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Recovery at California's most beleaguered reservoir
- advisedwang 4y agoI feel like the photos are always dramatic, but it's really hard to interpret. For one thing its not clear the photos are from the same time of year. But even with photos from the same time of year, we visualize surface area and visibility of "bathtub ring", not volume. Actual data is here: https://cdec.water.ca.gov/resapp/RescondMain https://cdec.water.ca.gov/resapp/RescondMain. It seems Lake Oroville, the resevoir featured in the article, and Cachuma are the only ones that are well above historical average.
- wa2flq 4y agoAlso https://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/products/rescond.pdf https://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/products/rescond.pdf
- surfpel 4y agoI find this* graph most helpful. In one graph it displays all of Californias reservoirs with their current level, their historical average, and their level 1 year ago vs their capacity. It also shows the relative sizes to one another. The reservoir from the article (Oroville) is one of the only ones to have made such a recovery. * - https://engaging-data.com/ca-reservoir-dashboard/ https://engaging-data.com/ca-reservoir-dashboard/
- s1artibartfast 4y agoWhat a beautiful and rich data visualization!
- jabo 4y agoI second this. Thank you for sharing! I wonder if this is a custom visualization pattern, or if there is general a name for this type of visualization. Does any one know?
- mikeyouse 4y agoThe author talks about them a bit below the chart in that link. Apparently it’s called a marimekko visualization or a mosaic plot: https://datavizcatalogue.com/methods/marimekko_chart.html https://datavizcatalogue.com/methods/marimekko_chart.html
- xmddmx 4y agoThis one shows reservoirs + snowpack (which I think is ultimately what matters most): https://engaging-data.com/california-reservoirs-and-snowpack/ https://engaging-data.com/california-reservoirs-and-snowpack...
- WillPostForFood 4y agoIt seems Lake Oroville, the resevoir featured in the article, and Cachuma are the only ones that are well above historical average. Lake Oroville is at 115%. New Bullards is at 120%, Pine Flat is at 121%, Folsom and Camanche at 111%.
- olliej 4y agoThose definitely look dramatic, but huge amounts of CA water come from aquifers which aren’t being refilled, and these reservoirs are wider at the top than the bottom, so the height increase of the water may oversell how much of the reservoir volume has been filled.
- KennyBlanken 4y agoIt's also important to note that underground aquifers that are drained compact/settle, and when they do so, that aquifer will never regain that capacity. The huge draw-downs caused by industry and especially agriculture trying to grow things in areas that don't have nearly the water to support such crops, is doing irreparable harm to the planet. Shrinking aquifers dramatically reduces that area's resiliency to drought.
- throwaway1777 4y agoYeah but this problem is solvable with technology. We don’t need to rely on underground aquifers like we used to.
- dendrite9 4y agoWhat technology can store large volumes of water and provide it as cheaply as using existing aquifers and drilling wells for access?
- olliej 4y agoblockchain! /s :D
- throwaway1777 4y agoDams and reservoirs
- stevenwoo 4y agoAbout 1/3 of Santa Clara county's water comes from underground aquifers. Most of the reservoirs in Santa Clara county are recharge reservoirs - simply to allow water to percolate down to refill the underwater aquifers, there are many small ponds scattered around the county to assist in this effort. There are parts of the other states (Texas,Kansas off top of my head) that rely on underground aquifers for a much higher percentage of their water.
- seshagiric 4y agoWhy are there so many boats? is it normal?
- s1artibartfast 4y agoYes. Reservoirs are popular locations for fishing and recreation.
- metadat 4y agoWould the water be fit for human consumption after this sort of use, or is this reservoir only used for almond watering? Edit: @bitxbitxbitcoin: Thank you for the quick info, much appreciated. The questions are genuine, not a water system expert here.
- bitxbitxbitcoin 4y agoAssuming these are serious questions… there are water treatment centers that water from reservoirs go through before they enter the pipes that go to your tap. Also, no reservoir anywhere is only used for almond watering. That’s hyperbolic. Almond farmers get thirsty too. :)
- s1artibartfast 4y agoYeah, most water is fit for consumption. It takes as a pretty huge amount of pollution to have a meaningful impact on humans and dilution is a powerful mitigation. The pipes taking it to your tap and added chemicals are a much higher risk.
- birdyrooster 4y agoHomeopathy in reverse
- xref 4y agoIf Oroville Dam sounds familiar, it’s the one that nearly overtopped, then nearly undermined itself, in the 2017 floods https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oroville_Dam_crisis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oroville_Dam_crisis
- McKayDavis 4y agoThis Imgur collection of animated gifs capturing the 2017 Oroville Spillway crisis is an amazing work of journalism: https://imgur.io/gallery/mpUge https://imgur.io/gallery/mpUge https://imgur.io/gallery/6IyCi https://imgur.io/gallery/6IyCi https://imgur.com/gallery/YgatJ https://imgur.com/gallery/YgatJ
- xref 4y agoDayum those are amazing, thanks a ton for posting them. Bookmarked for posterity
- blindriver 4y agoWhy do they let boats operate in reservoirs? Shouldn't those be left empty so that water doesn't get contaminated?
- mwint 4y agoAnimals operate on the reservoir too, plus there’s mud at the bottom. Kinda have to process the water no matter what.
- kaikai 4y agoOddly enough the reservoirs near where I grew up in California would allow boats, but not swimming. Their excuse was to keep the water clean, as if people are dirtier than both motorboats and deer.
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- hoppyhoppy2 4y agoI lived near a reservoir in rural Maine with similar rules. The reasoning (as I heard it) was that the water-treatment system could deal with some pollutants but wasn't necessarily equipped to adequately filter out viruses like the one that causes hepatitis, which could be spread by people swimming.
- throwaway128128 4y agoI dunno, I see more pontoon boats in the 2023 shots. Seems like a downgrade.
- roflchoppa 4y agoMore water plz.