Drought news

[SkierBob]

Kind of odd that the living conserve water so they can keep the lawn above the dead green.

Perhaps natural landscape cemeteries are in our future? 

[Nolena]

Cemeteries should go to native landscape.
Native landscape Back East has natural grass. The immigrants from Europe who gradually moved west tried to make the West look like the East.
This is a different climate.
Back East-type grass is not native, and that environment does not belong here.
We don't need no stinkin' grass.

[SkierBob]

 we water dead humans for eternity 

[tcaarabians]

Natural landscaping is beautiful. It makes sense to evolve into using that in our cemeteries - drought or not.  But, people do need a place to sit. Grass is more comfortable than dirt.   Benches don't require all that much water.
 
cheryl o7o

[Jeremy]

Maybe after we stop watering golf courses and affluent community's exotic landscaping. Until then, let people have a comfortable place to mourn and reminisce.

[Wrightwood]

[Wrightwood]

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Water bottle companies are facing criticism for selling bottles of water that are filled from municipal water supplies in California - a state where water is scarce due to a severe drought.

Walmart is the latest company to be scrutinized. The company says its Great Value bottled water comes from Sacramento's city water supply. A supplier buys it from Sacramento and sells it to Walmart and other companies.

Walmart isn't alone: Aquafina, Crystal Geyser, Arrowhead, and Dasani also sell bottled water drawn from municipal water supplies in drought-stricken California.

California residents have been asked to abide by strict water restrictions, leading some to wonder why it's okay for companies to make big profits from bottled water that, in some cases, is taken right from the tap.

However, according to the California water board, bottled water companies use 2.6 billion gallons of the water supply every year. That's a drop in the bucket compared to city residents who use 2.4 trillion gallons, and agriculture which uses 8.6 trillion gallons.

The companies say they're monitoring the water situation and will adjust if necessary. But there is a perception problem. Starbucks recently decided to move its bottled water operation out of the state to Pennsylvania.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-drought-walmart-water-bottle-companies-criticized-for-water-usage/

[Wrightwood]

[lagomorphmom]

Dare to dream:
http://www.weatherwest.com/archives/3124

So far, this El Nino is not behaving like last year's at this point in time anyway.

[Phyto Guy]

  Pertaining to cemeteries. The reason that turf (grass) is used in that industry is ease of maintenance thus cost effectiveness. Headstones that sit upright are not allowed in most cemeteries because mowers and other implements must go around them. The turf used in the areas are rather drought resistant and very rugged, allowing for foot traffic and heartiness of disease and insect problems.  The cost of water increasing may force the businesses to use gravel. Plant materials, upkeep and walking paths would most likely make the cost of funerals untenable for most. To be sure, a change is likely, but the answers are not as simple as it may seem at first. As landscape styles, materials and maintenance equipment change every so many years, so may that industry.
 .

[ad astra]

[Cheapskate]

Ah, the rhythms of spring...birdsong...swarms of ladybugs...the Amgen Tour of California...and a prediction that NEXT YEAR'S winter will be a wet El Nino-driven doozy.  I suppose that, one of these years, the prediction is bound to be correct!  :-)

[Joe Schmoe]

My off the wall crackpot theory is earthquakes.  Our drought really got going after the Japan earthquake in 2011.  Our weather pattern seemed to shift after the Nepal earthquake with these late-season storms.  There have been articles describing the amount the ground lifted and fell around the epicenter.  Even though the Japan earthquake was in the ocean, you have to wonder if there is some long shot connection.

[TimG]

Some serious confirmation bias there, joe-- there are a dozen earthquakes that large every year

[Joe Schmoe]

Just a SWAG.  Both did occur upstream of us weather-wise.  The Himalayas are a big weather influencer.  Some of it dropped as much as 5 feet.  You can't deny that must have some effect.  Maybe it only takes a little to shift the patterns a little?

[TimG]

I think I few feet of uplift changing global weather patterns is a real stretch.

But one interesting thing did happen with that aftershock -- I like to follow fringe theories that probably aren't true, just for fun, and there's this idea that "earthspots," which are geomagnetic loops equivalent to sunspots, and space weather can trigger earthquakes. A coronal mass ejection that caused the G2 magnetic storm on Tuesday hit the earth right above Nepal right before the quake.  I don't really buy it either, but there are so many anecdotes about earthquake lights and sprites that it remains interesting.

http://www.suspicious0bservers.org/sun-trigger-large-earthquakes/

[Elk]

[Wrightwood]

This posting I made in Feb 2004 was sent to me by a friend and worth re-posting

It's more serious than most people realize.

During Decembers Winter OPs meeting at Big Pines the featured speaker was Ed Clark from NOAA in San Diego. He stated that the next 2-3 decades will be relatively dry. This winters temperatures will be above normal and will continue through next winter. Precipitation during the wet months of Dec-Jan-Feb-Mar will be dry and he seems to be right so far.

He went on to say that we can have brief periods where we get a lot of moisture but the overall trend shown by all models will be drought like conditions like we've been seeing.

[Wrightwood]

[RobertW]

A number of Giant Sequoia or Redwood trees were planted in the 20's and 30's around Big Pines.  I looks like all of the ones planted at Vincent Gap are dying as well.  So far the ones in front of the Big Pines stations seem to be doing alright.