[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 11/30/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

November 30, 2007

 

2. Supply

 

WINTER WEATHER:

Expecting a dry winter; But ‘Pineapple Express’ could leave a watery mark on Napa

Napa Valley Register

 

SNOWPACK CONDITIONS:

Dry Sierra can be predictably wild - North Lake Tahoe Bonanza

 

WATER CONSERVATION PLANNING:

Supervisors to talk water conservation - Ukiah Daily Journal

 

 

WINTER WEATHER:

Expecting a dry winter; But ‘Pineapple Express’ could leave a watery mark on Napa

Napa Valley Register – 11/30/07

By Kevin Courtney, staff writer

 

This could be a dry winter, but that doesn’t mean a stealth storm couldn’t clobber Napa, causing flooding.

That’s the word from the National Weather Service, which looked into its crystal ball and saw classic La Niña weather conditions for the next three months.

 

Typically, a La Niña winter means lower than normal rainfall for Napa, while an El Niño year means more, said Bob Benjamin, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.

The reality can be quite different, Benjamin said. Because Napa is close to the middle of the state, wine country can be caught up by the pattern affecting either end of California, he said.

Even if this winter proves drier than normal, there can be periods of heavy rain capable of triggering flooding, Benjamin said. A series of water-rich tropical storms — the feared “Pineapple Express” — can strike anytime, he said.

“It’s the storm that causes the flood, not the winter,” Graham Wadsworth, a city engineer, told the City Council earlier this month.

The Public Works Department has been clearing drains, tuning up pump generators and working hard to keep leaves out of storm drains, Bob Quinn, the city’s streets division supervisor, said.

“We’re as prepared as we can be,” said Quinn, who reported hiring a fourth street sweeper to pick up autumn leaves.

The city is prepared to rent a long-reach excavator if it appears that Napa Creek will go over its banks at Behrens Street, Wadsworth said. This machine would be used to remove logs and other debris that can clog the bridge.

In a small flood, removing a clog can make a difference, Wadsworth said. In a major flood like the one on New Year’s Eve 2005, water will be leaving the creek at many locations, he said.

The Napa Creek flood of 2005 was triggered when 9.5 inches fell in 24 hours on Mount Veeder, Wadsworth said.

It was one of the heaviest deluges in city records, topped by 15.3 inches that fell atop Atlas Peak over 24 hours in 1986, leading to the major river flooding, he said.

The Napa River flood control project, which is about half finished, is providing some flood relief along the river from downtown to below the city limits, Wadsworth said.

New bridges and flood terraces allow water to move faster, with less backup, he said.

Wadsworth knows what a perfect rain year would look like. “We’re crossing our fingers we have no flooding this winter, but enough water to fill the reservoirs,” he said.

A La Niña winter would tend to produce a lot of snow in the northern Sierra mountains, but not as much in the south, Benjamin said. Napa County communities receive water from the Sierra snowpack as well as from local reservoirs.

http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2007/11/30/news/local/doc474fb6c939ce2712059941.txt

 

 

SNOWPACK CONDITIONS:

Dry Sierra can be predictably wild

North Lake Tahoe Bonanza – 11/30/07

By Tanya Canino, Bonanza Editor

 

With Thursday's snowpack at 4 percent of average and Lake Tahoe two feet lower than last year at this time, the calendar year 2007 is in the running to be the second driest winter for weather records.

However, weather in the Sierra is always a wild ride.

"We're definitely way, way down. If December got zero precipitation, which would really be amazing in Tahoe, this would be the second driest year in 70 years (for Reno)," said Jim Ashby, climatologist with the Western Regional Climate Center in Reno's Desert Research Institute.

The driest year was 1976 with 9.34 inches of precipitation recorded at Lake Tahoe's only outlet, the Truckee River in Tahoe City. Right now, 14.71 inches has been recorded in Tahoe City for the year - the long-term average is 32.6 inches of precipitation.

But as weather watchers warn, you never know in the Sierra.

The average precipitation in Tahoe City for December is 5.66 inches; however in 1989, there was 0 inches and in 1964, there were 27.55 inches in the wettest month of Tahoe City data going back 94 years.

"The point is, it could happen, it could be a monster month," Ashby said.

His cohort at the Western Regional Climate Center, interim director Kelly Redmond, however, says it is not likely.

"The types of patterns we are in is not conducive to bringing moisture to the Sierra," Redmond said.

A strong La Nina is sending moisture north of California, or spinning it inland toward Arizona. In La Nina years, Redmond said, the farther south one goes, the drier it gets.

"The guts of winter is December, January and February," he said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its three-month forecast for the Western United States on Nov. 15, showing Southern California as drier than normal, with Tahoe about 33 percent drier than normal.

"It's not looking good at the moment. There are no strong systems moving in to jolt us out of the doldrums," Redmond said.

The start to the water year, which begins Oct. 1, was helped by storms in October, but November has been 17 percent of average precipitation.

"October contributed a little more than its share. November is falling down on the job. It may get its license revoked. We're getting rid of it and we'll try again in December," Redmond joked.

He said Northern Nevada and California residents should be more worried about the lack of snowpack than precipitation because that is drinking water for next summer.

Ashby said "there's no doubt" we're in a drought.

"As far as the numbers are concerned, yeah, but to me we're always in a drought even in a normal year," Ashby said, adding that Reno only averages 8 inches of rainfall a year and has only 2.86 inches of precipitation now.

However, drought is hard to quantify, Redmond explained.

'Drought is a touchy word in California. There's drought with a little d and drought with a big D, which is declared by the California Department of Water Resources," Redmond said. At that point, water is cut off to customers.

Jay Lund, a University of California, Davis professor and expert in water systems, said "a drought is if you're not getting as much water as you like."

"For this climate, you don't know if you're in a drought for a couple of years. People sometimes talk about it being a creeping disaster," Lund said.

He said official droughts were 1928-34, 1976-77, and 1988-92.

Lund will be speaking about water management at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center in Incline Village.

"I think people are starting to wonder if this is the beginning of a drought," Lund said.

Last year was a dry year, but the impacts were not felt because the 2005-06 year was such a high water year. If this year is dry, the back-to-back dry years will make an impact.

Federal Watermaster Garry Stone said the reservoirs in the Truckee River water system are lower than normal, except for Stampede, and Lake Tahoe will continue to drop if no storms are in sight. This week, at 6224.98 elevation feet, Lake Tahoe was 2.68 feet lower than last year at this time.

"We had a reserve and it got pretty well used up. (The reservoirs) are going into the winter in a diminished capacity," Redmond said.

Yet, the Sierra's reputation for the unpredictable could predictably bode well.

"With a La Nina there is not a strong tendency to be wet or dry. But the only thing we can say with a little bit more certainty is that there is a somewhat higher chance of major events," Redmond said. "The big floods in the Sierra are from La Ninas. Four out of the top five floods have been La Nina."

Two of the more recent La Nina flooding events were 1985-86 and 1996-97.

There are some, however, who no longer wait for Mother Nature's whims. Sierra ski resorts now rely on snowmaking for their winter coverage.

"We don't get too worried for a drier winter, as long as the temperatures stay cool, we make snow," said Kayla Anderson, marketing coordinator at Diamond Peak Ski Area.

Lake Tahoe's winter elevation increase

Gain in elevation feet from Nov. 28 of each year to Lake Tahoe's highest point the following summer.

2007-08 - 6224.98 on Nov. 28, '07; will gain ?? feet by summer '08

2006-07 - 6227.17 on Nov. 28, '06; gain of .44 feet on June 6, '07

2005-06 - 6223.79 on Nov. 28, '05; gain of 5.28 feet on June 30, '06

2004-05 - 6222.6 on Nov. 28, '04; gain of 2.98 feet on July 11, '05

2003-04 - 6222.89 on Nov. 28, '03; gain of 1.42 feet on June 4, '04

2002-03 - 6223.19 on Nov. 28, '02; gain of 1.7 feet on June 20, '03

2001-02 - 6223.92 on Nov. 28, '01; gain of 1.18 feet on June 27, '02

2000-01 - 6226.74 on Nov. 28, '00; loss of .18 feet on May 24, '01

http://www.tahoebonanza.com/article/20071130/News/111300032

 

 

WATER CONSERVATION PLANNING:

Supervisors to talk water conservation

Ukiah Daily Journal – 11/30/07

By Rob Burgess, staff writer

 

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to sit as the Mendocino County Water Agency at around 11:15 a.m. Tuesday in the board's chambers to discuss, among other things, water conservation.

 

County CEO Tom Mitchell said the item, which was discussed by the board last month with no action taken, would be on the agenda regardless of the current water crisis.

 

"Any water agency should have a water conservation program," he said. "It's an important thing. Every agency should conserve water."

 

Concerns about the availability of water have been growing since early summer when the Sonoma County Water Agency announced that, without conservation, water levels in Lake Mendocino could drop as low as 8,000 acre-feet by August.

 

As of Monday, lake storage was at 29,982 acre-feet. The maximum capacity is 122,500 acre-feet.

 

In June, the State Water Resources Control Board announced that entities that take water out of the Russian River, which flows out of Lake Mendocino, must reduce water usage by 15 percent.

 

The city of Ukiah has been practicing voluntary water conservation since the beginning of July.

 

Roland Sanford of the Mendocino County Water Agency said he will be presenting the board with options for water conservation, especially in land use planning.

 

"We'll be looking at things like landscaping and indoor plumbing," he said. "We'll also be looking at whether or not it would be a good idea to join the California Urban Water Conservation Council, which is made up of public and private sector water boards."

 

According to the group's Web site, the California Urban Water Conservation Council was created to "increase efficient water use statewide through partnerships among urban water agencies, public interest organizations and private entities...and now has 384 members."

 

Sanford said water conservation wasn't always a regular item of concern, and was previously only implemented when a crisis was already under way.

 

"Water conservation used to only be for emergencies, but now it's a day-in and day-out kind of concern," he said. #

http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_7600602

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