Gary F is digging deep in the archives to trash Mulholland but I do agree with him on Bishop. My wife and I go there just about every October. The mountains above there are incredibly beautiful with the changing of colors.
I have a pretty good set of drought barometers since I manage various sites from LA to San Diego which have shallow wells and I have charts of the depth to water over time. The water levels are dropping but they still are higher than they were 10 years ago, generally, anyway. We live in a dry place and it is governed by liars and people who vote for them so we tend to have catastrophe after catastrophe because it is easier blaming other factors than their own corruption and incompetence.
Some1. Democrats are stuck in 1800s thinking and Karl Marx would be proud of them. Your idea of science is tied to your following of Marx but you probably are too ignorant to know or admit it. Marx was wrong about economics and you are wrong about your science. Frankly, long ago, I grew tired of leftist games of changing their names to try to hide who they really are;
we are progressives, that backfired with Wilson when Americans got a bad taste of leftist totalitarians,
we are socialists, that backfired with Soviets et al,
we liberals, that backfired and became the L word,
and now they are back to progressives because they know they can count on their ignorance of their flock.
IMO, they are Marxists, but maybe some are only moderate Marxists
Note: Clearly Peg is trying to imply that this time, the drought is caused by CO2 even though he probably knows better. Why would that be? I know we are dry as bone down here in So Cal and that last pressure ridge lasted an extraordinarily long time but of course they try to blame that on CO2 as well. When I see something happening that has happened many times in the past naturally, I don't just jump to the conclusion that those dastardly humans must be responsible this time because.... well because I want it to be true.
Drought is a funny word.
One use is to say that any dry spell is a drought.
Another use would be to say that an unusually long dry period is a drought.
I was born in 1937 in Los Angeles and lived in California most of my life. Dry spells that last 10 or more years are not uncommon. so the word drought using the second definition does not currently apply.
The El Nino that would bring six weeks or more of measurable rain every day is also within the realm of normal.
Speaking of El Nino, The story is that it is caused by warming of the South Pacific. If there is warming, where is the El Nino?
What have I never seen in my 76 years in California? I do not believe I've ever seen an average year. We live in a place where extremes are the norm.
Rep. Devin Nunes shows his complete lack of understanding on what seems to be on any topic. Nunes suggests that that California's drought problem is due to pipes? Really? Has he not taken a look at the lower fresh water levels across nearly the entire state of California? Water resources that are not being replenished due the lower amount of precipitation received during a drought.
It believe that it is becoming very evident that the Republican party's 18th century understanding of the 21st century science will lead to their complete collapse within a very few decades as the effects of a changing climate becomes more and more obvious to all. To all, except for perhaps the Republican party. They are placing themselves into a box that they will not be able to escape from in the future. They are sealing their own fate. A shame, actually. I would no more favor an always dominant Democrat party than I would favor an always dominant Republican party. Face the facts, Sagebrush, if the Republican leadership does not soon start getting the science right then the Republican party will be one of the first things to drive itself into extinction.
"The reservoirs were designed to last for five years with no rain..."
Uh, no. 80% of California's water storage is in the SNOW PACK, not in reservoirs. Even if the reservoirs were completely filled (leaving no flood control) they would not have enough water for California for even a year.
Then the congressman quoted in the article claims "What the founding fathers of our state did, including Jerry Brown's own father, is they built water systems that could withstand five years of drought.."
There are 20,000,000 more people in the state than when Pat Brown is governor, does Rep. Nunes even realize that? Does he think they don't use water? He also apparently doesn't realize that the environmental restrictions that he's talking about have essentially no effect during drought conditions--if there is no water, there won't be any water if you waive environmental restrictions also.
And Sagebrush, don't you even know the difference between silicone and silicon? Here's a clue: some people sarcastically refer to Las Vegas as Silicone Valley, because of all the showgirls there.
EDIT for jim z: That's interesting about the wells, but don't forget that most of our water here is imported anyway, so whether it's a drought or rainy year in Southern California doesn't make that much difference in our supplies. The most recent Sierra snow survey showed 12% of average for this time of year. We need much more, but at least the west coast ridge has broken down.
Another EDIT for jim z: You said "Clearly Peg is trying to imply that this time, the drought is caused by CO2 even though he probably knows better"
That's very amusing, because if you look at my answer it says nothing about CO2 or global warming. My answer was in response to the boneheaded question by the liar Sagebrush, who somehow thinks a lack of rain or snow is unconnected to droughts.
EDIT for Maxx: Trying to spread more lies? Or did you not realize that the article you link to is four and half years old and has absolutely nothing to do with current drought in California?
I've always wished that I could get a job in Bishop, CA because that valley between the Sierras and the White Mountains is the greatest place on earth. And if anyone knows about the politics of LA water, it is the people who lived in the Owens Valley and who were robbed and murdered so LA could have water.
If the idiot wants to blame politicians, he can start with Eaton and Mulholland.
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jim z -
When was the last time you ate at Jack's?
If you are driving down 395, between about Mammoth Lakes and Tom's Place you can see trees to the side of the road that are dying from the volcanic gases seeping up out of the ground. But, hey, when your baseline for seismic events is 10-12 per day, you have to expect that sort of thing.
Let's see they are in a desert and it is dry, how odd that is. My niece lives in CO which is in the area of the west that is prone to water problems. They are told they HAVE to water their lawn. All this is insane, people need water to live and they waste it on GRASS and other stupid stuff like 8 showers a day. You can't do that and expect no consequences. Water should be rationed to food crops and sanitation like one shower a day or so. Everybody is concentrating on the myth of Global Warming instead of going into lockdown to conserve water which is a real problem. The amount of water wasted is alarming.
As with a lot of either-or questions related to climate, I suspect the most accurate answer is "Yes. Both. And other things, too."
Though there is this... odd mindset that any water use that isn't human drinking or irrigation of crops is "waste". I don't think it's a "waste" to use some water to keep our natural world alive...
Almost certainly politics. We also have to look at subsidies being given to farmers of exotic crops. They are being given water very cheap, like 10% of the real rate. This is causing lots of excess water to be used. And of course the contracts are set up to expire in election years, where they are renewed without fuss.
California is where they have been using a water shortage as an excuse to stop development, demanding all new housing have their water sources identified. So not having a water shortage would make it hard to justify such things. Rahm Emanuel said 'Never let a crisis go to waste.' Creating crises to accrue more power to the state is part of the agenda.
What was California Gov. Jerry Brown's "crime"? Is it that he declared a state of emergency, based, in part on "extremely dry conditions have persisted since 2012 and may continue beyond this year and more regularly into the future, based on scientific projections regarding the impact of climate change on California’s snowpack" [1]
Only a fool would ignore scientific projections...
@ Sagebrush, so for you it is both religion and politics, as for me I think it is a good idea to reduce water consumption when you are experiencing a drought. My guess is that you're afraid of your political opponents gaining power. But just for a moment consider that we may need to actually reduce carbon dioxide emissions for legitimate reasons. Can you think of a way that we could do that without the commie pinkos taking over? Let's get creative....
@ Raisin Caine, when was the last time I equated weather with climate?
Moonbeam is one of the few political officials to be BOTH the historically oldest AND youngest to ever hold a particular major public office. The only other I can think of is Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Rummy was no Dummy, and I would be very curious to hear what he really thinks about the Republicans since his time having become one of the most anti-science political parties of modern history.
At any rate, whatever his latest foibles, and whether or not his career peaked after Linda Ronstadt moved on from it, Governor Moonbeam looks like a genius compared to Governor RayGun (you've seen one redwood, you've seen them all).
If you read your linked-to-article, you'll see it blames Moonbeam's father and Republican "lemmings with suicide vests" more than Moonbeam for the drought and reservoir problem. Blaming the son for the blunders of the father would be like blaming the Cakewalk to Baghdad of Junior Birdman W Bush on his broccli hating Dad. (Billy has not been here lately to expound on whether the Babylonian Brotherhood created the Council on Foreign Relations, or whether Papa Bush's New World Order created them both, with or without help from Al Svante Gore's Time Machine).
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/01/30/Congressman-California-Drought-Man-Made-By-Democrats
No No No.
If you disagree with stuff that we say, you are wrong and evil. Climate change is to blame for everything. It causes droughts, it causes flooding, it causes warmer than usual weather, it causes colder than usual temperatures. It causes strong hurricanes season but the weak ones are just anamolies. It causes poison ivy to grow more abundant. If you have acne, it caused that to.
The science is very clear on this. Before mankind started polluting the atmosphere, the Earth had a perfect environment in which there was nothing but great weather. All those past records of the "Dust Bowl" and hurricanes, are just some propaganda by Big Oil. They didn't really occur.
Now go bang your head against the AGW wall of enlightenment until you see the errors of your ways.
C,
Just as the repubs stood outside America with large air conditioners to bring us this cold weather.
FSM,
Scientific projections, you say. LOL, you make me laugh. This is why you warmers crack me up. You constantly equate weather to climate and then whine at the "deniers" for doing the same thing.
Here is a little hint for you. It doesn't take much to figure out that Cali is going to have droughts in the future. If the vegetation in Cali does not give you a clue, it has droughts all of the time. In fact, it always has. That is why they have to work so hard to provide clean water AND they always have. Lets not also get into the fact that Cali is overpopulated.
But I am truly amazed at the ability of your amazing scientists. They are not only able to make accurate predictions 100 years out for the average temp of the planet, but they can make accurate predictions 5 years out for a single state. That is amazing. I( would say its almost unbelievable.
Nope, it is ubelievable.
Now you may be wondering why I dog on warmers so much, but I mostly let slide what the "deniers" say. Its quite simple. They are not asking to increase my taxes. They are not asking me to change my lifestyle. In fact, they are not asking me a a thing. YOU ARE. This places the burden of proof on YOU. SO whne you go and say stupid things that make no sense, you say those things while asking ME TO PAY!!!
In the same manner, I come down strong on those who oppose gay marriage. Those who oppose gay marraige are denying liberties to homosexuals, so THEY bear the burden of proof.
It's the lack of El Nino conditions, California is stormy and cool with El Nino's whereas most other places are hot and dry, nothing to do with politics or CO2
When it comes to the San Joaquin Valley it's much worse than politics as usual --- it's Eco-Fascism. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10...
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How F***ing ridiculous Sahebrush. I guess all the cali democrats stood outside with hair dryers to cause the drought. Get a life
Cali has had a very significant drought this year and more than average drought for the past few years. In combination with this was an increase in wildfires.
The drought has been significant for the southern for a few years as well.
This has also plagued Australia with intense heat and wildfires this year as well
Of course it is climate change and I believe you know full well it is. This is just another in a long line of distractions by you
he drought has been significant for the southern for a few years as well.
Thank you for your rant. You seem to latch onto any cock and bull story that will be an alternative to taking responsibility for AGW. It sure ain't politics, here.
