THURSDAY, SEPT. 15, 2016 BEST BEST & KRIEGER LLP Bill Patzert – NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
“California is still in a drought. For now, maybe forever.” Bill Patzert WHAT IS DROUGHT? Less than ‘normal’ rain = H 2 O Shortage Scientific – departure from history Droughts normal in all climatic zones Deficient precip > mucho crop damage H 2 O Demand > H 2 O Supply Unsustainable Use of H 2 O Supplies Drought History of American West: Serious Social & Economic Impacts
Los Angeles’ five-year rainfall total hits bottom marked the driest five consecutive rainy seasons on record in downtown L.A inches* Record Drought Continues = 9.60” Driest 5 years Ever! *Normal would be 75.0 inches IN U.S. WEST, DROUGHT BEGAN 16 YEARS AGO!
Lake Mead = Bill’s Drought Guage 16 Year Drop! Hits Historical Low Level! Today = 1074 feet! (37% full) RECORD!
DRY 12.9” Jerry Brown CA Governor J. B. Again now DROUGHTS ARE LONG!
DROUGHTS ARE LARGE!
Los Niños ‘Can’ Double Rain 38.32" ’05 ‘Normally’ 7 of 10 Years Drier than ‘Average’ ‘Normal’ is not ‘Average’!
Feb ’98 Los Angeles (13.68”) Pasadena (16.87”) Not ‘Normal’ Niño! Puny Rain!
El Niño Dissed SoCal! Godzilla Gecko Did El Niño Deliver?
LONG-TERM, LOS NIÑOS SATISFY ONLY 7% OF CALIFORNIA’S H 2 O SUPPLY! MYTH BUSTER
Forecasting El Niño Rains for California Ain’t for Sissies!
No Doubt Up To Us
L.A L.A It’s us! In a semi-arid region, growth creates drought!
Forest Service counted 66 million dead trees from 2010 to 2015! Progressive Forest Canopy Water Stress, 2011 to 2015! Punishing Environmental Impacts
CA H 2 0 = Environment + Agriculture + Urban & Industry Gross = 25% 60% 15% Who Consumes California H 2 O? 80%EPA 20% Net =
The 800 lb. Gorilla in the H 2 O Business!
Uses 80-90% of Available H 2 O AGRICULTURE IS CALIFORNIA’S 800 lb. ‘H 2 O GORILLA’! 2% of CA’s $2.5x10 9 Economy Urban/Industry Get 10-20% CA’s Ag ~$60x10 6 (13% U.S.)
Overpumping of Central Valley groundwater creating a crisis Central Valley Aquifer H 2 O is 10-20,000 years old and being pumped by >100,000 unregulated, unmetered wells!
AQUIFER THE INFINITE AQUIFER MYTH! Overdrafting of CA aquifers increasing! NASA satellites measured that in the combined Sacramento and San Joaquin River basins, including the Central Valley, overdrafting from 2011 to 2014 was 12,000,000 acre feet of water/year.acre feet
Can Fracking & Clean H 2 O Coexist? CA Oil Frackers Monterey Shale Drinking Water Los Angeles County sits atop the U.S.’s largest urban oil field, which produced 24 million barrels of oil in 2013 from 3,750 active oil wells.
I’m not happy! Get me a lawyer! No fair - smelts, farmers, oil drillers & city slickers are getting my water!
Champs & Chumps a) Metro Water District of SoCal b) SGV Water Quality Authority c) CA Water Resources Control Board d) Drought vs. Deluge Pricing e) CA Legislature AWOL Solutions! a) H 2 O Efficiency Revolution b) Cleanup/Use CA Ground H 2 O More c) Fairly Manage/Allocate H 2 O d) How We Price “Free” H 2 O e) Revisit CA H 2 O Laws?
IF BUSINESS AS USUAL, SPOT THE PACKAGE THAT “PROBABLY” WON’T BREAK! FOREVER DROUGHT
Out of Drought? Continue to Conserve? No Way! Absolutely? WHY?
Global Temperature Change ( ) RECORD!
It’s not that global warming is like a world war. It is a world war. And we are losing. It’s not that global warming is like a world war. It is a world war! And we are losing. - Bill McKibbon - War to Wean World off Fossil Fuels