Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
April 2, 2009
1. Top Item –
Outlook is for stress to state's water supply
The state report released Wednesday found that "changing precipitation patterns will result in longer and drier droughts and decreased groundwater levels, coupled with a higher frequency and severity of extreme flooding events."
Researchers forecast that in some years, water levels in the state's mainstay reservoirs - Shasta, Oroville, Folsom and Trinity - could fall below outtake pipe levels, effectively shutting off the spigot.
Winter snowpack in the
What's more, snowpack is expected to peak and melt earlier. That means more precipitation will fall as rain - raising the potential for overwhelming the state's increasingly fragile plumbing system.
The ailing Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta sits squarely in the crosshairs, not just for rising floodwaters but also for higher sea levels.
With California's population expected to swell to nearly 60 million in 41 years - mostly in cities and suburbs - one scenario in the report suggests that supplies would come from agriculture, the state's largest water user.
Wildlife and ecosystems, whose water interests already compete with urban and agriculture users, also could be affected.
If the climate becomes significantly drier and water supplies reach rock-bottom levels,
The study said state officials are working on broader conservation efforts, ecosystem improvement, regional water management plans and developing additional supplies through water recycling and seawater desalination.#
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/02/MNFT16R1D7.DTL
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