A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
December 6, 2007
2. Supply
CLIMATE CHANGE:
Catastrophic threat facing Sierra; Climate change symposium has grim forecast for future - Stockton Record
AG WATER SUPPLY
California water users face shortages, higher prices - Central Valley Business Times
WATER CONSERVATION PLANNING:
La Quinta's water conservation plan is 'dawn of a new era' - Desert Sun
CLIMATE CHANGE:
Catastrophic threat facing Sierra; Climate change symposium has grim forecast for future
By Alex Breitler, staff writer
The
When they swim in its high mountain lakes, they may no longer see the bottom. The fish that tug on their poles may be different than the ones you catch today.
Wildfires may threaten their homes more often. And their favorite ski runs may no longer exist.
Global warming will have many undesired effects in
The Sierra's plants and animals, its lakes and streams, and some of the charms that draw humans from the
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy, a three-year-old state agency charged with safeguarding the region, held a symposium in Gold Rush country highlighting the many ways climate change will attack - or in some cases is attacking - the Sierra.
"It is simply unprecedented," said Dan Cayan, a meteorologist with the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in
Global temperatures have jumped on average 1.1 degrees in recent decades, he said, and will increase another 2 to 10 degrees or more in coming decades, depending on how successful we are at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In the Sierra, the snowpack could shrink in half by the end of the century, Cayan said. Snow levels will climb on average 1,500 feet, and resorts may see lower-elevation ski runs turn to rock.
"You can see the changes coming," said Kathy Hubbard, deputy director of the California Ski Industry Association.
Already, runoff from winter snow is beginning up to three to four weeks earlier than normal, Cayan said. This is trouble for much of the state, which relies on the Sierra for 60 percent of its freshwater supply.
Water managers fear reservoirs will either be overwhelmed by massive amounts of rain that currently falls as snow and sits on hillsides until melting in the spring or will shrivel during extended droughts.
And there will be floods. In May 2005, the
Expect more of the same, Cayan said.
Among other predicted changes:
» Global warming will force high-elevation species, such as tiny rodents and butterflies, to migrate uphill until they run out of room.
» Trees will sprout where they haven't grown before and die where they have grown in the past.
» More frequent wildfires of greater than 1,000 acres will threaten mountain and foothill communities, which will face longer summertime fire seasons, Cayan said.
» Ice on mountain lakes will melt earlier, producing algae blooms that cloud up the water and harm fish.
Lake Tahoe has heated by about one-half degree in the past 30 years, enough for warm-water invasive fish, such as bass, to flourish near the shorelines, threatening native species, said Sudeep Chandra, a water quality expert at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Organizers of Wednesday's event touted
The ski industry's Hubbard said some resorts are taking action. Kirkwood Ski Resort on Highway 88 east of
But it's already too late to eliminate future warming altogether, Cayan said.
To a temperature increase of 2 to 4 degrees - enough to disrupt mountain ecosystems and cause water supply worries - we are already "committed," he said. #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071206/A_NEWS/712060334
AG WATER SUPPLY
California water users face shortages, higher prices
Tough times lie ahead for many farm water users in
Water agency leaders predicted that farmers face higher water prices and water supplies that will be cut, perhaps severely.
“There’s a rough patch ahead for
Any improvements to the state's water system will take years to complete, while supplies remain constrained by legal rulings, population growth and dry weather.
“How are we going to deal with the eight, ten, 15 years it takes to get a canal built so we can effectively separate our water from the fish?” asks Jason Peltier, chief deputy general manager of Westlands Water District in Fresno. “It’s a frightening prospect looking at the gap.”
But building some sort of “peripheral canal” to move freshwater around the Delta to farms and other users south of the Delta does not have universal support.
“Until we begin to address the severe imbalance between the supplies of water and the demand for water, building a conveyance facility that just enables us to transfer the [water] deficit from one area of the state to the other doesn’t really address our problems,” says Tom Zuckerman, co-counsel for the Central Delta Water Agency in
Meanwhile, preparing for expected drought conditions will be the topic of a series of workshops for farmers today in
Reduced pumping from the Delta has been ordered by a federal judge to protect the endangered Delta smelt, a minnow-like fish. And weather forecasts predict lower rainfall amounts in the months ahead.
Experts from the Agricultural Water Management Council will provide farmers with ideas to use water more efficiently.
This week’s rain seems to have been enough to keep range grasses from withering away. Ranchers say rainfall amounts north of
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=7177
WATER CONSERVATION PLANNING:
La Quinta's water conservation plan is 'dawn of a new era'
Desert Sun – 12/6/07
By Marcel Honore, staff writer
The La Quinta City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday to launch a multifaceted conservation program aimed at saving the
Water officials say the new effort is unprecedented among the desert cities.
"It's not only a start. This is the dawn of a new era," said Dan Parks, assistant to the Coachella Valley Water District's general manager. "We've teamed up with cities on specific programs. As far as a widespread program, this is the first I'm aware of."
La Quinta will spend $50,000 from its general fund to team with the water district and create a Cooperative Landscape Water Management Program.
The new project aims to reduce runoff water and inefficient landscaping throughout the city, on public and private property, using several approaches.
Area businesses, homes and golf courses consume more water from the
"Hopefully, we'll have the mayor of every valley city knocking on our door saying, 'Hey, can we do this, too?'" Parks said.
La Quinta's joint effort builds on an existing campaign to replace irrigation meters across the water district with more efficient weather-based controls. That approach alone has saved millions of gallons, water officials have said. The broader Landscape Water Management Program would:
Study and start improvements to save water on public property, including redesigning median landscaping.
Provide incentives for residents to change their landscaping to better save water, including moving sprinklers from the street.
Offer low-interest loans to homeowners associations to change the community landscaping to help save water.
Offer free audits to golf courses and suggest how they can conserve turf irrigation.
Councilman Tom Kirk said the program was an opportunity for local government to lead by example. "Government does a great job of telling folks what to do," Kirk said. "We ought to do the right thing as well." #
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007712060333
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