Drought
 

The California drought is over. No matter what anyone says. Snow pack is 2 hundred plus above normal. Tahoe filling fast. Almost 5 inches of rain fell in Fallbrook last three days. Amazing. And it’s only mid January!!

Strange winter weather here. The week of Christmas we had a blizzard with two feet of snow. (which is normal for here)

Since that week, we haven't had any snow and the day temps have been above freezing almost every day. The long range forecast is more of the same mild temps.

Good news for sure. But don't get too excited yet. January forecasts don't mean all that much and its March-April (and sometimes even May) that really set the stage for spring runoff. Plus soil moisture/reservoir levels can be big factors in how much water is actually realized out of a snowpack. And, where California is concerned, never underestimate the ability of the government and the enviro whackos to screw up a sure thing.

I have a long retaining wall up against the hill near my house. I’ve never seen the drainage pipe behind the wall have so much water flowing out of it. The ground is Uber saturated which is great for everyone’s wells around here. My neighbors well up the hill from me was down to a gallon a minute last summer.

Here in MN it has been raining since this morning- luckily the temp is around 36F, so no freezing yet and temps look okay through the next day. Maybe enough to clean the roads of salt? Porsche time? Not the freeways as I guarantee they have been spreading salt just in case, but maybe my neighborhood will get clean...

I think I've emptied our rain gauge of as much water this month as we've had all last rainy season. I'm not ready to say the drought is over yet though as all it'll take is a few days of wind and the ground will be hard as a rock again. We do have a green lawn now though it is all weeds and not much grass.

Like the advertisements from investment companies say: Current returns do no guarantee future results - or something like that. It's premature to declare the drought over. The weather could dry up next week, & we'll not see any more rain or snow. The aquifers are far from replenished. In the San Jouquin Valley, the ground has sunk up to ten inches because of it. We can celebrate the current water surplus, but we need years of it yet.

CA has not built any new reservoirs for over 30+ years. Despite that, Newsom continues to welcome the "world" to come to CA to live. Of course he is speaking to the illegals, homeless, criminals, etc. as he touts a Sanctuary State environment. The result is shortages of everything from electricity to water to food and housing. Then Newsom asks the President for Emergency Federal assistance! These people are all crazy. I hope to one day see CA go strongly conservative again, but I am not optimistic.

Is it baby poo yellow?

Kinda…. Red clay so more on the redish brown side.

It'd be great if OJU made a visit.

Rio Verde AZ has a REAL water problem

https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/rio-verde-foothills-residents-to-lose-water-access

You can say the drought is over but the water supply issue is not. It took 3 years to fill Lake Mead after the dam was completed. And water needs were a fraction of what they are now. With rain and snow conditions at normal, the lake will never recover.

I'm sure Sacramento will tell us we're still in a drought and we still need to conserve. And I have no problem with being water wise. But I'd like to keep the flora (and fauna) we have in suburbia, but our local water company - in conjunction with Sacramento - has limited us to watering only one day a week. Not sure who exactly is following that particular schedule... but there are severe money penalties if you don't cut back by 20% of your 2020 usage.

One thing's for sure: politicians and good news don't mix. Even Ray Charles could see that.

That article paints a painful picture - Some Rio Verde residents have spent upwards of $60,000 drilling for water with nothing to show for it.

It's happening at other areas around Arizona. Saudi Arabia has huge alfalfa farms out in Salome, AZ (the alfalfa gets shipped to Saudi Arabia). The unregulated use by the alfalfa farms is causing the water table to drop in the community and the locals are finding their wells running dry.