Drought: Newsom expands drought emergency to most of California, including parts of Bay Area

[SouthBayDem]

Source: San Jose Mercury News

Acknowledging the state’s worsening drought, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday declared a drought emergency in 39 of the state’s 58 counties, including Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano and Napa counties in the Bay Area, marking the beginning of a new crisis just as California begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The move is the broadest drought emergency in the state since 2017 when former Gov. Jerry Brown declared the end of California’s last drought after drenching rains that winter.

Speaking at a news conference on the banks of San Luis Reservoir, a massive lake located between Gilroy and Los Banos, Newsom stopped short of announcing mandatory water conservation targets or restrictions for cities, as Brown did in 2015. But his emergency proclamation further highlighted the growing water crisis in the state and set in motion a variety of rules and policies aimed at reducing potential water shortages.

“This drought, the second year of a drought,” Newsom said, “happening just a few years after the end of a 5-year drought that began in 2012 and ended in 2016, in many respects is familiar, but in other respects is more challenging and more acute than we could have imagined.”

Read more: https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/05/10/drought-newsom-expands-drought-emergency-to-most-of-california-including-parts-of-bay-area/

[JohnSJ]

1. Of course. No longer using the sprinkler system. I really hope we look into desalination plants

[BigmanPigman]

2. I hope so too.

I hear that they are very expensive and take time to build.

I never really stopped conserving water. I got into a good habit and can't change back or I feel guilty.

[JohnSJ]

3. Same here

[The Mouth]

12. The real "problem" with desalinization

is that it takes a LOT of energy.

Not an insurmountable problem, but a big reason why they aren't used more.

We have too damned many people- on this planet, in this country and sure as hell in California; we should be at 3-5 million, tops, for the water and buildable land.

[NickB79]

5. Desal isn't a solution

It's a bandaid for a gaping wound.

There are too many people for the Southwest to support in the face of a megadrought that will likely become more or less permanent in our lifetimes. And the more carbon we emit, the longer and deeper that megadrought will be.

This isn't just a drought. It's an ecosystem shift.

Just like the the Sahara used to be a green savannah. Now it's sand and rock.

[JohnSJ]

6. It is part of the solution, and we already have several in the state, including

Claude Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant where each day 100 million gallons of seawater are pushed through to create 100 million gallons of water that is sent to municipal user.

With more on the drawing board

Of course their are other solutions that will be used also, water pipelines, conservation, etc.

[Mysterian]

8. The plant's website says half that amount

https://www.carlsbaddesal.com/

[JohnSJ]

10. fine, my point was here in California we should explore all options, and we are

[NickB79]

11. Do these solutions take into account millions of new residents in 20 yr?

Where do you think the people currently living in Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada will go when their water runs low? We're literally going to see millions of Americans become climate refugees, like the Okies of the Dust Bowl. I'm sure the ones with means or foresight to get out early will head north, to the Midwest, Northwest and Northeast, but the ones without won't be able to travel far.

Like I said, expect this to become permanent, and worse, as the planet warms up.

I noticed you said 100 million gallons of water is created daily for municipal use, not agricultural. 100 million gallons is only 300 acre-feet. California's farm sector uses 34 MILLON acre-feet annually for irrigation.

Like I said, it's a bandaid. Ultimately large areas of California that are currently farmed will be abandoned to the deserts.

[Igel]

16. Desertification of the Sahara was due mostly to axial precession.

Hadley cells and whatnot.

Not really people.

[Traildogbob]

4. Fire season

Approaching🌏🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🌑😥🥵

[dalton99a]

7. Kick

Lake Oroville in Butte County, California’s second-largest reservoir, shown here on April 27, 2021, is just 42% full — half of its historical average for this time of year after two dry winters in a row. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)


Sprinklers water the lawn of a house — and the sidewalk — in Alameda, Calif., on Tuesday, May 4, 2021. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

[Tree Lady]

13. Just drove by Lake Shasta yesterday

Pretty low already, it was high a few years ago.

[ancianita]

9. This problem is what he can prioritize spending on from the state surplus.

[canetoad]

14. We have been in La Nina for the past year

Fortunately it's now over and ENSO is neutral so things may improve.

*La Niña

[ripcord]

15. Even when it rains Los Angeles doesn't save the water

The cement rivers fill with water and all of it just runs into the ocean.