A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 29, 2007
2. Supply -
Snow pack in Sierra is way low -
Luckily, reservoirs are in good shape from last year
San Francisco Chronicle
Tap Water Goes Chic -
The
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Snow pack in Sierra is way low
Luckily, reservoirs are in good shape from last year
San Francisco Chronicle – 3/29/07
By Glen Martin, staff writer
Phillips,
The Sierra provides most of the fresh water that flows down the state's rivers, and ultimately, through home faucets and farm irrigation sprinklers. There is enough water in
But the runoff is expected to be scant as this season's snow melts, and that means reservoirs could be abnormally low by fall. Another dry winter could mean dire water shortages for the state.
"If next winter is similar (to this one), then we could be looking at some tight times," said Frank Gehrke, the snow survey chief for the state Department of Water Resources.
About 20 inches of fresh snow from a storm Monday night covered the meadow next to Highway 50 that is one of the department's traditional survey sites. But while the new snow was a lagniappe for die-hard skiers and snow boarders, it didn't do much to bolster the pack.
"Usually we gain snow in March, say four or five inches," said Water Resources engineering technician Dave Hart, who measured the pack with Gehrke, using a core sampler to obtain the snow and a scale to weigh water content.
"But this was an unusual year, because we lost snow in March -- about eight inches," Hart said.
Gehrke said this winter's snowpack ranks among the bottom 25 percent since such surveys began in 1930. At Phillips Station at Echo Summit, the snow depth was 35.4 inches Wednesday, containing 9.9 inches of water. That put the pack at 35 percent of average. Last year, the March pack was 114 percent of average, with 73.1 inches of snow and a water content of 32.1 inches.
Hart said several series of storms typically are needed to build the snowpack to desirable levels. That just didn't happen this year, he said.
"We'd get one storm, and that was it for a while, and then we'd get another," he said. "We were losing a lot of snow between storms."
The season's last snow survey will be taken next month, but Hart has no great hopes that things will turn around.
"It's very unlikely we could make up for what we've lost," he said.
A growing number of scientists have postulated that global warming is changing the precipitation pattern in the Sierra. Ultimately, they say, more water will fall as rain rather than snow, making it more difficult for managers to store water for the dry months.
That's because rather than flowing into reservoirs during a long spring melt, runoff water could come during intense, short deluges. Reservoirs would have to release water more frequently to prevent flooding, and it would be unsafe to store water until the end of each season.
Shortages could develop not from a lack of water, but from an inability to hold on to it.
Gehrke said it is still too early to determine if the Sierra is experiencing a major shift in climate or weather patterns.
"At this point it's all conjecture, but it's something water managers definitely are thinking about," he said.
How to hold on to water if a precipitation shift occurs? Gehrke said there are a number of possibilities, including changes in the way
In any event, he said, it's nothing the state can decide on its own. Under federal law,
"That's spelled out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in an operations manual, and Congress approves the manual," Gehrke said. "To change the manual, you'd literally need an act of Congress."#
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/29/BAGOGOTP851.DTL
Tap Water Goes Chic
The
Associated Press
A new trend is in the pipeline as some upscale restaurants ditch packaged H2O in the name of conservation.
The bottled water backlash, which has spread to Chez Panisse restaurant in
"It just makes sense to us to not have to use all the energy and resources to bottle water in Italy and then truck it to our restaurant, and then after that deal with the recycling of it," said Mike Kossa-Rienzi. He's general manager at Chez Panisse, where owner Alice Waters pioneered the eat local, eat fresh concept.
Across
Even though he could charge diners triple what he pays for water, it gives him a "stab" to charge for something that falls from the sky.
Customer Joan Nitis backed the no-bottle approach as she lunched at Poggio with Anita Pira.
"Usually I don't have water in a restaurant, but here I do," she said. " It's just refreshing."
Added Pira, smiling: "We can buy more wine."#
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/13435102p-14049387c.html
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