OT: All you West Coasters; Drought "officially" over?

[DP]

Storm after storm this winter and more on the way from San Diego to Seattle. So, is the drought in CA over?

[Microman]

As far as I can tell, the drought will NEVER be over. The criteria must be very strict. Snow Pack, # of years of Snow Pack, etc...

But everytime I think we have had a lot of rain, and flooding, and more and more, they will say on the radio, "but we still have a long way to go before the drought is over!"

Maybe it's so we continue to try and conserve water and not waste. I am sure someone will comment on the actual criteria for what would end the drought.

[Acer]

Drought or no, California will always have to carefully manage its water.

[DP]

I used to travel a lot in the late '80s-early '90s on business to CA and would spend a large portion of the time in Palm Springs. Even back then they said that wells drilled 20 years prior to that time were running dry because of all the water they used on the golf courses and they were still building new ones. The Coachella Aquifer was drying up.

[cbelt3]

"Drought" is a condition that exists when you have a rechargeable aquifer and get rainfall to recharge it.

What you've got in SoCal is the same thing that they've got in Nevada, Arizona, etc. They built in a freaking desert that had a mild set of coastal hills that collected a small amount of water that was capable of supplying the odd fishing village.

It's not a 'drought'. It's just plain building in the wrong place.

[GGD]

Here's a site with CA reservoir levels.

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/...ain.action

[Racer X]

cbelt3 wrote:
"Drought" is a condition that exists when you have a rechargeable aquifer and get rainfall to recharge it.

What you've got in SoCal is the same thing that they've got in Nevada, Arizona, etc. They built in a freaking desert that had a mild set of coastal hills that collected a small amount of water that was capable of supplying the odd fishing village.

It's not a 'drought'. It's just plain building in the wrong place.

now that's just crazy talk.

[freeradical]

I've looked at the rainfall totals for our "winter" months, and it appears to be an average season.

I'm not sure about the snow pack.

[Seacrest]

"Thank you, Mr. Gitts (sic)."

[tahoedrew]

Snow pack is at or slightly above averages (100-125% of average), so to suggest the "drought" is over is premature. As Microman says, this will take a good 2-3 years of above average snowpacks to reverse, the water levels at reservoirs is still low and Tahoe still only hovers around its natural rim.

~A