California drought worries intensify

California drought worries intensify

Brian Heiland, left, and Frank Gehrke, scientists from California’s Department of Water Resources, measure the water content of the Sierra snowpack at Phillips Station, south of Lake Tahoe, on Thursday. The water content was 68 percent of average for the survey site. (AP Photo /Tahoe Daily Tribune, Jonah M. Kessel )
California's latest dry spell could be worst ever

By John Holland
jholland@modbee.com

last updated: January 30, 2009 12:45:36 AM

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The state's top water official warned Thursday that the drought, now in its third year, could become the most severe on record in California.

The warning came on the heels of a report that the snowpack in the central Sierra Nevada, which supplies most of the Modesto area's water, is at 63 percent of average.

"We may be at the start of the worst California drought in modern history," department director Lester Snow said. "It's imperative for Californians to conserve water immediately at home and in their businesses."

City residents and farmers in most of the Northern San Joaquin Valley have not faced major cutbacks from water providers.

Still, officials are watching the conditions closely. Walt Ward, assistant general manager for water operations at the Modesto Irrigation District, said last week's storms merely took the edge off the problem.

"It certainly was welcome and took us in the right direction but probably not for too long," he said.

As of Thursday, the MID's downtown rain gauge stood at 4.75 inches for the season, up from 3.02 inches before the storms but still well short of the 6.6 inches received by now in an average season. The rain season is from July 1 to June 30, but most rain tends to fall from December to March.

The National Weather Service forecasts continued dry days at least until Thursday, when a storm could move in.

The state's last major drought ran from 1987 to 1992, punctuated by a frightening stretch of rainless weather through most of the winter of 1991. The drought of 1976-77 was shorter, but the decline in precipitation was greater.

The situation this year is becoming critical in some parts of the valley, mainly the south and west. There, growers face not just drought, but water cutbacks to protect fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

"The consequences are expected to be pretty horrible in terms of farmers' revenue, but what's really disconcerting are the possible job losses," said Wendy Martin, who leads the drought division at the state water department. "Those communities that can least weather an economic downturn are going to be some of the places that are hit the hardest."

Lack of rain, fewer jobs

Richard Howitt, a professor of agriculture economics at the University of California at Davis, estimates that reduced water supplies could mean the loss of 60,000 farm-related jobs and $1.6 billion in wages in the valley this year.

It's not so dire for the MID, the Turlock Irrigation District and other water suppliers that do not draw from the delta. They have long-standing rights to nearby rivers, as well as reservoir storage that, while not ideal, could still be enough to see them through this year without major agricultural, commercial or residential cutbacks.

The districts will set their agriculture water allotments in late March. They could include a cap on total use by a grower, as the TID did last year, or reductions in the amount of water available at the lowest rate.

The recent storms were not large, but they moistened the valley soil and make it unnecessary for growers to do an early irrigation, said Jeff Shields, general manager of the South San Joaquin Irrigation District, based in Manteca.

That watering would have been done with wells because the canals have been emptied for winter maintenance.

"(The rain) was really valuable in terms of the needs here on the valley floor because it did give our trees an immediate shot of water," said Shields, whose agency shares Stanislaus River reservoirs with the Oakdale Irrigation District.

Two factors add to the concern about this year's runoff, said Wes Monier, strategic issues and planning manager for TID. One is that some of the storms came early, so some of the water has evaporated. The other is that the two years of drought have reduced the seepage of groundwater into Sierra streams near their sources.

Water managers hope February and March are not a repeat of March and April 2008, when almost no rain fell. That happened after wet months in January and February.

"At this point, it's anyone's guess," Monier said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at jholland@modbee.com or 578-2385.

Comments Add Comment Disclaimer Posted by:
Walkingbird
2009-01-30 19:06:21
Rated: 0 by 2 users.
Use that grey water

Actually at this point the kids are learning about siphoning. They think it is fun, just hope this attitude holds for a while. I bought new dishpans and making a couple of trips to the porch with those while cooking dinner and then doing dishes has amazed me about how much water I actually watch go down the drain, especially in washing veggies and stuff.

Posted by:
glendle
2009-01-30 18:43:24
Rated: 0 by 4 users.
Thanks

motobabe and walkingbird for the washing machine idea. My washer sits in the garage next to the wall and on the other side of the wall is my rose garden! I will put my husband to work on this right away. We won't even need that long of a hose! How do you get the bathwater to the can on the porch walkingbird? by bucket? or do you siphon? Great ideas.

Posted by:
motobabe
2009-01-30 17:22:12
Rated: 1 by 3 users.
Grey water from the washer

During the drought of the 70's, my father attached a hose (some way) to the outgoing drain at the washer and ran it into the backyard flower beds via a barrel. Granted the washer was in the garage next to the door to the backyard, I am not sure how it would work with an interior laundry room. Real long hose?

Posted by:
Walkingbird
2009-01-30 16:04:07
Rated: 2 by 4 users.
Start using that grey water

I have already caved to the idea that my lawn will not survive the summer and am looking for an alternative for that, but I have also bought a new kitchen garbage can to put on my porch to put grey water in for my plants. We have started saving the rinse water from dishes and kids bath water (that is not real dirty) and will hopefully be able to keep my roses and prized trees alive with this resource. If I can find an easy way to use the rinse water from my washing machine I will be using that too. If anyone has any other ideas along this line I would be very intered in reading their ideas.

Posted by:
HazyView
2009-01-30 15:53:45
Rated: 1 by 3 users.
It's not just fish

End the water flows down the rivers and you end ALL fishing, all fowl hunting, and anything else that requires water. A lack of water down the rivers would also convert the Delta into a saltwater bay, turning hundreds of thousands of acres of California's best farmland into salty wastes. Those farms depend on freshwater pumping from both the delta and the ground to irrigate.

Plus, LA pulls its water from the Delta. No water in the rivers means no water for LA or farmers further south in the valley.