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Water Troubles

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raison de arizona
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Water Troubles

#276

Post by raison de arizona »

raison de arizona wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 12:52 pm
pipistrelle wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 12:31 pm
Arizona city cuts off a neighborhood’s water supply amid drought

Some living here amid the cactus and creosote bushes see themselves as the first domino to fall as the Colorado River tips further into crisis. On Jan. 1, the city of Scottsdale, which gets the majority of its water from the Colorado River, cut off Rio Verde Foothills from the municipal water supply that it has relied on for decades. The result is a disorienting and frightening lack of certainty about how residents will find enough water as their tanks run down in coming weeks, with a bitter political feud impacting possible solutions.
Gift link: https://wapo.st/3XAKSKF
The water district plan — which supporters say would give them long-term access to a reliable source of water — was rejected in August by the Maricopa County supervisors. The supervisor for the area, Thomas Galvin, said he opposed adding a new layer of government to a community that prizes its freedom, particularly one run by neighbors with the authority to condemn property to build infrastructure.
Bunch of yahoos who want the benefits of civilization without the obligations of civilization.
Lots of sympathetic coverage on this in local talk radio. My feeling is, you built in a county island because you didn't want to follow the rules of a city. You knew that there were no services in the area, and you would have to fend for yourself. Now do so. Dig a well. Truck water in from the places that will sell it to you. Fend for yourself! This whole thumbing of one's nose at polite society that lives in cities and then whining that the city stopped providing you services just rubs me the wrong way. :violin:
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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Lani
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#277

Post by Lani »

Update on the Red Hill disaster. Yet another tank leaked, adding more chemicals to the ground and possibly reaching the aquifer. The EPA & Navy reached an agreement, but our Board of Water Supply (BWS) and DOH are not included in reaching the proposed EPA order.

BWS listed the problems with the proposed EPA agreement:

- does not contain clear deadlines for completing the work;​
- does not contain strict penalties for noncompliance;
- ​​lacks opportunities for stakeholder and public participation;
- does not contain actions to address the latest release of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) concentrate containing polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS);
- may conflict with existing Hawaii Department of Health's Emergency Order, enforcement actions, and the existing Administrative Order on Consent
from 2015;
- DOH is not part of this proposed Consent Order, and BWS may not be allowed to test the water on Navy land;
- It is premature given that the full extent of the damages to the environment, including our water resources, are unknown;
- 104 million gallons of jet fuel and diesel are still stored at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility - over our aquifer.

BTW, the Red Hill storage facility is 80 years old.

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/video/202 ... ter-wells/
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pipistrelle
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Water Troubles

#278

Post by pipistrelle »

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#279

Post by RTH10260 »

New York investors snapping up Colorado River water rights, betting big on an increasingly scarce resource

BY BEN TRACY, ANDY BAST, CHRIS SPINDER
JANUARY 31, 2023 / 7:41 AM / CBS NEWS

With the federal government poised to force Western states to change how they manage the alarming shortfall in Colorado River water, there is one constituency with a growing interest in the river's fate that's little known to some: Wall Street investors.

Private investment firms are showing a growing interest in an increasingly scarce natural resource in the American West: water in the Colorado River, a joint investigation by CBS News and The Weather Channel has found. For some of the farmers and cities that depend on the river as a lifeline, that interest is concerning.

"Our only source of water is the Colorado," says Joe Bernal, who raises cattle and grows crops on land across Colorado's Grand Valley, relying on water from the drought-depleted Colorado River.

"That's all we've got is that river," he says.

Bernal's family came to the Grand Valley nearly 100 years ago, and he has lived there his whole life.

But now, he has a new neighbor: a New York-based investment firm called Water Asset Management, which he says bought a farm in the valley around 2017 that Bernal now rents and helps operate.

According to public records, the hedge fund — which is headquartered on Madison Avenue in Manhattan — has bought at least $20 million worth of land in Western Colorado in the last five years, making it one of the largest landowners in the Grand Valley.

The hedge fund, founded in 2005, says it invests exclusively in assets and companies that ensure water supply and quality. In 2021, its co-founder and president, Matthew Diserio, called water in the United States "a trillion-dollar market opportunity."

Bernal says that when first heard of the firm, he was concerned.

"Would I have invited them here? No." Bernal says. "Am I glad that there's a big company here buying properties in our valley, under our system? Not really."

Andy Mueller, general manager of the Colorado River Water Conservation District, says he doesn't think the firm wants much with the land.

"It's the water," Mueller says.



https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-york-i ... -resource/
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#280

Post by AndyinPA »

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate- ... perts-say/
Lake Powell, a man-made reservoir that sits along the Colorado River on the Arizona-Utah border, generates electricity for about 4.5 million people. It is also a key part of the Colorado River Basin system, which supplies water to more than 40 million people. As of last week, its water levels fell to 3,522 feet above sea level, which is the lowest seen since the structure was filled in the 1960s. It’s now just 22 percent full, and unprecedented cuts in states’ water usage are necessary to avoid dire consequences.

“There’s too little supply and too much demand,” said Brad Udall, a water and climate scientist at Colorado State University. “Ultimately, I think what we’re going to see here is some major rewriting of Western water law.”

“We’re seeing a collision right now between 19th century water law, 20th century infrastructure and 21st century population and climate change,” Udall added. “And how this works out is anybody’s guess.”
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears… To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies." -Octavia E. Butler
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pipistrelle
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Water Troubles

#281

Post by pipistrelle »

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#282

Post by humblescribe »

We're supposed to receive a modest storm arriving Wednesday morning, tapering off and then resuming Thursday into Friday, with snow levels as low as 1,500 feet. That level is pretty unusual for late February.

Then a series of storms will pummel California for about four days next week. These will be warmer but more intense. We'll see what the March 1 measurements will be in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges after these storms blow through.

LADWP has announced that they will not be taking any water from the Mono Lake Basin until fall. All runoff will flow into Mono Lake, and they think that the lake level will rise about two feet. That said, the level is still about 10 feet shy of the agreed level that was signed off by the courts in the mid-90s. Their reservoirs in the Owens Valley are projected to be full throughout the summer.
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go." O. Wilde
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pipistrelle
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#283

Post by pipistrelle »

What are DeSantis and Abbott doing about drought in Florida and Texas?

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raison de arizona
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#284

Post by raison de arizona »

Abbott declared the drought a disaster, releasing nebulous resources to cope with it.
https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governo ... nuary-2023
Not sure what else. I’m not aware of DeSantis doing anything.
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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AndyinPA
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#285

Post by AndyinPA »

He's too busy fighting wokeness. He doesn't have time to govern.
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears… To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies." -Octavia E. Butler
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#286

Post by Volkonski »

raison de arizona wrote: Sun Mar 05, 2023 12:02 am Abbott declared the drought a disaster, releasing nebulous resources to cope with it.
https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governo ... nuary-2023
Not sure what else. I’m not aware of DeSantis doing anything.
Here the local city and county governments are following their previously prepared drought response plans. I have not heard about any state involvement here.

Because of recent rains, our reservoirs have risen from a low of 60% of capacity to 60.4%. Every little bit helps. ;)
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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Water Troubles

#287

Post by raison de arizona »

A different sort of water trouble.
Hospital’s water purification system stripped out chlorine, killing 3 patients

Water purification systems installed in two ice machines in a Boston hospital were supposed to make the water taste and smell better for patients on a surgery floor—but it ended up killing three of them, an investigation found.

The purification systems inadvertently stripped chlorine from the municipal tap water, allowing bacteria normally found at low levels to flourish and form biofilms inside the machines. This led to infections in four vulnerable cardiac-surgery patients who had prolonged stays on the hospital floor. Three of them died of their infections.

Researchers detailed the case cluster and ensuing investigation in a study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"Our cluster demonstrates the risk for unintended consequences associated with systems designed to improve hospital water," the researchers—led by Michael Klompas, who works at the hospital and is a professor in Harvard's department of population medicine—concluded.
:snippity:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/03 ... ients/amp/
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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Water Troubles

#288

Post by RTH10260 »

crossposting


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#289

Post by RTH10260 »

by our flying reporter


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Azastan
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#290

Post by Azastan »

Thanks again, we are always interested in the situation around Yuba City and Marysville.
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#291

Post by RTH10260 »

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much ado
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#292

Post by much ado »

Here's a link to the California Dept of Water Resources online graph of the Lake Oroville storage level. (Scroll down for the graph.) It is updated daily, so it does not yet show today's release. The cyan area is the average level by date in the water year.

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/resapp/ResDetail?resid=ORO

ETA: They don't update the graph on weekends.
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#293

Post by Phoenix520 »

:biggrin: rth, that’s the river where mr520 and I met while rafting!! It was quite a bit lower, like at 450cfs.

He’s headed to AZ today to run the Salt River. 🙄
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#294

Post by RTH10260 »

more water


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much ado
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#295

Post by much ado »

In case you are interested...

The snow pack in the Sierra Nevada provides most of California's water during the summer. Here are graphs of the current Snow Water Content (SWC) in the snow pack of the Sierra Nevada as reported by the California Dept of Water Resources.

Four graphs are shown: North Sierra, Central Sierra, South Sierra, and a summary for the State.

The current graphs are usually updated daily except for most weekend days. The web interface through a browser allows the user to select any water year since 2000-01 plus the very wet 1982-82 and 1997-98 years (the mobile interface only shows some fixed water years).

The link: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/swcchart.action

The bottom part of each graph is colored cyan to show the average SWC during the water year. The average SWC is shown to peak about April 1. The graph is the percentage of the April 1 average by date. If the line is in the cyan region, the SWC is below average for that date; if above, it is above average for that date. The percent of Normal SWC for the current date is shown in the upper right corner of the graph.

The default is to show the current water year with the wettest year (1982-83) and the driest year (2014-15) for comparison.

I've selected the four wettest years since 1982. These graphs (as of March 11) indicate that the current year has a chance to become the wettest water year in the past 40 years.

Image

In the South Sierra, the SWC is currently more that 2.5 times the average for March 11 at 255%. The percentage of April 1 average SWC is 244%. It will probably go off the chart this coming week.

For the State as a whole, the SWC is creeping above the line for the wettest year.

More rain is in the forecast for California.
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much ado
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#296

Post by much ado »

If you want to see how much of an outlier the current water year is, I've plotted all 25 years since 1982 available through the interface...

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#297

Post by RTH10260 »

the blancoliro channel reports the historical snippets from the spillway failure in 2019


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Azastan
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#298

Post by Azastan »

I will be watching with great interest over the next few days.

Apparently the PNW is also in for heavy rain this coming week. The horses have told me they are tired of mud and are anxiously waiting for their pastures to dry out so they can get out there and do some grazing on fresh grass.
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#299

Post by humblescribe »

Azastan wrote: Sat Mar 11, 2023 9:14 pm I will be watching with great interest over the next few days.

Apparently the PNW is also in for heavy rain this coming week. The horses have told me they are tired of mud and are anxiously waiting for their pastures to dry out so they can get out there and do some grazing on fresh grass.
They wouldn't be part of The Friends of Distinction, would they? :mrgreen: I could dig it; they could dig it.
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#300

Post by humblescribe »

For completeness, here is the Eastern Sierra, courtesy Los Angeles Department of Water and Power:
Current Precip Conditions-8.pdf
(162.47 KiB) Downloaded 53 times
These measurements are not all inclusive; they only consider watershed that finds its way into the Los Angeles Aqueduct, essentially the Mono Basin south. Bishop Creek and Lee Vining Creeks are omitted; perhaps it is because Southern California Edison maintains those streams for their hydro.
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