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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Aug 13, 2016 - 12:02pm PT
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RickyD, should I come across anything, or hear of it from Jeff, I'll try to remember to let you in on it. Otay?
I saw this in the newstand on the tenth of August, a copy of the Mariposa Gazette.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Aug 16, 2016 - 09:03pm PT
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Amid punishing drought, feds pessimistic for Lake Mead's future
LAS VEGAS -- Amid punishing drought, federal water managers are projecting - by a very narrow margin - that Lake Mead won't have enough water to make full deliveries to Nevada and Arizona in 2018.
Drought reveals historic sights under Lake Mead
A 24-month projection released Tuesday comes with the largest Colorado River reservoir 36 percent full.
So if we can't fill the ones we have, how will we fill any new ones????
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amid-punishing-drought-feds-pessimistic-for-lake-meads-future/
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Ricky D
Trad climber
Sierra Westside
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Aug 16, 2016 - 09:36pm PT
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You said a mouthful Dean.
I helped with a tree count a few weeks back where we counted dead pines within a private development of approximately 220 acres at the 5000 foot zone of the western Sierra. Called the Yellow Pine Zone - it is 75% pinus species with the rest a mix of incense cedar and black oak.
We concentrated on getting a tally of obvious beetle killed trees with inspections of any pine over 8 inches at DBH.
We estimated that of the approximately 9600-9700 various pine trees in the area 65% were obviously red and dead and another 18% showed yellowing of the canopy and/or heavy pitch tubing.
The sad part is that three years ago we did a massive FireWise purge of undergrowth and saplings to meet the thinning suggestions of the Forest Service. Now we are wishing we had those saplings back so at least some pine tree will still stand 20 years from now.
What all are wondering is what happens to an ecosystem when it loses 70-80% of it's tree biomass virtually at once? Could not help but notice the obvious falloff in number of chickarees and grey squirrels we would normally have seen. On the other hand - the woodpecker population is up big time!
In the end, our Forest Service Advisor tells us that this Beetle Plague will not end for another year and then only due to lack of food as they will have killed 80-90% of the pine forests in the Southern and Central Sierra.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Aug 18, 2016 - 10:31am PT
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Ricky, you seem tuned into the issues of a healthy forest, but many are not. One of the biggest problems is what people consider "normal". For most of us, we have only lived in the time of fire protection, so we think of an overgrown forest as "normal", when it is actually very unhealthy. Trees compete for food and water, and when they are packed together, they are impared, and ripe for the beetles.
Suppression of fire has had a lot to do with this.
One of my favorite example of this is the following picture, comparing the same spot about 100 years apart. The first is before fire protection, and the second, after.
In the first, you can see long distances, in the second, you can't see 5 feet.
THE LEFT IS A NATURAL FOREST!!!
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Aug 18, 2016 - 11:02am PT
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Malemute's post sort of answers the OP's question in a grim manner.
I'm glad as hell I stopped using a mechanical slave to get around back when I did.
My carbon footprint is so much less than it could have been.
There is a solution, and Ma Nature is working on it.
She's gonna reduce our numbers significantly whether we do anything or not.
We will just keep breeding and building infrastructure and dreaming of getting off the planet.
*sigh*
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Aug 18, 2016 - 06:23pm PT
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I wish we could send our rain your way. This has been the wettest sumer since 1928 in SW Alberta
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August West
Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
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Aug 30, 2016 - 03:40pm PT
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Boy, that sure looks like there are going to be some massive forest fires in the not-to-distant future.
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Paul Martzen
Trad climber
Fresno
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Aug 30, 2016 - 07:54pm PT
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There have been some stories on the radio recently discussing the effect of hotter weather on fires. The theme was that the number of dead trees was not that important for fires. The main factor was simply hot weather. With hot enough weather, trees burn whether they are dead or alive. I thought that was interesting. I have driven around a tiny bit on the edges of the Rough Fire from last year. For the most part the trees are still standing. The fire just took their branches and left the trunks.
In one area up on the NF Kings there is a large stand of dead pine trees. The fire blackened a long narrow area into the dead stand, but left most of the stand untouched. Weird! I saw that about a month after the fire while a few areas were still smoldering.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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I heard on NPR today that Californicators used 114 gallons of water
PER FOOKING PERSON PER DAY so far this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How many fooking times do you have to flush the damn toilet?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Oct 17, 2016 - 11:07am PT
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The Canuckians are trying hard to blow things out of perspective so they can sell us their water.
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10b4me
Mountain climber
Retired
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Oct 17, 2016 - 11:27am PT
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It rained from about midnight to eight this morning, here in the Peoples Republic of SoCal. Not hard, but not a drizzle either.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Oct 17, 2016 - 11:47am PT
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On Sat-Sunday it rained 2.9" at my place in the Santa Cruz mtns.
That's the first rain of the season and the most rain we've had in one storm since Nov 2011 when I started keeping records. It's also the most accumulated rain we've had before late November.
The ground is so dry all the water disappeared as soon as it fell unless it was on pavement.
The forecast for the week is temps rising to 83 by Friday. Not a hint of precipitation.
Of course 1 event means nothing so we'll see how the rest of the season turns out.
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 17, 2016 - 12:04pm PT
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So it is still a bit dry back home, eh? Not so here in Ireland.
Dingus, can you delete your post ^^^ so I can be post 1956, the year I was born? Hah hah.
I guess maybe I'll start putting my birth year as 1957.
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nita
Social climber
chica de chico, I don't claim to be a daisy.
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Oct 17, 2016 - 12:24pm PT
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*
Yosemite Falls today!!
Lassen Today
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 17, 2016 - 02:03pm PT
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Dingus you are a star, thanks a million. I knew I was a '56 baby.
Folks, I am working on a solution. California sunshine for Irish rain and vice versa. Still some small glitches and small details to work out (okay, maybe not so small). More to come (rain that is).
Writing this makes me feel parched.
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August West
Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
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Oct 21, 2016 - 03:26pm PT
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I heard on NPR today that Californicators used 114 gallons of water
PER FOOKING PERSON PER DAY so far this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How many fooking times do you have to flush the damn toilet?
This type of statistic isn't very useful. If you live some place like Sacramento where the water supply comes from a river and the sewage goes back into it, flushing the toilet doesn't really consume any water. The water leaves the river, comes into your house, and then goes back to the river and is still available for downstream users.
The main consumption is lawn watering. That water is no longer available to downstream users.
For some towns, such as those that are using well water where the water table is dropping, any water use could be problematic. Although even there, the return sewage could be treated and put back in the water supply.
And household use is trivial compared to agriculture and the minimum river flows needed for the environment.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Oct 22, 2016 - 01:30pm PT
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Water is the key to living in a desert.
This is a desert where I live.
We have been using too much well water.
We will never run out of land.
The water wells will run dry.
Then where will we be?
Still in a f*#king desert.
Without water.
When this drought ends we will stick our heads back in the sand.
This is what always happens.
The kids at UC Merced should have a mandatory drought awareness class.
If I had more than this two cents I'd share more.
You're welcome to these two.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Oct 23, 2016 - 10:43am PT
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it's easy to get into a panic, but that is not warranted.
We have solutions that can work for whatever is needed....it may be costly, but it is doable.
But who wants to burn money?
The key is to do things in a deliberate, thoughtful way.
The value of the 114 gal/day is to allow a comparison---with one's self, and with other localities.
In LA, the number is 110---however, that includes industrial, business, recreation--all use of water, divided by number of people. If you look at residential ONLY, it is around 87 gal pp/pd. That is very good.
However, Sydney Aus residential usage is about 30 gal/day.
One of the difficult things I find, is to get people to envision that it is possible to use less. For many, it is inconceivable.
I was quite surprised to find that the water usage in poorer neighborhoods of LA is WAY less than in richer neighborhoods. They can't afford to be wasting, I guess.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Oct 23, 2016 - 10:50am PT
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LA has the advantage of being large enough to employ people who are really knowledgeable and skilled in water management. Smaller localities would be challenged to scale that down.
For example, the Mayor 3 years ago issued a directive that we should cut our use of imported water by 50% by 2025. We are on track to do that.
UCLA's Grand Challenge is working toward 100% local sourcing of water, and 100% renewable energy by 2050.
You have to set high goals.
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