4 ms·

California needs this as snow though right? Flash floods and the water ends up in the sea. Snow and the water is available as it melts over the year.

by junto 11y ago

Shivetya 11y ago
Yeah because one of California's issues is they put into place extensive means to direct rain water into the ocean. Only one city went the route of creating aquifers to retain it; their name escapes me at the moment.
- bebop 11y ago
  The city's name is Downey. Here is an article that kinda talks about it, half way through: http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20141203/how-does-los-angeles-county-use-storm-water-runoff http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20141203/how...
jagermo 11y ago
But California could be ready for this, right? I mean it would make sense to build cisterns or something to collect the water and use it for the next drought? Or would that take too much foresight?
- talmand 11y ago
  I would have to say that foresight is quickly becoming a lost art because it tends to only produce results in long term settings. If it doesn't produce results today, tomorrow at latest, then no one wants to step up.
ghshephard 11y ago
Precipitation in water form, particularly if it's over time, will really help replenish groundwater. A lot of farms in the central valley are pumping water, and the underground reservoirs are being depleted. Given the Drought/Flood nature of California, I would be surprised if they weren't seriously looking at figuring out how to store excess water in underground aquifer's during their seasons of plenty. http://www.citywestwater.com.au/our_news_storing_water_300m_deep_aquifer_storage_and_recovery.aspx http://www.citywestwater.com.au/our_news_storing_water_300m_... [Edit - See: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/TS80-218.pdf http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/TS80-218.pdf for more than you ever wanted to know about underground storage of water] [Edit 2 - Apparently Storing water underground is a very, very well known approach to water management - http://www.srpnet.com/newsroom/releases/042015.aspx http://www.srpnet.com/newsroom/releases/042015.aspx
thaumaturgy 11y ago
Correct. Sierra snowpack accounts for roughly 1/3rd of California's total water storage; without heavy snow in the mountains, the long-term prospects for drought relief are pretty grim. And heavy snow requires both wet and cold conditions, and cold conditions in the west coast requires that the jet stream suddenly change from its current shape with north-south directional anomalies back to a more uniform circular shape, and so far that isn't happening -- partly because the arctic would probably have to get colder for that to happen. I'm not generally a climate/weather alarmist, at least not in the short term, but I do think that the conditions we're seeing now in California will be considered really pleasant in 50 years or less, and in the short term, things are going to be really painful as people adjust.

California needs this as snow though right? Flash floods and the water ends up in the sea. Snow and the water is available as it melts over the year.

by junto 11y ago

California needs this as snow though right? Flash floods and the water ends up in the sea. Snow and the water is available as it melts over the year.

Shivetya 11y ago

Yeah because one of California's issues is they put into place extensive means to direct rain water into the ocean. Only one city went the route of creating aquifers to retain it; their name escapes me at the moment.

bebop 11y ago
The city's name is Downey. Here is an article that kinda talks about it, half way through: http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20141203/how-does-los-angeles-county-use-storm-water-runoff http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20141203/how...

jagermo 11y ago

But California could be ready for this, right? I mean it would make sense to build cisterns or something to collect the water and use it for the next drought? Or would that take too much foresight?

talmand 11y ago
I would have to say that foresight is quickly becoming a lost art because it tends to only produce results in long term settings. If it doesn't produce results today, tomorrow at latest, then no one wants to step up.

ghshephard 11y ago

Precipitation in water form, particularly if it's over time, will really help replenish groundwater. A lot of farms in the central valley are pumping water, and the underground reservoirs are being depleted. Given the Drought/Flood nature of California, I would be surprised if they weren't seriously looking at figuring out how to store excess water in underground aquifer's during their seasons of plenty. http://www.citywestwater.com.au/our_news_storing_water_300m_deep_aquifer_storage_and_recovery.aspx http://www.citywestwater.com.au/our_news_storing_water_300m_... [Edit - See: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/TS80-218.pdf http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/TS80-218.pdf for more than you ever wanted to know about underground storage of water] [Edit 2 - Apparently Storing water underground is a very, very well known approach to water management - http://www.srpnet.com/newsroom/releases/042015.aspx http://www.srpnet.com/newsroom/releases/042015.aspx

thaumaturgy 11y ago

Correct. Sierra snowpack accounts for roughly 1/3rd of California's total water storage; without heavy snow in the mountains, the long-term prospects for drought relief are pretty grim. And heavy snow requires both wet and cold conditions, and cold conditions in the west coast requires that the jet stream suddenly change from its current shape with north-south directional anomalies back to a more uniform circular shape, and so far that isn't happening -- partly because the arctic would probably have to get colder for that to happen. I'm not generally a climate/weather alarmist, at least not in the short term, but I do think that the conditions we're seeing now in California will be considered really pleasant in 50 years or less, and in the short term, things are going to be really painful as people adjust.