NASA: California Has One Year of Water Left
by Daniel Nussbaum14 Mar 2015
In an op-ed
for the Los Angeles Times, NASA senior water
scientist Jay Famiglietti warned that California
only has about one year’s worth of water supply left in its snowpack,
reservoirs, and groundwater storage. If conservation efforts are not ramped up,
and soon, the state could be facing a full-blown “crisis.”
NASA satellite data reportedly shows that the state’s
water supply level was 34 million acre-feet below normal in 2014.
Unfortunately, this year’s numbers indicate anything but improvement.
January of 2015 was the driest
since the state began keeping rainfall records in 1895. Earlier this month, the
Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced that the water content of
snowpack measured at the Philips snow course in the Sierra Nevada mountains was just
0.9
inches, or 5 percent of the state’s March average. That water
content level set a new, undesirable state record.
As for California’s underground supply, NASA has been sounding
the alarm about dropping groundwater levels since October of last
year. The rate of groundwater pumping has only increased since then. According
to Famiglietti, a full two-thirds of the state’s 12 million acre-feet loss in
water supply per year is due to excessive groundwater pumping.
While some recent minor storms brought in by a weak El Nino
system allowed DWR to raise
its state water allocation to 20%, the storms have done nothing to
replenish the state’s reservoirs and snowpack, the most critical sources of
drinking water for California residents. And farmers continue to get burned
from both ends, as what little water supply they would have access to
continually gets choked
off by state bureaucrats.
“In short, we have no paddle to navigate this crisis,”
Famiglietti wrote in the Times.
Still, the NASA scientist laid out several measures that
could be taken immediately to help mitigate the worst of the drought’s effects.
With near-total awareness (94%)
among the public of the seriousness of the state’s drought, Famiglietti
urges California to implement state-wide mandatory water rationing, a
step that has already
previously been taken by cities like Santa Cruz on a voluntary
basis.
“There is no need for the rest of the state to hesitate,”
Famiglietti suggests.
Second, the scientist urges the swift implementation of the Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act of 2014, a law that mandates the creation
of regional groundwater sustainability agencies by 2017. At its current pace of
implementation, Famiglietti argues, “it will be 30 years before we even know
what is working. By then, there may be no groundwater left to sustain.”
Finally, Famiglietti wants California to create a task force
of the state’s foremost water experts, independent of the agencies and
organizations that have already been founded in response to the drought. This
task force would plan long-term strategies to combat water shortages, including
exploring methods of countering a potential “mega-drought”
that could last up to 35 years.
California and other Western states look set to
break March heat records this weekend through early next week.
California in particular is expected to see temperatures rise 20 degrees higher
than normal for this time of year.
Famiglietti writes in the Times that
California is losing the initiative: “Today, not tomorrow, is the
time to begin.”
California
Environmentalists & Jerry Brown Share Responsibility
for California’s Water Crisis
Patrick Dorinson
By Patrick Dorinson
Host of The Cowboy Libertarian Radio Talk Show in Sacramento
Wednesday, January 29th, 2014
Note: Jerry Brown is the California state government governor,
and Kathleen L. Brown’s brother.
Kathleen L. Brown
was the California state government treasurer,
is
Jerry Brown’s
sister, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
R.
Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin
LLP, and is an advocate for the ONE
Campaign.
WaterPartners
International is a partner with the ONE
Campaign, and a merged organization with Water.org.
Michael R.
Bloomberg is an advocate for the ONE
Campaign, and the founder of the Bloomberg
Family Foundation.
Bloomberg
Family Foundation was a funder for the Sierra
Club, and the Aspen Institute (think
tank).
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP, and is the president for the Barack
Obama administration.
Newton
N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
David
D. Hiller was a partner at Sidley
Austin LLP, the publisher & president & CEO for the Los Angeles Times, and is a member of
the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Robert S. Osborne
is a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, and was the EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen Hamilton.
Steve Isakowitz
was a senior consultant for Booz Allen
Hamilton, and the deputy chief financial officer for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
William A. Anders
was an astronaut for the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the chairman & CEO for
the General Dynamics Corporation.
James
M. Beggs was an administrator for the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the EVP for the General Dynamics Corporation.
James S.
Crown is a director at the General
Dynamics Corporation, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and
a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Lester Crown
was a director at the General Dynamics
Corporation, a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank),
and is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think
tank), and the People for the
American Way.
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
L.
John Doerr is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a
director at the ONE Campaign.
WaterPartners
International is a partner with the ONE
Campaign, and a merged organization with Water.org.
Matt
Damon is an advocate for the ONE
Campaign, a co-founder for Water.org,
a co-founder for the H2O Africa
Foundation, and a William Morris
Endeavor Entertainment client.
H2O Africa
Foundation is a merged organization with Water.org, and a partner with the ONE Campaign.
Ari
Emanuel is the co-CEO & director for William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, and Rahm I. Emanuel’s brother.
Rahm
I. Emanuel is Ari Emanuel’s
brother, a member of the Commercial Club
of Chicago, the Chicago (IL) mayor,
and was the White House chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.
Barbra Streisand
is a William Morris Endeavor
Entertainment client, and the founder of the Barbra Streisand Foundation.
Margery Tabankin
is the treasurer for the Barbra
Streisand Foundation, and a director at People for the American Way.
People
for the American Way is a national partner with America Votes.
Sierra
Club is a national partner with America
Votes.
Cecile Richards
was the founder & president for America
Votes, and is the president of the Planned
Parenthood Federation of America.
Barbra
Streisand Foundation was a funder for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the People for the American Way, and the Aspen Institute (think
tank).
Norman
Lear is a director at People for the
American Way, and the president of the Lear
Family Foundation.
Lear
Family Foundation was a funder for the People
for the American Way, and a donor for the Movement Resource Group.
Movement
Resource Group was a funder for the Occupy
Movement.
Occupy Movement
was the initial protest for Occupy Wall
Street.
Zuccotti Park
was the staging area for the 2011 NYC protests for Occupy Wall Street.
Brookfield
Office Properties is the owner of Zuccotti
Park.
Diana
L. Taylor was a director for the Brookfield
Office Properties, and Michael R.
Bloomberg’s companion.
Michael R.
Bloomberg is Diana L. Taylor’s companion,
and an advocate for the ONE Campaign.
WaterPartners
International is a partner with the ONE
Campaign, and a merged organization with Water.org.
Michelle
Obama is an advocate for the ONE
Campaign, and was a lawyer at Sidley
Austin LLP.
David
D. Hiller was a partner at Sidley
Austin LLP, the publisher & president & CEO for the Los Angeles Times, and is a member of
the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of
Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Valerie B. Jarrett
is a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, and the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration.
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and was a managing director at
Booz Allen Hamilton.
Robert S. Osborne
is a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, and was the EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen Hamilton.
Steve Isakowitz
was a senior consultant for Booz Allen
Hamilton, and the deputy chief financial officer for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
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