Sunday, April 05, 2015 7:24:20 PM
California Drought Tests History of Endless Growth
"California's Historic Drought
Mar 27, 2014"
A punishing drought is forcing a reconsideration of whether the aspiration of untrammeled
growth that has for so long been the state’s engine has run against the limits of nature.
By ADAM NAGOURNEY, JACK HEALY and NELSON D. SCHWARTZAPRIL 4, 2015
Homes in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in the Coachella Valley. Gov. Jerry Brown has ordered a 25 percent statewide reduction in non-agricultural water use. Credit Damon Winter/The New York Times
[...]
“You just can’t live the way you always have,” said Mr. Brown, a Democrat who is in his fourth term as governor.
“For over 10,000 years, people lived in California, but the number of those people were never more than 300,000 or 400,000,” Mr. Brown said. “Now we are embarked upon an experiment that no one has ever tried: 38 million people, with 32 million vehicles, living at the level of comfort that we all strive to attain. This will require adjustment. This will require learning.”
[...]
But the drought is now forcing change in a place that long identified itself as “America’s desert oasis.” Palm Springs has ordered 50 percent cuts in water use by city agencies, and plans to replace the lawns and annual flowers around city buildings with native landscapes. It is digging up the grassy median into town that unfurled before visitors like a carpet at a Hollywood premiere. It is paying residents to replace their lawns with rocks and desert plants, and offering rebates to people who install low-flow toilets.
[...]
Other places face different threats to their way of life. Mayor Robert Silva of Mendota, in the heart of the agricultural Central Valley, said unemployment among farmworkers had soared as the soil turned to crust and farmers left half or more of their fields fallow. Many people are traveling 60 or 70 miles to look for work, Mr. Silva said, and families are increasingly relying on food donations.
[...]
Agricultural runoff headed for the Salton Sea, a huge lake that sits partly in the Coachella Valley. Credit Damon Winter/The New York Times
“It’s going to be harder and harder to build new housing without an adequate water supply,” he said. “How many developments can you afford if you don’t have water?
[...]
State officials signaled on Friday that reductions in water supplies for farmers were likely to be announced in the coming weeks, and there is also likely to be increased pressure on the farms to move away from certain water-intensive crops — like almonds.
[...]
“We have to deal with a new normal,” Mr. Garcetti said. “That said, do we have enough water to sustain life here? Absolutely. Do we have enough water to grow economically? Absolutely.”
“Cities that are much drier and truly desert — Phoenix, Las Vegas — have shown the ability to have economic growth,” he said
A golf course in the Sun City Palm Desert community for older adults sits near barren land about 10 miles east of Palm Springs. Credit Damon
Winter/The New York Times
[...]
The critical question is the extent to which Mr. Brown has succeeded in persuading people here to shake long-held habits .. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/us/california-drought-tulare-county.html .. and assumptions.
“I’m not going to stop watering,” said Matthew Post, 45, referring to the gardens around his Benedict Canyon home.
[...]
But even a significant drop in residential water use will not move the consumption needle nearly as much as even a small reduction by farmers. Of all the surface water consumed in the state, roughly 80 percent is earmarked for the agricultural sector.
“The big question is agriculture, and there are difficult trade-offs that need to be made,” said Katrina Jessoe, assistant professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California, Davis.
[...]
A housing development in Cathedral City, near Palm Springs. Credit Damon Winter/The New York Times
[...]
Bill Melzer, 72, a bond broker walking his dog on a sunny morning in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, said he was worried about the drought, about the prospect of higher fines for using too much water and about what might happen to the agriculture industry. But he said he was not worried about the future of his state.
“The dream of California now is probably different than back in the 1960s,” he said. “Now it’s more financial opportunity. I think before it was what we’re looking at now — great weather, beach weather, tremendous diversity of lifestyle. Really, if you cannot find your lifestyle in this state, there is something wrong with you.”
Dr. Starr, the University of Southern California historian, said the crisis would force California to do what was needed to carry on. “Our destiny is not just to be a fantasy place,” he said. “As much as we enjoy the good life in California, we have to come to terms with Mother Nature, with our arid environment.”
“Every time California has a problem — we ran out of electricity in the early 2000s, then we ran out of money, and now we are running out of water — people say California is over,” Dr. Starr said. “It’s not over. It’s too important a part of American culture to be over. But it will change itself.”
Adam Nagourney and Jack Healy reported from Los Angeles, and Nelson D. Schwartz from New York. Emma G. Fitzsimmons contributed reporting from San Francisco, and Ronnie Cohen from San Anselmo, Calif.
The Parched West: Articles in this series will explore the impact of the drought that has hit states from the Pacific Coast to the Great Plains.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/us/california-drought-tests-history-of-endless-growth.html?_r=0
---
El Nino Finally Arrives But Too Late for Drought-Stricken California
A long-anticipated weather phenomenon known as El Nino has finally arrived. But for drought-struck California, it's too little, too late, meteorologists say. The National Weather Service on Thursday proclaimed the complex climate pattern is now in place. El Nino is a warming of a certain patch of the central Pacific that changes weather patterns worldwide, associated with flooding in some places, droughts elsewhere, a generally warmer globe, and fewer Atlantic hurricanes. El Ninos are usually so important that economists even track them because of how they affect commodities. But this is a weak, weird and late version of El Nino, so don't expect too many places to feel its effects, said Mike Halpert, deputy director of the weather service's Climate Prediction Center. He said there may be a slight decrease in the number of Atlantic hurricanes this summer if the condition persists, but he also points out that 1992's devastating Hurricane Andrew occurred during an El Nino summer, so coastal residents shouldn't let their guard down.There's about a 50 to 60 percent chance the El Nino will continue through the summer, NOAA predicts.
Ever since March 2014, the weather service has been saying an El Nino was just around the corner. But it didn't quite show up until now.
more .. http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/california-drought/el-nino-finally-arrives-too-late-drought-stricken-california-n318141
See also:
Scientists were expecting a big El Niño this year. So where did it go?
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=111518788
the temps where i live have broken records all through the winter
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=111960011
The country could supply all of California with water if we fixed our leaky pipes
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=104932126
it's a great and very sobering article, it's the entire southwest... . come on El Nino .. ;)
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=103454109
Northern California wildfire devastates town [ this one basically here here for the chat that follows ]
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=106305738
REPORT: California's Record Fire Season Drives Climate Change Into The News
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=103566370
California drought: Past dry periods have lasted more than 200 years, scientists say
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=96830959
The deadly heat led to 138 deaths last year, more than hurricanes, tornadoes or floods, and it turns brush to tinder that is vulnerable
to lightning strikes and human carelessness. Already this year, some 40,000 wildfires have torched over 5.8 million acres nationwide
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=65430567
Experts agree that in general organic farms tend to be less damaging to the environment than conventional farms.
In the past, however, “organic agriculture used to be sustainable agriculture, but now that is not always the case,”...
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=70426152
New Herbicide Suspected in Tree Deaths
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=65249607
"California's Historic Drought
Mar 27, 2014"
A punishing drought is forcing a reconsideration of whether the aspiration of untrammeled
growth that has for so long been the state’s engine has run against the limits of nature.
By ADAM NAGOURNEY, JACK HEALY and NELSON D. SCHWARTZAPRIL 4, 2015
Homes in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in the Coachella Valley. Gov. Jerry Brown has ordered a 25 percent statewide reduction in non-agricultural water use. Credit Damon Winter/The New York Times
[...]
“You just can’t live the way you always have,” said Mr. Brown, a Democrat who is in his fourth term as governor.
“For over 10,000 years, people lived in California, but the number of those people were never more than 300,000 or 400,000,” Mr. Brown said. “Now we are embarked upon an experiment that no one has ever tried: 38 million people, with 32 million vehicles, living at the level of comfort that we all strive to attain. This will require adjustment. This will require learning.”
[...]
But the drought is now forcing change in a place that long identified itself as “America’s desert oasis.” Palm Springs has ordered 50 percent cuts in water use by city agencies, and plans to replace the lawns and annual flowers around city buildings with native landscapes. It is digging up the grassy median into town that unfurled before visitors like a carpet at a Hollywood premiere. It is paying residents to replace their lawns with rocks and desert plants, and offering rebates to people who install low-flow toilets.
[...]
Other places face different threats to their way of life. Mayor Robert Silva of Mendota, in the heart of the agricultural Central Valley, said unemployment among farmworkers had soared as the soil turned to crust and farmers left half or more of their fields fallow. Many people are traveling 60 or 70 miles to look for work, Mr. Silva said, and families are increasingly relying on food donations.
[...]
Agricultural runoff headed for the Salton Sea, a huge lake that sits partly in the Coachella Valley. Credit Damon Winter/The New York Times
“It’s going to be harder and harder to build new housing without an adequate water supply,” he said. “How many developments can you afford if you don’t have water?
[...]
State officials signaled on Friday that reductions in water supplies for farmers were likely to be announced in the coming weeks, and there is also likely to be increased pressure on the farms to move away from certain water-intensive crops — like almonds.
[...]
“We have to deal with a new normal,” Mr. Garcetti said. “That said, do we have enough water to sustain life here? Absolutely. Do we have enough water to grow economically? Absolutely.”
“Cities that are much drier and truly desert — Phoenix, Las Vegas — have shown the ability to have economic growth,” he said
A golf course in the Sun City Palm Desert community for older adults sits near barren land about 10 miles east of Palm Springs. Credit Damon
Winter/The New York Times
[...]
The critical question is the extent to which Mr. Brown has succeeded in persuading people here to shake long-held habits .. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/us/california-drought-tulare-county.html .. and assumptions.
“I’m not going to stop watering,” said Matthew Post, 45, referring to the gardens around his Benedict Canyon home.
[...]
But even a significant drop in residential water use will not move the consumption needle nearly as much as even a small reduction by farmers. Of all the surface water consumed in the state, roughly 80 percent is earmarked for the agricultural sector.
“The big question is agriculture, and there are difficult trade-offs that need to be made,” said Katrina Jessoe, assistant professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California, Davis.
[...]
A housing development in Cathedral City, near Palm Springs. Credit Damon Winter/The New York Times
[...]
Bill Melzer, 72, a bond broker walking his dog on a sunny morning in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, said he was worried about the drought, about the prospect of higher fines for using too much water and about what might happen to the agriculture industry. But he said he was not worried about the future of his state.
“The dream of California now is probably different than back in the 1960s,” he said. “Now it’s more financial opportunity. I think before it was what we’re looking at now — great weather, beach weather, tremendous diversity of lifestyle. Really, if you cannot find your lifestyle in this state, there is something wrong with you.”
Dr. Starr, the University of Southern California historian, said the crisis would force California to do what was needed to carry on. “Our destiny is not just to be a fantasy place,” he said. “As much as we enjoy the good life in California, we have to come to terms with Mother Nature, with our arid environment.”
“Every time California has a problem — we ran out of electricity in the early 2000s, then we ran out of money, and now we are running out of water — people say California is over,” Dr. Starr said. “It’s not over. It’s too important a part of American culture to be over. But it will change itself.”
Adam Nagourney and Jack Healy reported from Los Angeles, and Nelson D. Schwartz from New York. Emma G. Fitzsimmons contributed reporting from San Francisco, and Ronnie Cohen from San Anselmo, Calif.
The Parched West: Articles in this series will explore the impact of the drought that has hit states from the Pacific Coast to the Great Plains.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/us/california-drought-tests-history-of-endless-growth.html?_r=0
---
El Nino Finally Arrives But Too Late for Drought-Stricken California
A long-anticipated weather phenomenon known as El Nino has finally arrived. But for drought-struck California, it's too little, too late, meteorologists say. The National Weather Service on Thursday proclaimed the complex climate pattern is now in place. El Nino is a warming of a certain patch of the central Pacific that changes weather patterns worldwide, associated with flooding in some places, droughts elsewhere, a generally warmer globe, and fewer Atlantic hurricanes. El Ninos are usually so important that economists even track them because of how they affect commodities. But this is a weak, weird and late version of El Nino, so don't expect too many places to feel its effects, said Mike Halpert, deputy director of the weather service's Climate Prediction Center. He said there may be a slight decrease in the number of Atlantic hurricanes this summer if the condition persists, but he also points out that 1992's devastating Hurricane Andrew occurred during an El Nino summer, so coastal residents shouldn't let their guard down.There's about a 50 to 60 percent chance the El Nino will continue through the summer, NOAA predicts.
Ever since March 2014, the weather service has been saying an El Nino was just around the corner. But it didn't quite show up until now.
more .. http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/california-drought/el-nino-finally-arrives-too-late-drought-stricken-california-n318141
See also:
Scientists were expecting a big El Niño this year. So where did it go?
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=111518788
the temps where i live have broken records all through the winter
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=111960011
The country could supply all of California with water if we fixed our leaky pipes
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=104932126
it's a great and very sobering article, it's the entire southwest... . come on El Nino .. ;)
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=103454109
Northern California wildfire devastates town [ this one basically here here for the chat that follows ]
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=106305738
REPORT: California's Record Fire Season Drives Climate Change Into The News
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=103566370
California drought: Past dry periods have lasted more than 200 years, scientists say
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=96830959
The deadly heat led to 138 deaths last year, more than hurricanes, tornadoes or floods, and it turns brush to tinder that is vulnerable
to lightning strikes and human carelessness. Already this year, some 40,000 wildfires have torched over 5.8 million acres nationwide
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=65430567
Experts agree that in general organic farms tend to be less damaging to the environment than conventional farms.
In the past, however, “organic agriculture used to be sustainable agriculture, but now that is not always the case,”...
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=70426152
New Herbicide Suspected in Tree Deaths
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=65249607
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
Join the InvestorsHub Community
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
