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California declared drought free for first time in seven years

reuters.com

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Re: California declared drought free for first time in seven years

#51

Post by gnarcoregrizz »

whalesalad wrote: post #27

The experience here in Orange County over the last few months has been nuts. Being able to hang out down near the ocean and see the San Gabriel mountains just decked out in snow is surreal: https://i.redd.it/kueaye5p6si21.jpg Another photo: https://i.redd.it/vy7dlavrh0f21.jpg Anaheim hills, an area that rarely gets snowed on: https://i.redd.it/trbf198kb6i21.jpg Then we roll right into the poppy/wildflower superbloom…

> This place sucks a lot of the time with all of the congestion and traffic, heat, smog, high cost of living etc... but times like this really make you stop and appreciate how beautiful it is.

That's how I feel every day here

Re: California declared drought free for first time in seven years

#52

Post by Varcht »

ceejayoz wrote: post #47
Varcht wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh the quality of life behaviors of residents that use a very small percentage of the water? Residents use 10% of the water, 50% of the water is "environmental" and is dumped into the ocean for the smelt, etc.[0] [0] https://www.ppic.org/publication/water-use-in-california/

> 50% of the water is "environmental" and is dumped into the ocean for the smelt That's a funny way of saying "we didn't want to dry up the rivers", isn't it?

It is sort of a trope in CA, oh and it's the deltas, are you saying that stinking up their bathrooms with un-flushed urine and being charged a surcharge to save 10% of 10% of the available water is logical?

Isn't it really just a "feel good" thing?

Re: California declared drought free for first time in seven years

#55

Post by snek »

whalesalad wrote: post #27

The experience here in Orange County over the last few months has been nuts. Being able to hang out down near the ocean and see the San Gabriel mountains just decked out in snow is surreal: https://i.redd.it/kueaye5p6si21.jpg Another photo: https://i.redd.it/vy7dlavrh0f21.jpg Anaheim hills, an area that rarely gets snowed on: https://i.redd.it/trbf198kb6i21.jpg Then we roll right into the poppy/wildflower superbloom…

Any info on the camera(s) used for those first two reddit photos?

Re: California declared drought free for first time in seven years

#56

Post by sbov »

Varcht wrote: post #52
ceejayoz wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 50% of the water is "environmental" and is dumped into the ocean for the smelt That's a funny way of saying "we didn't want to dry up the rivers", isn't it?

It is sort of a trope in CA, oh and it's the deltas, are you saying that stinking up their bathrooms with un-flushed urine and being charged a surcharge to save 10% of 10% of the available water is logical? Isn't it really just a "feel good" thing?

Residents weren't being asked to save 10% of 10% because taking that water from the environment would destroy it. They were being asked to save 10% of 10% so agriculture couldn't point to residents and say "see, they're doing it, we should be able to take whatever we need to from the delta too".

No one is arguing about wet years either. Look at the dry year example. 36% environmental. 62% agriculture. 13% urban.

Edit: also notice the chart - the delta is only about half of those environmental percentages (on average, unfortunately they don't split it out for dry years). The other half comes from "North Coast" which seems likely to be more difficult to take advantage of - at least I haven't heard any controversy over trying to use that water. We don't know what the exact percentage would be in a dry year, but it would still be below 36%.

Re: California declared drought free for first time in seven years

#57

Post by ceejayoz »

Varcht wrote: post #52
ceejayoz wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 50% of the water is "environmental" and is dumped into the ocean for the smelt That's a funny way of saying "we didn't want to dry up the rivers", isn't it?

It is sort of a trope in CA, oh and it's the deltas, are you saying that stinking up their bathrooms with un-flushed urine and being charged a surcharge to save 10% of 10% of the available water is logical? Isn't it really just a "feel good" thing?

Australian toilets frequently have two buttons, one for a small flush (for urine) and another for a larger flush. "No flushing" is hardly the only option.

California needs to tackle water usage. There are reasonable changes that can be made in homes and towns - swapping to drought-resistant gardens instead of lawns, rain barrels to catch run-off, absorbent parking lots that don't drain out to the sewers, etc.

Agriculture also needs to be tackled, sure. That doesn't mean saving a percent here and there is of no use.

Re: California declared drought free for first time in seven years

#59

Post by xyzzyz »

kbutler wrote: post #48
Retric wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Residential water use is minimal. Most water is used for irrigation. Further, cheap water storage results in increased evaporation, it’s a net loss over time.

Even lossy storage allows saving during times of excess for use during times of drought. And what happens to that lost evaporated water?

Falls somewhere else down the wind. It's not completely gone, but it's gone for you.

Re: California declared drought free for first time in seven years

#60

Post by whalesalad »

snek wrote: post #55
whalesalad wrote: post #27

The experience here in Orange County over the last few months has been nuts. Being able to hang out down near the ocean and see the San Gabriel mountains just decked out in snow is surreal: https://i.redd.it/kueaye5p6si21.jpg Another photo: https://i.redd.it/vy7dlavrh0f21.jpg Anaheim hills, an area that rarely gets snowed on: https://i.redd.it/trbf198kb6i21.jpg Then we roll right into the poppy/wildflower superbloom…

Any info on the camera(s) used for those first two reddit photos?

Here are some of the links with backstory, https://www.reddit.com/r/orangecounty/comments/auqhxn/a_uniq... && https://www.reddit.com/r/orangecounty/comments/atlxgp/snow_j... && https://www.reddit.com/r/orangecounty/comments/anvflj/anothe...
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