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California Needs Change With Water

February 17, 2015
st0216-03

Snow levels in the Northwest region and various parts of Arizona are less than half their normal historic levels.

The National Geographic Organization recently stated that California might be heading into its 4th consecutive year of drought. The statement was made after annually checking the water that was trapped in the mountains snow.

Mountain snows are one-third of the water supply for California.

Obviously this is horrible news that we have been dealing with for 3 years, and to add onto the situation, no one has direct control of this disheartening situation. We can of course use less water, but that doesn’t technically correlate to gaining back the yearly net of water that is wanted and needed.

It’s not only the amount of water in the snowpack that is vital to this issue, but also the way in which the snow locks the water into place. In a sense, it works as a reservoir that gradually releases the water as the snow melts during the spring and summer seasons.

The release of the water helps keep man-made reservoirs filled during the hottest times of the year. However, these reservoirs were well below their historic levels this year.

“Clearly not good news,” said Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program, which tracks snow conditions. “With this paltry a snowpack, the runoff is going to be pretty sparse.”

In reality, the trouble extends far beyond California and affects the rest of our country. Snow levels in the Northwest region and various parts of Arizona are less than half their normal historic levels. This has not only affected natural resource conservation efforts, but also domestic environmental policies in each respective region.

January was a dry month, leaving parts of the state on track to set records for the driest ever in recorded history. These hot temperatures melted the already little snowpack that existed in these reservoirs.

Expert analysis shows estimates that it will take months of cooler temperature to bring the snow levels back to normal. Unfortunately, our weather forecasts have predicted that we are going to be in the dry spell for quite some time. The National Weather Service is predicting higher than average temperatures through April for much of the western states.

 

st0216-03-1 Steven Gi
Campbell High School 10th Grade

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