may ask why can’t sea water be filtered and used as a source of free water. This is actually an alternative that has been researched and even put into use in places such as the Netherlands, Aruba, the Middle East and even right here in the U.S. This process is called desalinating seawater. Saltwater in its pure form cannot be used for drinking water and is deadly to plants, however if it goes through the process of desalinating it can be used. With California desperate for water Carlsbad, California decided to construct a desalinating plant. An article on NBCNEWS website states that the plant can produce “50 million gallons of freshwater a day from the sea and pour it into a water system that serves 3.1 million people”

Because most greenhouse gases would remain in the atmosphere for a long period of time, the temperature of the earth will be continuously rising. If global heat-trapping emissions proceed at a medium to high rate, temperatures in California are expected to rise 4.7 to 10.5°F by the end of the century1. With the rise of temperature, the climate of California would also be changed. California has large area of forest and farmland, hundreds of miles of coastline, large amount of snowpack, and other natural wonders. And these special treasures of nature are especially at risk2. So it is very necessary to understand the strategies of California to combat climate change.

Due to the lack of rain in the past few years, and particularly in the last few months, California faces severe drought. This is the worst drought in more than one hundred years. The impact of California drought affects community, agriculture, organic ranchers, and dairy farmers. Because of these facts, the United States must rethink the way it uses water. Californians alone are asked to reduce their water usage by twenty percent to prevent water waste.

Currently California is facing a water shortage. The issue has been addressed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in February. He called for all state agencies to find the way to help in the statewide water shortage. This is California’s third consecutive year of drought and last spring and summer was the worst of the season because it had the lowest amount of water recorded and California’s reservoirs were at their lowest point as well which did not help in the water shortage. Many agencies have been acquired to find possible solutions to the water shortage, the Department of Water Resources has been directed to find solutions to the problem as well as asking people to conserve water.

As much as we could hope and try, there is no way to have control over the weather. There is the possibility to move water in, but it is much harder to keep water out when many states reach their levels. In chapter four weather and climate is the main goal. According to figure 4.30 in the book California is in the CS, Cfb and H. Which means some are in the highlands with wet winters and hot summer. It seems like the north part is getting plenty of rain, while the southern is consistently battling droughts. On page 104 of the book they mention climate change and how it is not only affecting the US, but the rest of the world as well. Many say that these drought that are happening in California will be short-term, but it unknown how long they

I read an article published on CNN titled "Climate change could leave Californians with 'weather whiplash". In the article, it explains how California is known for its nice and soothing environment but with the enjoyable weather comes major shifts in its climate causing the weather patterns to be weak between drought and flood. The climate patterns have significant impacts on society and human life, causing extremely climate conditions only making mitigation and adaptation that much worse. According to UCLA Center for Climate Science, the dramatic swings from wet to dry will be twice as likely every 25 years, by 2100.

Desalination is one of the more popular options being considered to attempt to terminate the drought. Desalination is a process through which salt water is pumped from the ocean in to a treatment facility, and then the salt is extracted to make it possible to be used domestically. This is a long drawn out process, which involves seven different steps. The steps of desalination include the