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"content": "\u003cp>Prospects for a wet winter are brightening, if predictions for the state’s “great wet hope” pan out. The \u003ca href=\"http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html\">ocean conditions\u003c/a> known as El Niño appear to be strengthening — but a parched California is still months away from relief — if it comes at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal forecasters now say that \u003ca href=\"http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/\">chances are 90 percent\u003c/a> of an El Niño persisting through the coming winter — and the odds are nearly as good — 80 percent — that the tropical Pacific will stay warmer than normal into the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But what matters just as much is how warm those waters are; only \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2014/09/01/drought-myth-busting-why-el-nino-wont-save-california/\">the so-called “strong” events\u003c/a> are reliable rainmakers for California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Going forward right now we do favor a strong event,” says Mike Halpert, deputy director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Certainly at this point we don’t see this thing weakening and fading away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_105237\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 649px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/07/ElNino_NOAA_150701.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-105237\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/07/ElNino_NOAA_150701.png\" alt=\"An El Nino forms when the usual easterly trade winds subside, allowing surface waters to warm along the equator.\" width=\"649\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/07/ElNino_NOAA_150701.png 649w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/07/ElNino_NOAA_150701-400x255.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 649px) 100vw, 649px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An El Nino forms when the usual easterly trade winds subside, allowing surface waters to warm along the equator. \u003ccite>(NOAA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Others are also bullish on a big event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not a puny El Niño but a Godzilla El Niño,” adds Bill Patzert, a climatologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is much stronger than we’ve seen — this is the biggest signal since 1997.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was that last one that Patzert would assign “Godzilla” status. That winter San Francisco got double its usual rainfall and the state was pounded with rain and snow, causing major flooding and landslides. While that could happen this time, it would also top up badly depleted reservoirs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every week this drought gets more and more punishing and by the time we hit the fall, you know everybody is definitely going to be on El Niño alert.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, the alert might be tempered a bit by memories of last year’s “El Wimpo,” the moniker that landed on an El Niño that didn’t amount to much — and certainly produced no big rains for California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I won’t say it’s night and day compared to last year,” says NOAA’s Halpert, “but certainly last year we never involved the atmosphere as the ocean temperature warmed and the ocean never really got as warm as we currently are, so there’s a big difference.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patzert says not quite all the pieces are in place; he’s still looking for a key ingredient in the El Niño recipe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not quite there yet,” he cautions. “The temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific are definitely building. It’s very warm out there — but what we have not seen is a large-scale collapse of the trade winds systems, which is really the critical piece.” (El Niño is not to be confused with the current “blob” of warm ocean water lingering along the California coast — they are completely separate, driven by different mechanisms.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patzert says it would be a mistake to relax water conservation efforts throughout California. State water managers have echoed that. They too well remember last year, when early hype over El Niño may have given Californians false hope, undermining calls for water conservation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s still time for this El Niño to disappoint us,” Patzert cautions. “Don’t cash in your 401-k and invest in umbrellas…yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Prospects for a wet winter are brightening, if predictions for the state’s “great wet hope” pan out. The \u003ca href=\"http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html\">ocean conditions\u003c/a> known as El Niño appear to be strengthening — but a parched California is still months away from relief — if it comes at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal forecasters now say that \u003ca href=\"http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/\">chances are 90 percent\u003c/a> of an El Niño persisting through the coming winter — and the odds are nearly as good — 80 percent — that the tropical Pacific will stay warmer than normal into the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But what matters just as much is how warm those waters are; only \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2014/09/01/drought-myth-busting-why-el-nino-wont-save-california/\">the so-called “strong” events\u003c/a> are reliable rainmakers for California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Going forward right now we do favor a strong event,” says Mike Halpert, deputy director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Certainly at this point we don’t see this thing weakening and fading away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_105237\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 649px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/07/ElNino_NOAA_150701.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-105237\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/07/ElNino_NOAA_150701.png\" alt=\"An El Nino forms when the usual easterly trade winds subside, allowing surface waters to warm along the equator.\" width=\"649\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/07/ElNino_NOAA_150701.png 649w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/07/ElNino_NOAA_150701-400x255.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 649px) 100vw, 649px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An El Nino forms when the usual easterly trade winds subside, allowing surface waters to warm along the equator. \u003ccite>(NOAA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Others are also bullish on a big event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not a puny El Niño but a Godzilla El Niño,” adds Bill Patzert, a climatologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is much stronger than we’ve seen — this is the biggest signal since 1997.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was that last one that Patzert would assign “Godzilla” status. That winter San Francisco got double its usual rainfall and the state was pounded with rain and snow, causing major flooding and landslides. While that could happen this time, it would also top up badly depleted reservoirs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every week this drought gets more and more punishing and by the time we hit the fall, you know everybody is definitely going to be on El Niño alert.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, the alert might be tempered a bit by memories of last year’s “El Wimpo,” the moniker that landed on an El Niño that didn’t amount to much — and certainly produced no big rains for California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I won’t say it’s night and day compared to last year,” says NOAA’s Halpert, “but certainly last year we never involved the atmosphere as the ocean temperature warmed and the ocean never really got as warm as we currently are, so there’s a big difference.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patzert says not quite all the pieces are in place; he’s still looking for a key ingredient in the El Niño recipe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not quite there yet,” he cautions. “The temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific are definitely building. It’s very warm out there — but what we have not seen is a large-scale collapse of the trade winds systems, which is really the critical piece.” (El Niño is not to be confused with the current “blob” of warm ocean water lingering along the California coast — they are completely separate, driven by different mechanisms.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patzert says it would be a mistake to relax water conservation efforts throughout California. State water managers have echoed that. They too well remember last year, when early hype over El Niño may have given Californians false hope, undermining calls for water conservation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s still time for this El Niño to disappoint us,” Patzert cautions. “Don’t cash in your 401-k and invest in umbrellas…yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Signs of the drought are everywhere as we enter our fourth summer of browning lawns along with clever signs in parks reading “brown is the new green.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">On the upside, with more people converting thirsty lawns to more water-efficient landscaping, some interesting and creative options for our yards and benefits to wildlife are becoming apparent, especially if native plants are included.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Yards converted to small plots of native plants can become patchwork wildlife havens. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Douglas W. Tallamy, professor of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of \u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Delaware, compared non-native and native trees and found that native trees supported a higher diversity of invertebrates. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">His study found 532 species of caterpillars on native oak trees. All of these invertebrates — mainly caterpillars and insects — provided food to native birds. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_31080\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_504.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-31080\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_504-400x600.jpg\" alt=\"Replacing lawns with native plants and hardscaping like this plant adds visual interest and habitat for birds. (Courtesy of EBMUD)\" width=\"400\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_504-400x600.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_504.jpg 613w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Replacing lawns with native plants and water permeable paths like this add visual interest and habitat for birds while reducing water use. (EBMUD)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Enhancing wildlife habitat is especially important since over 75 percent of endangered species are found on private land. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">One of the few upsides to the drought is that our yards can become wildlife refuges. Especially if we convert some of the 40 million acres of lawn across the US to more natural habitat. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">A citizen science project from Cornell University called \u003ca href=\"http://content.yardmap.org/%20yardmap.org\">Yard Map\u003c/a>, can even track how our yards provide habitat for wildlife. By mapping your yard on their website, scientists can then study the variety of residential landscapes bird species are using.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">There’s plenty of support from local water agencies for ditching your lawn, too, with some cash incentives that can support installing water efficient landscaping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">East Bay Municipal Utility District’s “Lawn Goodbye” program offers\u003cspan class=\"s1\"> rebates that offset some of the cost of replacing lawns with water conserving landscaping. They offer up to $2,500 for residential properties and up to $20,000 for commercial and multi-family properties.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ca href=\"https://www5.ebmud.com/for-customers/water-conservation-rebates-and-services/lawn-conversion-irrigation-upgrade-rebates\">EBMUD’s program\u003c/a> is so popular that it’s somewhat backlogged. You can expect about a one month delay if you apply now cautions Nanci Miller, EBMUD’s Water Conservation Technician.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_31079\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_283-small-lawn.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-31079 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_283-small-lawn-400x267.jpg\" alt=\"Small patches of lawn, surrounded by native plant beds create visual interest as well as a habitat edge attractive to wildlife. (Courtesy of EBMUD)\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_283-small-lawn-400x267.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_283-small-lawn-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_283-small-lawn.jpg 920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">You can still enjoy small patches of lawn while the surrounding native plant beds provide a habitat edge attractive to wildlife. (EBMUD)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Your own water district may provide similar incentives like the Santa Clara County Water District that pays $2 per square foot of lawn removed or the Alameda County Water District which offers up to $500 for residential lawn conversions and $1,500 for commercial properties. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Check out the KQED Science story, \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2014/12/01/take-out-your-lawn-and-get-paid-for-it/\">“California Drought Boosts ‘Cash for Grass’ Programs”\u003c/a> by Daniel Potter for more information about other Bay Area counties and cities incentive programs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">For do-it-yourselfers ready to plan a lawn conversion, resources are available on the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cnps.org/cnps/grownative/tips/lawn_alternatives.php\">CA Native Plant Society\u003c/a> and at \u003ca href=\"http://www.ebparks.org/parks/tilden/botanic_garden\">East Bay Regional Parks Botanical Garden\u003c/a>, among others. \u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"s1\" style=\"line-height: 1.5\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\" style=\"line-height: 1.5\">There you’ll learn more about native plants, how to care for them, what habitats you may mimic successfully and how the plants benefit wildlife. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\" style=\"line-height: 1.5\">The local non-profit, Bringing Back the Natives, also has some wonderful resources on their website including this list of \u003ca href=\"http://www.bringingbackthenatives.net/easytogrow.pdf\">easy to grow native plants, \u003c/a>arranged by habitat types. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Signs of the drought are everywhere as we enter our fourth summer of browning lawns along with clever signs in parks reading “brown is the new green.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">On the upside, with more people converting thirsty lawns to more water-efficient landscaping, some interesting and creative options for our yards and benefits to wildlife are becoming apparent, especially if native plants are included.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Yards converted to small plots of native plants can become patchwork wildlife havens. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Douglas W. Tallamy, professor of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of \u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Delaware, compared non-native and native trees and found that native trees supported a higher diversity of invertebrates. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">His study found 532 species of caterpillars on native oak trees. All of these invertebrates — mainly caterpillars and insects — provided food to native birds. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_31080\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_504.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-31080\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_504-400x600.jpg\" alt=\"Replacing lawns with native plants and hardscaping like this plant adds visual interest and habitat for birds. (Courtesy of EBMUD)\" width=\"400\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_504-400x600.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_504.jpg 613w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Replacing lawns with native plants and water permeable paths like this add visual interest and habitat for birds while reducing water use. (EBMUD)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Enhancing wildlife habitat is especially important since over 75 percent of endangered species are found on private land. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">One of the few upsides to the drought is that our yards can become wildlife refuges. Especially if we convert some of the 40 million acres of lawn across the US to more natural habitat. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">A citizen science project from Cornell University called \u003ca href=\"http://content.yardmap.org/%20yardmap.org\">Yard Map\u003c/a>, can even track how our yards provide habitat for wildlife. By mapping your yard on their website, scientists can then study the variety of residential landscapes bird species are using.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">There’s plenty of support from local water agencies for ditching your lawn, too, with some cash incentives that can support installing water efficient landscaping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">East Bay Municipal Utility District’s “Lawn Goodbye” program offers\u003cspan class=\"s1\"> rebates that offset some of the cost of replacing lawns with water conserving landscaping. They offer up to $2,500 for residential properties and up to $20,000 for commercial and multi-family properties.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ca href=\"https://www5.ebmud.com/for-customers/water-conservation-rebates-and-services/lawn-conversion-irrigation-upgrade-rebates\">EBMUD’s program\u003c/a> is so popular that it’s somewhat backlogged. You can expect about a one month delay if you apply now cautions Nanci Miller, EBMUD’s Water Conservation Technician.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_31079\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_283-small-lawn.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-31079 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_283-small-lawn-400x267.jpg\" alt=\"Small patches of lawn, surrounded by native plant beds create visual interest as well as a habitat edge attractive to wildlife. (Courtesy of EBMUD)\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_283-small-lawn-400x267.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_283-small-lawn-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/holt_1101_283-small-lawn.jpg 920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">You can still enjoy small patches of lawn while the surrounding native plant beds provide a habitat edge attractive to wildlife. (EBMUD)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Your own water district may provide similar incentives like the Santa Clara County Water District that pays $2 per square foot of lawn removed or the Alameda County Water District which offers up to $500 for residential lawn conversions and $1,500 for commercial properties. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Check out the KQED Science story, \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2014/12/01/take-out-your-lawn-and-get-paid-for-it/\">“California Drought Boosts ‘Cash for Grass’ Programs”\u003c/a> by Daniel Potter for more information about other Bay Area counties and cities incentive programs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">For do-it-yourselfers ready to plan a lawn conversion, resources are available on the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cnps.org/cnps/grownative/tips/lawn_alternatives.php\">CA Native Plant Society\u003c/a> and at \u003ca href=\"http://www.ebparks.org/parks/tilden/botanic_garden\">East Bay Regional Parks Botanical Garden\u003c/a>, among others. \u003c/span>\u003cspan class=\"s1\" style=\"line-height: 1.5\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\" style=\"line-height: 1.5\">There you’ll learn more about native plants, how to care for them, what habitats you may mimic successfully and how the plants benefit wildlife. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\" style=\"line-height: 1.5\">The local non-profit, Bringing Back the Natives, also has some wonderful resources on their website including this list of \u003ca href=\"http://www.bringingbackthenatives.net/easytogrow.pdf\">easy to grow native plants, \u003c/a>arranged by habitat types. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California's Vanishing Clouds Could Intensify Drought",
"headTitle": "California’s Vanishing Clouds Could Intensify Drought | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Fog season is with us once again. And whether it’s the ground-level “pea soup” of legend or the looming overcast known as the \u003ca href=\"http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/ocean/marine.htm\">marine layer\u003c/a>, there’s a reason it’s called \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/2015/06/08/making-sense-of-san-franciscos-bone-chilling-summertime-fog/\">California’s natural air-conditioning\u003c/a>: fog and clouds are vital cogs in keeping the coastal thermostat turned down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that advantage could be disappearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED Science Editor Craig Miller talks with climate scientist \u003ca href=\"http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/user/williams\">Park Williams\u003c/a> about his recently \u003ca href=\"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2015GL063266/abstract\">published work\u003c/a> on California’s vanishing clouds. Williams is an assistant research professor at Columbia University’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/\">Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory\u003c/a> in New York, but the gray mantle of the California’s summer coastline keeps drawing him back here — and it’s not just the romance of it. It turns out that fog — any kind of cloud, actually — is a great regulator not just of heat, but of drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2015/06/20150608ScienceFog.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Park Williams:\u003c/strong> Yeah, fog regulates drought. It does it in a couple of ways. In ecosystems, fog drops water directly on plants. And when the water collects on the plants, it then drops into the soil and is available for the plants to use. Fog, and clouds that are higher than fog, also shade the sun, and that allows plants more time to use the water they’ve collected from the fog. In cities, fog and clouds that are higher than fog — overcast clouds — are important as well, because they regulate surface temps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Craig Miller:\u003c/strong> And it seems like cities are where the problem is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> We looked at Southern California and found that in large cities — L.A. and San Diego — the heights of low clouds during summertime have been increasing; they’ve been rising away from the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> Why would that be?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> Cities have been warming, and essentially you need to go higher into the atmosphere before you finally get to where it’s cool enough to have water droplets condense and clouds can form.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> This is sounding like the “urban heat island” effect at work here. Is there a smoking gun for that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_32640\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/1024px-San_francisco_in_fog_with_rays.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-32640\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/1024px-San_francisco_in_fog_with_rays-800x859.jpg\" alt=\"Fog settles over San Francisco Bay, with the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower and Bay Bridge visible in the distance. (Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons)\" width=\"800\" height=\"859\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/1024px-San_francisco_in_fog_with_rays-800x859.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/1024px-San_francisco_in_fog_with_rays-400x430.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/1024px-San_francisco_in_fog_with_rays-960x1031.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/1024px-San_francisco_in_fog_with_rays.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fog settles over San Francisco Bay, with the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower and Bay Bridge visible in the distance. (Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons) \u003ccite>(Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> The minimum temperature at night has been rising rapidly. During the daytime we’ve seen slow warming, but not nearly at the pace that nighttime warming is. That’s the fingerprint of the urban heat island that we expect. The urban heat island effect really is a nighttime phenomenon because cement takes a long time to get rid of its heat, and that causes nighttime temperatures to rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> And where urbanization reaches inland, like, say, the Inland Empire region east of L.A., this phenomenon seems to follow. For example, looking at readings from airports, you found there’s 87 percent less fog in Ontario since 1950, and that overall cloud cover — technically the “frequency” of clouds — has been reduced by about half. That’s stunning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> That means Ontario is getting a lot more sunlight in the morning hours, which is then feeding back to heat up Ontario and make clouds less likely in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> You’re describing a kind of vicious cycle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> Clouds will become thinner over Los Angeles. That allows more sunlight to be absorbed by the ground, which causes more surface heat, which causes clouds to have to form higher up, which causes clouds to be thinner, which perpetuates this process of more sunlight, higher clouds — and eventually more sunlight, no clouds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> But you don’t foresee fog and overcast vanishing everywhere along the coast, only in the most urbanized areas?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> It depends on where you are. Since these fog and low marine clouds during the summer are regulators of drought, and since global warming is projected to enhance drought in much of California, these clouds could be very nice moderators of the global warming process and increased drought in coastal California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> But in the cities …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> Then we see basically the moderating effect of these clouds probably getting canceled out, and rapid increases of drought in the mountain ecosystems surrounding the cities of Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19c09UgIB-4&feature=youtu.be\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> It sounds like when you get north into the coast redwoods, which are so dependent on the fog, the prognosis isn’t so bad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> I think it’s not so bad. We’ll have to wait and see. Certainly these clouds are complicated and there are aspects to them we still don’t understand so well. We’ve had a tough time getting computers to actually model the behavior of these clouds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> It makes you wonder if we might come to miss the June Gloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> I think the ways it’ll be missed are — energy bills rise because everything’s warmer, heat waves will be warmer and that’ll have some public health implications. But there’ll be benefits, too. People like going to beach when it’s sunny and not cloudy, so June Gloom gets in the way of family vacations. It’ll be nice to have better beach weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> I’d call that a silver lining except I think you need a cloud for that.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Fog season is with us once again. And whether it’s the ground-level “pea soup” of legend or the looming overcast known as the \u003ca href=\"http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/ocean/marine.htm\">marine layer\u003c/a>, there’s a reason it’s called \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/2015/06/08/making-sense-of-san-franciscos-bone-chilling-summertime-fog/\">California’s natural air-conditioning\u003c/a>: fog and clouds are vital cogs in keeping the coastal thermostat turned down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that advantage could be disappearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED Science Editor Craig Miller talks with climate scientist \u003ca href=\"http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/user/williams\">Park Williams\u003c/a> about his recently \u003ca href=\"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2015GL063266/abstract\">published work\u003c/a> on California’s vanishing clouds. Williams is an assistant research professor at Columbia University’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/\">Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory\u003c/a> in New York, but the gray mantle of the California’s summer coastline keeps drawing him back here — and it’s not just the romance of it. It turns out that fog — any kind of cloud, actually — is a great regulator not just of heat, but of drought.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Park Williams:\u003c/strong> Yeah, fog regulates drought. It does it in a couple of ways. In ecosystems, fog drops water directly on plants. And when the water collects on the plants, it then drops into the soil and is available for the plants to use. Fog, and clouds that are higher than fog, also shade the sun, and that allows plants more time to use the water they’ve collected from the fog. In cities, fog and clouds that are higher than fog — overcast clouds — are important as well, because they regulate surface temps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Craig Miller:\u003c/strong> And it seems like cities are where the problem is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> We looked at Southern California and found that in large cities — L.A. and San Diego — the heights of low clouds during summertime have been increasing; they’ve been rising away from the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> Why would that be?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> Cities have been warming, and essentially you need to go higher into the atmosphere before you finally get to where it’s cool enough to have water droplets condense and clouds can form.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> This is sounding like the “urban heat island” effect at work here. Is there a smoking gun for that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_32640\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/1024px-San_francisco_in_fog_with_rays.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-32640\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/1024px-San_francisco_in_fog_with_rays-800x859.jpg\" alt=\"Fog settles over San Francisco Bay, with the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower and Bay Bridge visible in the distance. (Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons)\" width=\"800\" height=\"859\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/1024px-San_francisco_in_fog_with_rays-800x859.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/1024px-San_francisco_in_fog_with_rays-400x430.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/1024px-San_francisco_in_fog_with_rays-960x1031.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/06/1024px-San_francisco_in_fog_with_rays.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fog settles over San Francisco Bay, with the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower and Bay Bridge visible in the distance. (Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons) \u003ccite>(Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> The minimum temperature at night has been rising rapidly. During the daytime we’ve seen slow warming, but not nearly at the pace that nighttime warming is. That’s the fingerprint of the urban heat island that we expect. The urban heat island effect really is a nighttime phenomenon because cement takes a long time to get rid of its heat, and that causes nighttime temperatures to rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> And where urbanization reaches inland, like, say, the Inland Empire region east of L.A., this phenomenon seems to follow. For example, looking at readings from airports, you found there’s 87 percent less fog in Ontario since 1950, and that overall cloud cover — technically the “frequency” of clouds — has been reduced by about half. That’s stunning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> That means Ontario is getting a lot more sunlight in the morning hours, which is then feeding back to heat up Ontario and make clouds less likely in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> You’re describing a kind of vicious cycle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> Clouds will become thinner over Los Angeles. That allows more sunlight to be absorbed by the ground, which causes more surface heat, which causes clouds to have to form higher up, which causes clouds to be thinner, which perpetuates this process of more sunlight, higher clouds — and eventually more sunlight, no clouds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> But you don’t foresee fog and overcast vanishing everywhere along the coast, only in the most urbanized areas?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> It depends on where you are. Since these fog and low marine clouds during the summer are regulators of drought, and since global warming is projected to enhance drought in much of California, these clouds could be very nice moderators of the global warming process and increased drought in coastal California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> But in the cities …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> Then we see basically the moderating effect of these clouds probably getting canceled out, and rapid increases of drought in the mountain ecosystems surrounding the cities of Southern California.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/19c09UgIB-4'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/19c09UgIB-4'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> It sounds like when you get north into the coast redwoods, which are so dependent on the fog, the prognosis isn’t so bad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> I think it’s not so bad. We’ll have to wait and see. Certainly these clouds are complicated and there are aspects to them we still don’t understand so well. We’ve had a tough time getting computers to actually model the behavior of these clouds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> It makes you wonder if we might come to miss the June Gloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>PW:\u003c/strong> I think the ways it’ll be missed are — energy bills rise because everything’s warmer, heat waves will be warmer and that’ll have some public health implications. But there’ll be benefits, too. People like going to beach when it’s sunny and not cloudy, so June Gloom gets in the way of family vacations. It’ll be nice to have better beach weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>CM:\u003c/strong> I’d call that a silver lining except I think you need a cloud for that.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "'Aggressive' New Drought Rules for California: Now Comes the Hard Part",
"headTitle": "‘Aggressive’ New Drought Rules for California: Now Comes the Hard Part | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30065\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 3264px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/IMG_2956.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30065\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/IMG_2956.jpg\" alt='\"Brown is the new green\" is the rallying cry for fighting the current drought. But will Californians take up the cause? (Craig Miller/KQED)' width=\"3264\" height=\"2448\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“Brown is the new green” is the rallying cry for fighting the current drought. But will Californians take up the cause? (Craig Miller/KQED) \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The clock is ticking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After state regulators approved California’s \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/audio/state-passes-historic-water-conservation-rules/\">first-ever statewide water restrictions\u003c/a> on Tuesday, it’s now up to nearly 3,000 local water agencies, big and small, to make it work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water agencies throughout California bear the burden of \u003ca title=\"Lowdown - water\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/2015/04/03/how-much-water-do-californians-use-and-what-would-a-25-percent-reduction-look-like/\">achieving the 25 percent reduction\u003c/a> in water use ordered by Governor Jerry Brown on April 1. The state will start keeping score officially on June 1, when cities and water districts need to start carving between eight and 36 percent off their 2013 water use, and keep it up on a month-to-month basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re on the front lines, you know that,” Brown told a gathering of water managers at the Association of California Water Agencies in Sacramento. “And we’re here to back you up.” Brown, however, as much as admitted that it was easy for him to say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just kind of launch the missile, and then you particularize and talk to your neighbors, and get ’em to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or not. When it comes to the hard choices such as tearing out lawns, replacing water-gulping toilets and appliances, it remains to be seen how Californians will respond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What worries me most is that I think a lot of Californians are not yet quite ready to do that,” says Dave Bolland, who manages special projects for ACWA, “to embrace that \u003ca title=\"ACWA - Save Our Water\" href=\"http://saveourwater.com/\">new water use ethic\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30063\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 855px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/WaterConservation_1503.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30063\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/WaterConservation_1503.jpeg\" alt=\"State figures indicate that another 25 percent water savings could be a tall order for California consumers. (State Water Resources Control Board)\" width=\"855\" height=\"629\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">State figures indicate that another 25 percent water savings could be a tall order for California consumers. (State Water Resources Control Board)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Recent conservation trends would seem to bear him out. According to figures gathered by the state water board, water savings averaged only 3.6 percent in March, compared to 2013 levels of water consumption. That’s far below the 20 percent voluntary cutbacks that Brown asked for a year ago, and even more dismal compared to \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">new targets\u003c/a> that individual communities will now be required to attain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are some very aggressive targets in this mandate,” notes Bolland. More than 80 local agencies have been assigned the highest, 36 percent, savings quota.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many cities have gotten a head start and some, like San Francisco and Santa Barbara, are already ahead of the quotas assigned to them by the state. But others are still worried about the impact on their local communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Going down to one day a week watering, we’ll be seeing brown lawns, we’ll be seeing a lot of vegetation dying,” Jennifer Hanson told the state water board in a last-ditch appeal on Tuesday. Hanson heads public services for the city of Lincoln, northeast of Sacramento, which has been assigned to the highest “tier” of required conservation. She says even cutting outdoor watering to one day per week might not be enough to meet her local mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Trying to go down to zero days a week watering to try to meet our 36 percent on average throughout the year, may even require more stringent measures for outdoor water use.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cutting 36 percent of deliveries will also strike a major blow to revenues, even as water agencies are expected to promote and enforce conservation, which will mean selling less water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a lot of agencies that, you know, that’s a third of their resources in terms of their water revenues, so there are substantial fiscal impacts,” says Bolland. “So there are some significant challenges that these water agencies face.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But business-as-usual isn’t an option, says Brown. “We’ve got to change,” he told the ACWA gathering. “And how we use water is not exempt from that.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "State officials officially hand the ball to local water agencies to squeeze 25 percent more water savings out of their customers. And ultimately, it is up to those customers to respond -- or not.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30065\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 3264px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/IMG_2956.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30065\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/IMG_2956.jpg\" alt='\"Brown is the new green\" is the rallying cry for fighting the current drought. But will Californians take up the cause? (Craig Miller/KQED)' width=\"3264\" height=\"2448\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“Brown is the new green” is the rallying cry for fighting the current drought. But will Californians take up the cause? (Craig Miller/KQED) \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The clock is ticking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After state regulators approved California’s \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/audio/state-passes-historic-water-conservation-rules/\">first-ever statewide water restrictions\u003c/a> on Tuesday, it’s now up to nearly 3,000 local water agencies, big and small, to make it work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water agencies throughout California bear the burden of \u003ca title=\"Lowdown - water\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/2015/04/03/how-much-water-do-californians-use-and-what-would-a-25-percent-reduction-look-like/\">achieving the 25 percent reduction\u003c/a> in water use ordered by Governor Jerry Brown on April 1. The state will start keeping score officially on June 1, when cities and water districts need to start carving between eight and 36 percent off their 2013 water use, and keep it up on a month-to-month basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re on the front lines, you know that,” Brown told a gathering of water managers at the Association of California Water Agencies in Sacramento. “And we’re here to back you up.” Brown, however, as much as admitted that it was easy for him to say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just kind of launch the missile, and then you particularize and talk to your neighbors, and get ’em to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or not. When it comes to the hard choices such as tearing out lawns, replacing water-gulping toilets and appliances, it remains to be seen how Californians will respond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What worries me most is that I think a lot of Californians are not yet quite ready to do that,” says Dave Bolland, who manages special projects for ACWA, “to embrace that \u003ca title=\"ACWA - Save Our Water\" href=\"http://saveourwater.com/\">new water use ethic\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30063\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 855px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/WaterConservation_1503.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30063\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/WaterConservation_1503.jpeg\" alt=\"State figures indicate that another 25 percent water savings could be a tall order for California consumers. (State Water Resources Control Board)\" width=\"855\" height=\"629\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">State figures indicate that another 25 percent water savings could be a tall order for California consumers. (State Water Resources Control Board)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Recent conservation trends would seem to bear him out. According to figures gathered by the state water board, water savings averaged only 3.6 percent in March, compared to 2013 levels of water consumption. That’s far below the 20 percent voluntary cutbacks that Brown asked for a year ago, and even more dismal compared to \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">new targets\u003c/a> that individual communities will now be required to attain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are some very aggressive targets in this mandate,” notes Bolland. More than 80 local agencies have been assigned the highest, 36 percent, savings quota.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many cities have gotten a head start and some, like San Francisco and Santa Barbara, are already ahead of the quotas assigned to them by the state. But others are still worried about the impact on their local communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Going down to one day a week watering, we’ll be seeing brown lawns, we’ll be seeing a lot of vegetation dying,” Jennifer Hanson told the state water board in a last-ditch appeal on Tuesday. Hanson heads public services for the city of Lincoln, northeast of Sacramento, which has been assigned to the highest “tier” of required conservation. She says even cutting outdoor watering to one day per week might not be enough to meet her local mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Trying to go down to zero days a week watering to try to meet our 36 percent on average throughout the year, may even require more stringent measures for outdoor water use.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cutting 36 percent of deliveries will also strike a major blow to revenues, even as water agencies are expected to promote and enforce conservation, which will mean selling less water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a lot of agencies that, you know, that’s a third of their resources in terms of their water revenues, so there are substantial fiscal impacts,” says Bolland. “So there are some significant challenges that these water agencies face.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But business-as-usual isn’t an option, says Brown. “We’ve got to change,” he told the ACWA gathering. “And how we use water is not exempt from that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2015/05/20150504science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29943\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 3264px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/IMG_2962.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29943\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/IMG_2962.jpg\" alt=\"A lush lawn may be part of the American Dream--and the new California nightmare. (Craig Miller/KQED)\" width=\"3264\" height=\"2448\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A lush lawn may be part of the American Dream–and the new California nightmare. (Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>UPDATE: After an extended session on Tuesday, the State Water Resources Control Board approved final rules to bring about the 25 percent reduction in water use ordered by Governor Jerry Brown in early April. The \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/04/28/state-mostly-standing-its-ground-on-tough-new-water-rules/\">statewide water restrictions\u003c/a> go into effect on June 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know we’re not asking people to do things that are easy,” said board chair Felicia Marcus right before the unanimous vote.\u003cbr>\n“But this is the moment to rise to the occasion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local water agencies are racing to get programs in place to cut urban water use anywhere from eight to 36 percent, depending on how much water their residents have been using on a per-capita basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the actual savings that cities will have to achieve vary much more widely than that range of \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">state-assigned “tiers”\u003c/a> would suggest. Just as important are the savings achieved over roughly the past year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Silicon Valley city of Mountain View, for example, has been assigned a savings “tier” of 16 percent; that’s the reduction that local water officials will have to attain on on month-by-month basis, starting in June. But since Mountain View has already managed to cut water use by 15 percent, residents there will, in effect, only have to squeeze out another one percent savings to comply with the governor’s mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few locales — like Santa Rosa, Livermore, and Santa Cruz, have already exceeded their assigned levels and could theoretically use more water this summer and still comply with the drought mandate — not that anybody’s openly encouraging that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other cities have their work cut out for them. Water consumption in Lodi, for example, actually rose by one percent, so the city will have to cut back by slightly more than its assigned 36 percent target, which is the highest tier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/California-Water-Restrictions-map-1.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-29971\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/California-Water-Restrictions-map-1-850x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Water Cuts\" width=\"350\" height=\"422\">\u003c/a>Last week, Governor Brown \u003ca title=\"Gov. Jerry Brown - release\" href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18936\">rolled out legislation\u003c/a> that could help cities attain their assigned goals, ratcheting up maximum fines that local officials are allowed to assess for unrepentant water wasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will be at least mid-July before there are indications of whether the new conservation measures are taking hold — just as the peak outdoor watering season is hitting its stride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And that’s when we really need to see significant reductions in outdoor water use,” warns Max Gomberg, a senior scientist at the State Water Resources Control Board. “If we don’t get those reductions during the summer, we’re simply not gonna make the overall reduction target.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor’s April 1 list of mandates is designed to cut statewide water use by 25 percent, on average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You might think of this as just another installment on a long enterprise to live with the changing climate and with a drought of uncertain duration,” Brown told reporters after a meeting with California mayors last week. That last point is crucial; no one can say at this point whether we’re in the last year of a four-year drought, or year four of a ten-year “Big Dry,” \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/audio/drought-lessons-from-down-under/\">such as Australians endured\u003c/a> at the start of the century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People face different environmental challenges,” Brown said, “and out of this very complex state we’re gonna do everything we can to save water and to get it done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting it done will now be largely in the hands of local water officials and consumers. The state has weighed in; now it’s on us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>See the \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">complete list\u003c/a> of cities and their assigned water conservation targets.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The state-mandated water conservation \"tiers\" assigned to local water agencies don't tell the whole story. Some cities are already there, some have a lot more work to do.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29943\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 3264px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/IMG_2962.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29943\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/IMG_2962.jpg\" alt=\"A lush lawn may be part of the American Dream--and the new California nightmare. (Craig Miller/KQED)\" width=\"3264\" height=\"2448\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A lush lawn may be part of the American Dream–and the new California nightmare. (Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>UPDATE: After an extended session on Tuesday, the State Water Resources Control Board approved final rules to bring about the 25 percent reduction in water use ordered by Governor Jerry Brown in early April. The \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/04/28/state-mostly-standing-its-ground-on-tough-new-water-rules/\">statewide water restrictions\u003c/a> go into effect on June 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know we’re not asking people to do things that are easy,” said board chair Felicia Marcus right before the unanimous vote.\u003cbr>\n“But this is the moment to rise to the occasion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local water agencies are racing to get programs in place to cut urban water use anywhere from eight to 36 percent, depending on how much water their residents have been using on a per-capita basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the actual savings that cities will have to achieve vary much more widely than that range of \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">state-assigned “tiers”\u003c/a> would suggest. Just as important are the savings achieved over roughly the past year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Silicon Valley city of Mountain View, for example, has been assigned a savings “tier” of 16 percent; that’s the reduction that local water officials will have to attain on on month-by-month basis, starting in June. But since Mountain View has already managed to cut water use by 15 percent, residents there will, in effect, only have to squeeze out another one percent savings to comply with the governor’s mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few locales — like Santa Rosa, Livermore, and Santa Cruz, have already exceeded their assigned levels and could theoretically use more water this summer and still comply with the drought mandate — not that anybody’s openly encouraging that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other cities have their work cut out for them. Water consumption in Lodi, for example, actually rose by one percent, so the city will have to cut back by slightly more than its assigned 36 percent target, which is the highest tier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/California-Water-Restrictions-map-1.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-29971\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/California-Water-Restrictions-map-1-850x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Water Cuts\" width=\"350\" height=\"422\">\u003c/a>Last week, Governor Brown \u003ca title=\"Gov. Jerry Brown - release\" href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18936\">rolled out legislation\u003c/a> that could help cities attain their assigned goals, ratcheting up maximum fines that local officials are allowed to assess for unrepentant water wasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will be at least mid-July before there are indications of whether the new conservation measures are taking hold — just as the peak outdoor watering season is hitting its stride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And that’s when we really need to see significant reductions in outdoor water use,” warns Max Gomberg, a senior scientist at the State Water Resources Control Board. “If we don’t get those reductions during the summer, we’re simply not gonna make the overall reduction target.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor’s April 1 list of mandates is designed to cut statewide water use by 25 percent, on average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You might think of this as just another installment on a long enterprise to live with the changing climate and with a drought of uncertain duration,” Brown told reporters after a meeting with California mayors last week. That last point is crucial; no one can say at this point whether we’re in the last year of a four-year drought, or year four of a ten-year “Big Dry,” \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/audio/drought-lessons-from-down-under/\">such as Australians endured\u003c/a> at the start of the century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People face different environmental challenges,” Brown said, “and out of this very complex state we’re gonna do everything we can to save water and to get it done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting it done will now be largely in the hands of local water officials and consumers. The state has weighed in; now it’s on us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>See the \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">complete list\u003c/a> of cities and their assigned water conservation targets.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "State Mostly Standing Its Ground on Tough New Water Rules",
"headTitle": "State Mostly Standing Its Ground on Tough New Water Rules | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29783\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1491px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14985_IMG_2941.JPG.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29783\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14985_IMG_2941.JPG.jpg\" alt=\"Gov. Jerry Brown holds a news conference at the state Capitol on Apr. 28, 2015 after meeting with California mayors about new efforts to help local drought relief programs. (John Myers/KQED)\" width=\"1491\" height=\"1030\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Jerry Brown holds a news conference at the state Capitol after meeting with California mayors about new efforts to help local drought relief programs. (John Myers/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>State regulators have come up with a “final” version of their gameplan to implement Governor Jerry Brown’s \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/04/18/regulators-float-new-drought-rules-after-feedback-frenzy/\">sweeping April 1 mandate\u003c/a> to save water. This is the version that the State Water Resources Control Board will likely vote to approve during it’s two-day meeting next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 31-point plan is aimed at cutting statewide water use by 25 percent on average, versus 2013 levels. It assigns local water agencies mandatory conservation targets based on how much water they’ve been using on a per-capita basis. The current range runs from a low of eight percent to a high of 36 percent monthly savings, starting this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Individual cities and water districts have been lobbying for easier thresholds, touting their ongoing efforts to save water. But the \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">newest revision\u003c/a> of proposed state regulations appears to hold firm for the most part, on quotas that local water suppliers will have to attain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One change allows local agencies to report total water use by commercial and industrial consumers, as opposed to breaking out the data by customer. Officials say they might revisit that once local agencies refine their data collection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just hours before the proposed regulation’s third iteration was unveiled, Brown emerged from a meeting with mayors from around the state with \u003ca title=\"Gov. Jerry Brown - release\" href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18936\">new legislation\u003c/a> in hand that could help cities in their efforts to save water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot to be done,” Brown told reporters, in California’s quest for drought resilience. The governor called this latest step, “another installment on a long enterprise to live with the changing climate and a drought of uncertain duration.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed legislation would add some “teeth” to local enforcement of new water conservation rules, including:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>A new penalty of up to $10,000 per violation, up from the $500 per day maximum established last year\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Broader authority to issue local fines without specific court approval\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Latitude for local agencies to deputize “water cops” to enforce conservation rules\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The legislation would also allow cities to fast-track environmental reviews for water-saving projects — but it did not appear that Brown was offering any easing of the new conservation quotas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regarding the steep jump in the maximum fine for water hogs, Brown said, “You can be sure that only the worst offender will be getting that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fines are a tool,” added Felicia Marcus, who chairs the water board. “And they’re the last tool you use.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marcus’ board will continue to take comments on the new drought regulations right up until the final vote, during a two-day meeting scheduled for May 5-6.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29783\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1491px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14985_IMG_2941.JPG.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29783\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14985_IMG_2941.JPG.jpg\" alt=\"Gov. Jerry Brown holds a news conference at the state Capitol on Apr. 28, 2015 after meeting with California mayors about new efforts to help local drought relief programs. (John Myers/KQED)\" width=\"1491\" height=\"1030\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Jerry Brown holds a news conference at the state Capitol after meeting with California mayors about new efforts to help local drought relief programs. (John Myers/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>State regulators have come up with a “final” version of their gameplan to implement Governor Jerry Brown’s \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/04/18/regulators-float-new-drought-rules-after-feedback-frenzy/\">sweeping April 1 mandate\u003c/a> to save water. This is the version that the State Water Resources Control Board will likely vote to approve during it’s two-day meeting next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 31-point plan is aimed at cutting statewide water use by 25 percent on average, versus 2013 levels. It assigns local water agencies mandatory conservation targets based on how much water they’ve been using on a per-capita basis. The current range runs from a low of eight percent to a high of 36 percent monthly savings, starting this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Individual cities and water districts have been lobbying for easier thresholds, touting their ongoing efforts to save water. But the \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">newest revision\u003c/a> of proposed state regulations appears to hold firm for the most part, on quotas that local water suppliers will have to attain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One change allows local agencies to report total water use by commercial and industrial consumers, as opposed to breaking out the data by customer. Officials say they might revisit that once local agencies refine their data collection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just hours before the proposed regulation’s third iteration was unveiled, Brown emerged from a meeting with mayors from around the state with \u003ca title=\"Gov. Jerry Brown - release\" href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18936\">new legislation\u003c/a> in hand that could help cities in their efforts to save water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot to be done,” Brown told reporters, in California’s quest for drought resilience. The governor called this latest step, “another installment on a long enterprise to live with the changing climate and a drought of uncertain duration.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed legislation would add some “teeth” to local enforcement of new water conservation rules, including:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>A new penalty of up to $10,000 per violation, up from the $500 per day maximum established last year\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Broader authority to issue local fines without specific court approval\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Latitude for local agencies to deputize “water cops” to enforce conservation rules\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The legislation would also allow cities to fast-track environmental reviews for water-saving projects — but it did not appear that Brown was offering any easing of the new conservation quotas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regarding the steep jump in the maximum fine for water hogs, Brown said, “You can be sure that only the worst offender will be getting that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fines are a tool,” added Felicia Marcus, who chairs the water board. “And they’re the last tool you use.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marcus’ board will continue to take comments on the new drought regulations right up until the final vote, during a two-day meeting scheduled for May 5-6.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "When City Codes Clash With State Water Rules, Confusion Reigns",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29487\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14889_photo-5.JPG-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29487\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14889_photo-5.JPG-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Tim Atkinson is tearing up his lawn in Hanford, which will save water but violate local landscape codes. (Sasha Khokha/KQED)\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tim Atkinson is tearing up his lawn in Hanford, which will save water but violate local landscape codes. (Sasha Khokha/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In some California cities, brown is not quite the new green. In fact, it’s downright illegal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take the Kings County city of \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.hanford.ca.us/\">Hanford\u003c/a>, where we found Tim Atkinson taking a pickaxe to his lawn, sweating and huffing as he hacked away at a stubborn root. He was pulling out some grass and putting in a rock planter to help save water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Inside, we’re going to put blue rock,” says Atkinson, a retired paint store owner. “It’ll be decorative.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem is that in Hanford, it’s against the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The current code requires that you plant your front yard in primarily living materials, which include turf, shrubbery and trees,” explains Darlene Mata, Hanford’s community development director. She oversees code enforcement for this city of about 56,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mata and city manager Darrel Pyle drive me through town and stop in front of a house where the homeowners have clearly decided to turn off the sprinklers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The way the ordinance is currently written,” says Pyle, “this lawn would be deemed to be unmaintained, but he’s not using any water to irrigate, so right now, we’re looking at what is the lesser of two evils?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Predicament for Cities\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mata points to a neighboring house with a rock garden like the one Tim Atkinson wants to put in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”ghbGXbuN5D5jKbPuvSIB2L2AZnIJWUQ7″]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem we have now, people are requesting to put concrete, rock fronts with minimal shrubbery or put artificial turf. All of those are non-living materials,” he says. “Currently we can’t approve that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who do put in fake grass or rock gardens run the risk of having to pull them out if the city catches them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The current ordinance requires that we tell people no, but we realize some of the things [homeowners] are asking us to do would be beneficial to the community and to the state as a whole,” says Mata.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So when our code is no longer logical, that’s the predicament we’re in,” adds Pyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s stopped sending warning letters to homeowners violating the “living landscape” ordinance and is no longer issuing $500 a day citations either. Instead, local officials are working on changing their ordinance. Hanford’s anticipating a \u003ca href=\"//www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/draft_usage_tiers.pdfor\">state mandate\u003c/a> to cut water use by 32 percent or face penalties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, Atkinson’s hoping city officials look the other way when it comes to his rock garden. From a water conservation perspective, he and his wife Edna are model citizens. They collect water while they’re waiting for the kitchen sink and shower to heat up and use it to hand-water their plants. According to his calculations, they’ve reduced their personal water consumption nearly 40 percent over the last two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Atkinson remembers how lush California seemed when he arrived as a child in the 1940s. He recalls going to an older brother’s house and marveling at his lawn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The water was running, and sprinklers and this and that,” he recalls. He also remembers his brother’s response. “He said, ‘No problem, $2 a month, use all you want,'” says Atkinson, who retains his Oklahoma twang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Back when water was $2 a month, use all you want, ordinances of grass and no rock probably made sense for beauty. Doesn’t make any sense today, does it?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29489\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1889px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14888_photo-4.JPG-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29489\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14888_photo-4.JPG-qut.jpg\" alt='In cities that require \"living landscapes,\" rockscapes like this one in Hanford violate local ordinances. (Sasha Khokha/KQED)' width=\"1889\" height=\"1231\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In cities that require “living landscapes,” rockscapes like this one in Hanford violate local ordinances. (Sasha Khokha/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change in the Wind\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s unclear just how many California cities will have to change their local ordinances under the governor’s new drought mandate. A \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/wateruseefficiency/docs/ab_1881_bill.pdf\">bill\u003c/a> (mostly aimed at new developments) passed nearly a decade ago requiring cities and counties to adopt water-efficient landscape rules by 2010. But when \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/wateruseefficiency/docs/DirectorLetterAdoption.pdf\">asked to send their plans\u003c/a> to the state Department of Water Resources, more than 150 cities \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/wateruseefficiency/docs/LandscapOrdinanceReport_to_Leg-4-22-2011.pdf\">didn’t even respond\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just down the road from Hanford, in the town of \u003ca href=\"http://www.cityofcorcoran.com/\">Corcoran\u003c/a>, people come to pay their water bill at city hall. Many of them are farmworkers who pay in cash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the lobby, framed yellowed newspapers on the walls tell the history of this cotton town, built on top of what was once the \u003ca href=\"http://articles.latimes.com/1997-02-13/news/mn-28291_1_tulare-lake\">largest freshwater lake\u003c/a> in the West. One headline reads: “Farmers Fear Floods.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re used to having water come in abundance, and sometimes having too much water,” says Kindon Meik, city manager just down the road in Corcoran. “In fact, much of the western portion of the city is set up in the 100-year flood plain.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a long time, Corcoran residents have pretty much been able to water whenever they wanted. City parks and schools are still exempt from all watering restrictions, but as of this month, residents are \u003ca href=\"http://www.cityofcorcoran.com/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=128&TargetID=1\">limited to three days a week\u003c/a>. The city can’t cut back watering days any further, under city code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very archaic,” says Meik of the code. “It’s set up on the idea that there’s going to be abundant water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now, Corcoran — which is entirely reliant on groundwater — is drilling a new, deeper well to serve its 26,000 residents, half of whom are inmates at the state prison located there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state water board says Corcoran will likely need to cut water use by 36 percent — so Meik and the city council are scrambling to change the code before state-imposed drought rules kick in this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then he’s got to find money to help with local enforcement. Right now, four people staff the water department. They’re mostly focused on water treatment and delivery, not knocking on doors to catch water wasters.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29487\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14889_photo-5.JPG-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29487\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14889_photo-5.JPG-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Tim Atkinson is tearing up his lawn in Hanford, which will save water but violate local landscape codes. (Sasha Khokha/KQED)\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tim Atkinson is tearing up his lawn in Hanford, which will save water but violate local landscape codes. (Sasha Khokha/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In some California cities, brown is not quite the new green. In fact, it’s downright illegal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take the Kings County city of \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.hanford.ca.us/\">Hanford\u003c/a>, where we found Tim Atkinson taking a pickaxe to his lawn, sweating and huffing as he hacked away at a stubborn root. He was pulling out some grass and putting in a rock planter to help save water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Inside, we’re going to put blue rock,” says Atkinson, a retired paint store owner. “It’ll be decorative.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem is that in Hanford, it’s against the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The current code requires that you plant your front yard in primarily living materials, which include turf, shrubbery and trees,” explains Darlene Mata, Hanford’s community development director. She oversees code enforcement for this city of about 56,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mata and city manager Darrel Pyle drive me through town and stop in front of a house where the homeowners have clearly decided to turn off the sprinklers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The way the ordinance is currently written,” says Pyle, “this lawn would be deemed to be unmaintained, but he’s not using any water to irrigate, so right now, we’re looking at what is the lesser of two evils?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Predicament for Cities\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mata points to a neighboring house with a rock garden like the one Tim Atkinson wants to put in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem we have now, people are requesting to put concrete, rock fronts with minimal shrubbery or put artificial turf. All of those are non-living materials,” he says. “Currently we can’t approve that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who do put in fake grass or rock gardens run the risk of having to pull them out if the city catches them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The current ordinance requires that we tell people no, but we realize some of the things [homeowners] are asking us to do would be beneficial to the community and to the state as a whole,” says Mata.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So when our code is no longer logical, that’s the predicament we’re in,” adds Pyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s stopped sending warning letters to homeowners violating the “living landscape” ordinance and is no longer issuing $500 a day citations either. Instead, local officials are working on changing their ordinance. Hanford’s anticipating a \u003ca href=\"//www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/draft_usage_tiers.pdfor\">state mandate\u003c/a> to cut water use by 32 percent or face penalties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, Atkinson’s hoping city officials look the other way when it comes to his rock garden. From a water conservation perspective, he and his wife Edna are model citizens. They collect water while they’re waiting for the kitchen sink and shower to heat up and use it to hand-water their plants. According to his calculations, they’ve reduced their personal water consumption nearly 40 percent over the last two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Atkinson remembers how lush California seemed when he arrived as a child in the 1940s. He recalls going to an older brother’s house and marveling at his lawn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The water was running, and sprinklers and this and that,” he recalls. He also remembers his brother’s response. “He said, ‘No problem, $2 a month, use all you want,'” says Atkinson, who retains his Oklahoma twang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Back when water was $2 a month, use all you want, ordinances of grass and no rock probably made sense for beauty. Doesn’t make any sense today, does it?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29489\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1889px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14888_photo-4.JPG-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29489\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14888_photo-4.JPG-qut.jpg\" alt='In cities that require \"living landscapes,\" rockscapes like this one in Hanford violate local ordinances. (Sasha Khokha/KQED)' width=\"1889\" height=\"1231\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In cities that require “living landscapes,” rockscapes like this one in Hanford violate local ordinances. (Sasha Khokha/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change in the Wind\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s unclear just how many California cities will have to change their local ordinances under the governor’s new drought mandate. A \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/wateruseefficiency/docs/ab_1881_bill.pdf\">bill\u003c/a> (mostly aimed at new developments) passed nearly a decade ago requiring cities and counties to adopt water-efficient landscape rules by 2010. But when \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/wateruseefficiency/docs/DirectorLetterAdoption.pdf\">asked to send their plans\u003c/a> to the state Department of Water Resources, more than 150 cities \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/wateruseefficiency/docs/LandscapOrdinanceReport_to_Leg-4-22-2011.pdf\">didn’t even respond\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just down the road from Hanford, in the town of \u003ca href=\"http://www.cityofcorcoran.com/\">Corcoran\u003c/a>, people come to pay their water bill at city hall. Many of them are farmworkers who pay in cash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the lobby, framed yellowed newspapers on the walls tell the history of this cotton town, built on top of what was once the \u003ca href=\"http://articles.latimes.com/1997-02-13/news/mn-28291_1_tulare-lake\">largest freshwater lake\u003c/a> in the West. One headline reads: “Farmers Fear Floods.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re used to having water come in abundance, and sometimes having too much water,” says Kindon Meik, city manager just down the road in Corcoran. “In fact, much of the western portion of the city is set up in the 100-year flood plain.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a long time, Corcoran residents have pretty much been able to water whenever they wanted. City parks and schools are still exempt from all watering restrictions, but as of this month, residents are \u003ca href=\"http://www.cityofcorcoran.com/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=128&TargetID=1\">limited to three days a week\u003c/a>. The city can’t cut back watering days any further, under city code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very archaic,” says Meik of the code. “It’s set up on the idea that there’s going to be abundant water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now, Corcoran — which is entirely reliant on groundwater — is drilling a new, deeper well to serve its 26,000 residents, half of whom are inmates at the state prison located there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state water board says Corcoran will likely need to cut water use by 36 percent — so Meik and the city council are scrambling to change the code before state-imposed drought rules kick in this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then he’s got to find money to help with local enforcement. Right now, four people staff the water department. They’re mostly focused on water treatment and delivery, not knocking on doors to catch water wasters.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29385\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1792px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/iStock_000022187403_Medium.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29385\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/iStock_000022187403_Medium.jpg\" alt=\"Lawns and medians are in the crosshairs of California's new mandatory water restrictions. (iStock/Getty Images)\" width=\"1792\" height=\"1071\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lawns and medians are in the crosshairs of California’s new mandatory water restrictions. (iStock/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California’s strategy to cut water use by 25 percent is a work in progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Saturday, regulators charged with implementing Gov. Jerry Brown’s sweeping \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://bit.ly/1aHXqZs\">mandate for statewide water savings\u003c/a> issued a revised plan based on more than 250 comments they received, many asking for changes in the preliminary framework issued in early April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - fact sheet\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/fact_sheet_implementing_25.pdf\">new plan\u003c/a>, drawn up by the State Water Resources Control Board, doubles the number of “tiers,” or conservation levels that local water agencies will be required to attain in the coming year. Cities will now have thresholds ranging from 8 to 36 percent, separated by smaller increments. Officials say the new structure will “lessen the disparities” between agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the new draft reassigns some local agencies to lower conservation targets, the highest number — 94 agencies, or nearly a quarter — are assigned the most stringent requirement of 36 percent water savings — for now. Only 23 agencies, including the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, are in the most permissive 8 percent tier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29381\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 490px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/WaterTiers.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29381\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/WaterTiers.jpeg\" alt=\"Breakdown of water saving thresholds that may be assigned to cities. R-GPCD refers to residential use measured as gallons per capita, per day. (SWRCB)\" width=\"490\" height=\"318\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Breakdown of water saving thresholds that may be assigned to cities. R-GPCD refers to residential use measured as gallons per capita, per day. (SWRCB)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to revising the tier structure, new provisions include softer treatment for some special cases:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Agriculture-intensive areas:\u003c/strong> The “handful” of suppliers that are classified as urban agencies but send more than 20 percent of their water to commercial agriculture can exclude the farm water portion from their savings calculations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water-flush areas:\u003c/strong> The relatively few spots, mostly on the North Coast, that are “not experiencing shortages” can petition for assignment to the lowest tier if they demonstrate that they have a multi-year supply available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Small suppliers:\u003c/strong> Utilities with more than 15 but fewer than 3,000 connections have a separate, less exacting standard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The carrot:\u003c/strong> Cities that achieve high savings can ask to be reassigned to a special Tier 1, which carries only a 4 percent reduction threshold. No water agencies are currently in Tier 1, which is reserved for high achievers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water board chair Felicia Marcus says the special provision for agriculture-intensive suppliers is the fair thing to do, despite the “distracting and incorrect soundbites” in recent media coverage that imply that farms are getting a free pass. Marcus has repeatedly said that the farm belt is being cut back on water, but under a different mechanism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Commercial and industrial users won’t be asked to cut into water use that’s essential to their businesses but will be asked to “target” discretionary use such as watering of ornamental landscapes on their properties. As to how that will be managed, Marcus says, “We’re leaving that judgment to local agencies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked what residential water consumers or “end users” should be doing right now in response to the governor’s April 1 mandates, Marcus responds: “More of the same and doubling down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials continue to invite comments through next Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>See how your town stacks up on the \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/draft_usage_tiers.pdf\">complete revised list\u003c/a> of assigned savings thresholds.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29385\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1792px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/iStock_000022187403_Medium.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29385\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/iStock_000022187403_Medium.jpg\" alt=\"Lawns and medians are in the crosshairs of California's new mandatory water restrictions. (iStock/Getty Images)\" width=\"1792\" height=\"1071\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lawns and medians are in the crosshairs of California’s new mandatory water restrictions. (iStock/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California’s strategy to cut water use by 25 percent is a work in progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Saturday, regulators charged with implementing Gov. Jerry Brown’s sweeping \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://bit.ly/1aHXqZs\">mandate for statewide water savings\u003c/a> issued a revised plan based on more than 250 comments they received, many asking for changes in the preliminary framework issued in early April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - fact sheet\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/fact_sheet_implementing_25.pdf\">new plan\u003c/a>, drawn up by the State Water Resources Control Board, doubles the number of “tiers,” or conservation levels that local water agencies will be required to attain in the coming year. Cities will now have thresholds ranging from 8 to 36 percent, separated by smaller increments. Officials say the new structure will “lessen the disparities” between agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the new draft reassigns some local agencies to lower conservation targets, the highest number — 94 agencies, or nearly a quarter — are assigned the most stringent requirement of 36 percent water savings — for now. Only 23 agencies, including the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, are in the most permissive 8 percent tier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29381\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 490px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/WaterTiers.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29381\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/WaterTiers.jpeg\" alt=\"Breakdown of water saving thresholds that may be assigned to cities. R-GPCD refers to residential use measured as gallons per capita, per day. (SWRCB)\" width=\"490\" height=\"318\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Breakdown of water saving thresholds that may be assigned to cities. R-GPCD refers to residential use measured as gallons per capita, per day. (SWRCB)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to revising the tier structure, new provisions include softer treatment for some special cases:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Agriculture-intensive areas:\u003c/strong> The “handful” of suppliers that are classified as urban agencies but send more than 20 percent of their water to commercial agriculture can exclude the farm water portion from their savings calculations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water-flush areas:\u003c/strong> The relatively few spots, mostly on the North Coast, that are “not experiencing shortages” can petition for assignment to the lowest tier if they demonstrate that they have a multi-year supply available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Small suppliers:\u003c/strong> Utilities with more than 15 but fewer than 3,000 connections have a separate, less exacting standard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The carrot:\u003c/strong> Cities that achieve high savings can ask to be reassigned to a special Tier 1, which carries only a 4 percent reduction threshold. No water agencies are currently in Tier 1, which is reserved for high achievers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water board chair Felicia Marcus says the special provision for agriculture-intensive suppliers is the fair thing to do, despite the “distracting and incorrect soundbites” in recent media coverage that imply that farms are getting a free pass. Marcus has repeatedly said that the farm belt is being cut back on water, but under a different mechanism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Commercial and industrial users won’t be asked to cut into water use that’s essential to their businesses but will be asked to “target” discretionary use such as watering of ornamental landscapes on their properties. As to how that will be managed, Marcus says, “We’re leaving that judgment to local agencies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked what residential water consumers or “end users” should be doing right now in response to the governor’s April 1 mandates, Marcus responds: “More of the same and doubling down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials continue to invite comments through next Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>See how your town stacks up on the \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/draft_usage_tiers.pdf\">complete revised list\u003c/a> of assigned savings thresholds.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Los Angeles Willing to Pay Its Highest Price Ever for Water",
"headTitle": "Los Angeles Willing to Pay Its Highest Price Ever for Water | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_28293\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/03/Crowley.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-28293\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/03/Crowley.jpg\" alt=\"Flooded rice fields at the Cosumnes River Preserve near Elk Grove. Growing an acre of rice requires three acre feet of water or more; an acre foot is about 326,000 gallons. (Photo: Nancy Crowley/The Nature Conservancy)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flooded rice fields at the Cosumnes River Preserve near Elk Grove. Growing an acre of rice requires three acre-feet of water or more. An acre-foot is roughly enough water for two Los Angeles-area households for a year. (Photo: Nancy Crowley/The Nature Conservancy)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles is offering rice farmers in the Sacramento Valley more money than the city has ever paid for water — $700 per acre-foot. At this price, rice farmers could make more money selling water than they can make on their crops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That makes it easy to say “yes,” says Lance Tennis, whose family has about 900 acres near Chico, an hour north of Sacramento. He says rice farmers in the Sacramento Valley feel compelled to help their parched neighbors to the south, but they wouldn’t want to make a habit of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re rice growers, not water marketers,” Tennis says. “It’s something you would never want to commit to on an ongoing permanent basis because these water rights are very precious, very valuable to us — they’re the only thing that makes this land up here worth what it is — the ability to grow rice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assuming the drought doesn’t curtail his local water district’s own supply, farmers like Tennis could get about $2,100 this year for every acre they agree to fallow. That’s because it takes more than three acre-feet of water to grow one acre of rice. By contrast, selling the rice nets a profit of between $1,000 to $1,500.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following a brief “wet” season marked by California’s \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/lowdown/2015/02/05/after-driest-january-on-record-how-low-are-californias-reservoirs-visualization/\">driest January\u003c/a> on record, Metropolitan Water District in \u003ca href=\"http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article13908632.html\">L.A. is offering\u003c/a> to buy more than $70 million worth of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One upside to giving some land the year off, Tennis says, is that it’s easier with rice than certain other crops, like citrus, and doing so helps with weed control and affords a chance to level the land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tennis is among the rice farmers who depend on the Western Canal Water District, which is coordinating sales to Metropolitan. General manager Ted Trimble says he wouldn’t allow farmers to fallow more than 20 percent of the land district-wide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But depending on the weather in the next couple weeks, all bets could be off, Trimble says — the deals are “contingent on the district getting its full supply of water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water district depends on the Feather River, which flows into Lake Oroville, and Trimble says the likelihood of getting the full allotment of water has been growing slimmer by the day.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"description": "Los Angeles is offering rice farmers in the Sacramento Valley more money than the city has ever paid for water -- $700 per acre-foot. At this price, rice farmers could make more money selling water than they can make on their crops. That makes it easy to say "yes," says Lance Tennis, whose family has",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_28293\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/03/Crowley.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-28293\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/03/Crowley.jpg\" alt=\"Flooded rice fields at the Cosumnes River Preserve near Elk Grove. Growing an acre of rice requires three acre feet of water or more; an acre foot is about 326,000 gallons. (Photo: Nancy Crowley/The Nature Conservancy)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flooded rice fields at the Cosumnes River Preserve near Elk Grove. Growing an acre of rice requires three acre-feet of water or more. An acre-foot is roughly enough water for two Los Angeles-area households for a year. (Photo: Nancy Crowley/The Nature Conservancy)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles is offering rice farmers in the Sacramento Valley more money than the city has ever paid for water — $700 per acre-foot. At this price, rice farmers could make more money selling water than they can make on their crops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That makes it easy to say “yes,” says Lance Tennis, whose family has about 900 acres near Chico, an hour north of Sacramento. He says rice farmers in the Sacramento Valley feel compelled to help their parched neighbors to the south, but they wouldn’t want to make a habit of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re rice growers, not water marketers,” Tennis says. “It’s something you would never want to commit to on an ongoing permanent basis because these water rights are very precious, very valuable to us — they’re the only thing that makes this land up here worth what it is — the ability to grow rice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assuming the drought doesn’t curtail his local water district’s own supply, farmers like Tennis could get about $2,100 this year for every acre they agree to fallow. That’s because it takes more than three acre-feet of water to grow one acre of rice. By contrast, selling the rice nets a profit of between $1,000 to $1,500.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following a brief “wet” season marked by California’s \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/lowdown/2015/02/05/after-driest-january-on-record-how-low-are-californias-reservoirs-visualization/\">driest January\u003c/a> on record, Metropolitan Water District in \u003ca href=\"http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article13908632.html\">L.A. is offering\u003c/a> to buy more than $70 million worth of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One upside to giving some land the year off, Tennis says, is that it’s easier with rice than certain other crops, like citrus, and doing so helps with weed control and affords a chance to level the land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tennis is among the rice farmers who depend on the Western Canal Water District, which is coordinating sales to Metropolitan. General manager Ted Trimble says he wouldn’t allow farmers to fallow more than 20 percent of the land district-wide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But depending on the weather in the next couple weeks, all bets could be off, Trimble says — the deals are “contingent on the district getting its full supply of water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water district depends on the Feather River, which flows into Lake Oroville, and Trimble says the likelihood of getting the full allotment of water has been growing slimmer by the day.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[http_redir]\u003cbr>\n\u003cimg class=\"alignright wp-image-16586\" title=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2015/03/Drought-infographic-e1426119543995-300x245.png\" alt=\"Drought infographic\" width=\"264\" height=\"216\">Florida might not like to talk about \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2015/03/10/392142452/florida-gov-scott-denies-banning-phrase-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\">climate change\u003c/a>, but here in drought-stricken California, the topic's not so taboo. Mired in year four of the worst drought on record, Californians are witnessing the climate literally change before their eyes. As the state nears the end of one of the warmest, driest winters on record, with Sierra snowpack and statewide reservoir water levels at alarming lows, the evidence is pretty hard to ignore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!--more-->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16584\" title=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2015/03/legend.png\" alt=\"legend\" width=\"623\" height=\"60\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/26/2015/03/legend.png 623w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/26/2015/03/legend-400x39.png 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/26/2015/03/legend-320x31.png 320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 623px) 100vw, 623px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe src=\"https://gifmaker.cc/PlayGIFAnimation.php?folder=2015112304WOg9gvNjJO7qkzloKxBBV7&file=output_WB6rCJ.gif&music=https://youtu.be/GeZZr_p6vB8&start=0;%20start=0\" width=\"620\" height=\"620\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The GIF above -- set to the beat of Nelly's \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/GeZZr_p6vB8\" target=\"_blank\">Hot in Herre\u003c/a> (yes, double \"r\") -- features a collection of monthly map images created by the \u003ca href=\"http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/\" target=\"_blank\">U.S. Drought Monitor\u003c/a>, a joint project of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The graphic starts in June, 2011, the summer before the drought officially took hold. Below, the maps as an infographic. \u003ca href=\"http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/AboutUs/ClassificationScheme.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">Click here\u003c/a> for more on the drought category methodology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16584\" title=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2015/03/legend.png\" alt=\"legend\" width=\"623\" height=\"60\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/26/2015/03/legend.png 623w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/26/2015/03/legend-400x39.png 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/26/2015/03/legend-320x31.png 320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 623px) 100vw, 623px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2015/03/Drought-infographic1-e1426119432547.png\">\u003cimg class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-16587\" title=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2015/03/Drought-infographic1-e1426119432547-640x1030.png\" alt=\"California Four-Year Drought\" width=\"636\" height=\"1024\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "A Thirsty Town Debates Need for New Source of Water",
"headTitle": "A Thirsty Town Debates Need for New Source of Water | KQED",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2014/12/20141222science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_25395\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 726px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Cambria_feature-image.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25395\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Cambria_feature-image.jpg\" alt=\"(Pacifica Hotels)\" width=\"726\" height=\"408\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">As water becomes scarce, Cambria develops an emergency water system that’s facing a growing opposition. (Pacifica Hotels)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>By Randol White\u003c/b>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://kcbx.org/\">KCBX Central Coast Public Radio\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The coastal tourist town of Cambria, located just below Big Sur and adjacent to Hearst Castle on California’s central coast, will begin pumping about 300 gallons a minute of treated water into the local aquifer this week. The new water source is part of a controversial emergency solution—built just this fall—to keep the community from running dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The town’s water agency says three years of drought have pushed Cambria’s only water source, two local creek basins, to the brink of exhaustion. Officials with the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cambriacsd.org/cm/Home.html\">Cambria Community Services District\u003c/a> (CCSD) say this new facility will solve the crisis, one that built up not just during the current drought but over two decades of political battles about the town’s growth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were at the limit and we had to do something,” said CCSD spokesman Tom Gray during a tour of the newly built plant. “We knew we had to have a supplemental water source at some point, and figured we might as well just do it. I mean, this is the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCSD estimates the cost of the project at $9.13 million, and expects that to rise, with expenses related to change orders and to environmental mitigations required by permitting agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Summer Scarcity Eases\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Linn has lived in the area for nearly four decades and owns the popular tourist restaurant and pie shop, \u003ca href=\"http://www.linnsfruitbin.com/\">Linn’s of Cambria\u003c/a>, located in the heart of town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_25411\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 356px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Wine-coast-country.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-25411\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Wine-coast-country.jpg\" alt=\"Cambria is a tourist town filled with restaurants and wine shops, some of which had to truck in water or use bottled water when supplies were scarce. (Wine Coast Country)\" width=\"356\" height=\"237\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cambria is a tourist town filled with restaurants and wine shops, some of which had to truck in water or use bottled water when supplies were scarce. (Wine Coast Country)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He says despite the water shortages, he’s had two record years for sales. The emergency water facility couldn’t come at a better time in his opinion, as he’s one of the top water-users in town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve suffered from surcharges, and essentially the government leaning on us to try to do everything we could to conserve,” Linn said recently, during a busy Saturday lunch at his restaurant. “That’s happened in the past, but this year was certainly the worst—this past year—was certainly the worst we’ve ever seen, and the most heavy-handed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Linn says in order to keep his business running by his standards, he had to truck in his own water last summer from wells at his nearby farm. Some business owners who didn’t have their own wells served bottled water. Paper plates and plastic cups cut down on the water needed for dishwashing, and porta-potties were brought in to reduce bathroom water use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some question whether the project is actually needed, now that the town’s wells are starting to fill naturally. After a series of Pacific storms that hit the state during the first half of December, rainfall totals are now well above the seasonal norm for Cambria. Nonetheless, because the drought has been so severe, the \u003ca href=\"http://drought.unl.edu/\">National Drought Mitigation Center\u003c/a> lists the Central Coast area as still in exceptional drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deborah Sivas is a professor of environmental law at \u003ca href=\"http://www.stanford.edu/\">Stanford University\u003c/a> and Director of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.stanford.edu/organizations/clinics/environmental-law-clinic\">Stanford Environmental Law Clinic\u003c/a>. She’s representing \u003ca href=\"http://www.landwatch.com/California_land_for_sale/San_Luis_Obispo_County\">LandWatch\u003c/a> of San Luis Obispo County, a group that’s suing to get a more extensive environmental review of the water project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My understanding is that the aquifers there down in Cambria are really filling up,” Sivas said, “and that there’s not really a need to turn the project on at this point, there’s no emergency. We don’t believe there was even an emergency back in the summertime because the water levels were more-or-less where they typically are at that time of year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Decades of Political Battles\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Cambriea-Map.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-25444\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Cambriea-Map-663x1024.png\" alt=\"Cambriea Map\" width=\"331\" height=\"512\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cambria has been battling over its water sources for at least two decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While other central coast communities have diversified their water sources by building pipelines to local reservoirs or hooking up to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/swp/\">California State Water Project\u003c/a>, Cambria’s elected leaders have restricted town’s growth partly by restricting its water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you want to build a home here, there’s a water connection waiting list of nearly 700 projects that has remained unchanged since 2001.John Coleman is president of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.acwa.com/\">Association of California Water Agencies\u003c/a> and is also the director of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ebmud.com/\">East Bay Municipal Utility District\u003c/a>, which provides water to some 1.3 million Bay Area customers. He sees the CCSD’s inaction to secure a secondary water source over the years as a disservice to the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In some cases one could argue it’s almost a very selfish attitude.” Coleman said. “‘I live here, I have mine, but you’re not going to live here and we’re going to make sure that we’re not going to have you live here because we’re not going to expand our water supply to meet, not only current needs, but needs during a drought.’ So, from my personal perspective, I think it’s the wrong policy approach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Linn says the CCSD has tried to solve the single-source water issue, but has hit roadblocks in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The town, the CCSD, the Cambria Community Services District has tried for years and years and years to solve the problem,” Linn said, “but we had other government agencies—county, state, Coastal Commission, first and foremost among them—doing everything they could to dissuade the town from any kind of growth, to the point of suing one another. Really, as a citizen it’s insane to watch it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Fast-Tracked Solution\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This past spring the CCSD finally pushed forward with a solution that uses a mix of groundwater and recycled water to provide nearly a third of the town’s annual supply. \u003ca href=\"http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/site4.aspx\">San Luis Obispo County\u003c/a> issued an emergency permit for the water project in mid-May, with a requirement that the District get a coastal development permit. That permit requires environmental analyses and mitigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_25414\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 422px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Cambria-desal-plant-copy.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-25414\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Cambria-desal-plant-copy.jpg\" alt=\"Cambria’s emergency water project involves treating wastewater and pumping it back into aquifers. (Jason Lopez)\" width=\"422\" height=\"211\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cambria’s emergency water project involves treating groundwater and wastewater, before pumping it back into aquifers. (Jason Lopez)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The plant draws up non-potable water from beneath the District’s wastewater treatment facility, adjacent to \u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=590\">Hearst San Simeon State Park\u003c/a>. That water is a combination of fresh groundwater, treated wastewater, and sea water. The plant filters this brackish water using reverse osmosis. It then pumps the water uphill, back into the local aquifer, feeding the town’s wells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s only about 1/30th of the saltiness of seawater, it has a little more saltiness than drinking water, so it’s brackish,” Gray said, pointing out that the facility is not technically a desalination plant, as some are calling it. “It’s mostly groundwater with some penetration of seawater in it and then between 5 and 10 percent of the treated wastewater.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As communities up and down the West Coast drain their groundwater basins, seawater intrusion is becoming a concern. Gray says other locations may want to consider using this same technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Conflict Brewing\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everyone is on board with the District’s rapid action this year, nor with its choice of solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cambrians for Change founder Tina Dickason says she doesn’t understand why the CCSD had to move forward with such an expensive project when there were other options available. She says the town should have built a dam, instead of a new treatment facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dickason says a reservoir with a capacity of 600-700 acre feet would be much more “environmentally desirable,” with fewer issues than the new facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">‘The more we see that it does not have dramatic and drastic environmental adverse consequences, the more this town will look back and wonder, why were we upset with this?’\u003ccite>—Mark Rochefort,Cambrians for Water\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Sivas and Dickason are watching the project’s permitting process closely. They’re concerned about what will happen to the salty by-products of the reverse osmosis, and they want to be sure the plant doesn’t affect endangered species in the San Simeon Creek lagoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Airlin Singewald with the \u003ca href=\"http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/planning.htm\">San Luis Obispo County Planning Department\u003c/a> says those issues will be addressed in the draft environmental impact report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wouldn’t surprise many people if the project ends up embroiled in a legal process with the California Coastal Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, the commission does not have any authority over the project. However, that would change if the county approves the Coastal Development Permit, taking away the facility’s emergency status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Rochefort is a former lawyer who moved to Cambria to retire. He started a group earlier this year called Cambrians for Water to support the CCSD’s efforts. He says he’s not looking forward to a fight with the Coastal Commission, but he and many others in town believe it’s coming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Change is a threatening thing to a lot of people,” Rochefort says, “but I am firmly convinced that the longer this plant operates, the more we see its benefits, the more we see that it does not have dramatic and drastic environmental adverse consequences, the more this town will look back and wonder, why were we upset with this?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Singewald says a draft EIR could be ready in four to six months, but there is no timeline for the steps to be completed. If everything goes quickly, the planning commission could begin debating the project by late spring 2015.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_25395\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 726px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Cambria_feature-image.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25395\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Cambria_feature-image.jpg\" alt=\"(Pacifica Hotels)\" width=\"726\" height=\"408\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">As water becomes scarce, Cambria develops an emergency water system that’s facing a growing opposition. (Pacifica Hotels)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>By Randol White\u003c/b>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://kcbx.org/\">KCBX Central Coast Public Radio\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The coastal tourist town of Cambria, located just below Big Sur and adjacent to Hearst Castle on California’s central coast, will begin pumping about 300 gallons a minute of treated water into the local aquifer this week. The new water source is part of a controversial emergency solution—built just this fall—to keep the community from running dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The town’s water agency says three years of drought have pushed Cambria’s only water source, two local creek basins, to the brink of exhaustion. Officials with the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cambriacsd.org/cm/Home.html\">Cambria Community Services District\u003c/a> (CCSD) say this new facility will solve the crisis, one that built up not just during the current drought but over two decades of political battles about the town’s growth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were at the limit and we had to do something,” said CCSD spokesman Tom Gray during a tour of the newly built plant. “We knew we had to have a supplemental water source at some point, and figured we might as well just do it. I mean, this is the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCSD estimates the cost of the project at $9.13 million, and expects that to rise, with expenses related to change orders and to environmental mitigations required by permitting agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Summer Scarcity Eases\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Linn has lived in the area for nearly four decades and owns the popular tourist restaurant and pie shop, \u003ca href=\"http://www.linnsfruitbin.com/\">Linn’s of Cambria\u003c/a>, located in the heart of town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_25411\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 356px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Wine-coast-country.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-25411\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Wine-coast-country.jpg\" alt=\"Cambria is a tourist town filled with restaurants and wine shops, some of which had to truck in water or use bottled water when supplies were scarce. (Wine Coast Country)\" width=\"356\" height=\"237\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cambria is a tourist town filled with restaurants and wine shops, some of which had to truck in water or use bottled water when supplies were scarce. (Wine Coast Country)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He says despite the water shortages, he’s had two record years for sales. The emergency water facility couldn’t come at a better time in his opinion, as he’s one of the top water-users in town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve suffered from surcharges, and essentially the government leaning on us to try to do everything we could to conserve,” Linn said recently, during a busy Saturday lunch at his restaurant. “That’s happened in the past, but this year was certainly the worst—this past year—was certainly the worst we’ve ever seen, and the most heavy-handed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Linn says in order to keep his business running by his standards, he had to truck in his own water last summer from wells at his nearby farm. Some business owners who didn’t have their own wells served bottled water. Paper plates and plastic cups cut down on the water needed for dishwashing, and porta-potties were brought in to reduce bathroom water use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some question whether the project is actually needed, now that the town’s wells are starting to fill naturally. After a series of Pacific storms that hit the state during the first half of December, rainfall totals are now well above the seasonal norm for Cambria. Nonetheless, because the drought has been so severe, the \u003ca href=\"http://drought.unl.edu/\">National Drought Mitigation Center\u003c/a> lists the Central Coast area as still in exceptional drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deborah Sivas is a professor of environmental law at \u003ca href=\"http://www.stanford.edu/\">Stanford University\u003c/a> and Director of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.stanford.edu/organizations/clinics/environmental-law-clinic\">Stanford Environmental Law Clinic\u003c/a>. She’s representing \u003ca href=\"http://www.landwatch.com/California_land_for_sale/San_Luis_Obispo_County\">LandWatch\u003c/a> of San Luis Obispo County, a group that’s suing to get a more extensive environmental review of the water project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My understanding is that the aquifers there down in Cambria are really filling up,” Sivas said, “and that there’s not really a need to turn the project on at this point, there’s no emergency. We don’t believe there was even an emergency back in the summertime because the water levels were more-or-less where they typically are at that time of year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Decades of Political Battles\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Cambriea-Map.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-25444\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Cambriea-Map-663x1024.png\" alt=\"Cambriea Map\" width=\"331\" height=\"512\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cambria has been battling over its water sources for at least two decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While other central coast communities have diversified their water sources by building pipelines to local reservoirs or hooking up to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/swp/\">California State Water Project\u003c/a>, Cambria’s elected leaders have restricted town’s growth partly by restricting its water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you want to build a home here, there’s a water connection waiting list of nearly 700 projects that has remained unchanged since 2001.John Coleman is president of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.acwa.com/\">Association of California Water Agencies\u003c/a> and is also the director of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ebmud.com/\">East Bay Municipal Utility District\u003c/a>, which provides water to some 1.3 million Bay Area customers. He sees the CCSD’s inaction to secure a secondary water source over the years as a disservice to the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In some cases one could argue it’s almost a very selfish attitude.” Coleman said. “‘I live here, I have mine, but you’re not going to live here and we’re going to make sure that we’re not going to have you live here because we’re not going to expand our water supply to meet, not only current needs, but needs during a drought.’ So, from my personal perspective, I think it’s the wrong policy approach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Linn says the CCSD has tried to solve the single-source water issue, but has hit roadblocks in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The town, the CCSD, the Cambria Community Services District has tried for years and years and years to solve the problem,” Linn said, “but we had other government agencies—county, state, Coastal Commission, first and foremost among them—doing everything they could to dissuade the town from any kind of growth, to the point of suing one another. Really, as a citizen it’s insane to watch it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Fast-Tracked Solution\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This past spring the CCSD finally pushed forward with a solution that uses a mix of groundwater and recycled water to provide nearly a third of the town’s annual supply. \u003ca href=\"http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/site4.aspx\">San Luis Obispo County\u003c/a> issued an emergency permit for the water project in mid-May, with a requirement that the District get a coastal development permit. That permit requires environmental analyses and mitigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_25414\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 422px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Cambria-desal-plant-copy.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-25414\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/Cambria-desal-plant-copy.jpg\" alt=\"Cambria’s emergency water project involves treating wastewater and pumping it back into aquifers. (Jason Lopez)\" width=\"422\" height=\"211\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cambria’s emergency water project involves treating groundwater and wastewater, before pumping it back into aquifers. (Jason Lopez)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The plant draws up non-potable water from beneath the District’s wastewater treatment facility, adjacent to \u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=590\">Hearst San Simeon State Park\u003c/a>. That water is a combination of fresh groundwater, treated wastewater, and sea water. The plant filters this brackish water using reverse osmosis. It then pumps the water uphill, back into the local aquifer, feeding the town’s wells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s only about 1/30th of the saltiness of seawater, it has a little more saltiness than drinking water, so it’s brackish,” Gray said, pointing out that the facility is not technically a desalination plant, as some are calling it. “It’s mostly groundwater with some penetration of seawater in it and then between 5 and 10 percent of the treated wastewater.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As communities up and down the West Coast drain their groundwater basins, seawater intrusion is becoming a concern. Gray says other locations may want to consider using this same technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Conflict Brewing\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everyone is on board with the District’s rapid action this year, nor with its choice of solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cambrians for Change founder Tina Dickason says she doesn’t understand why the CCSD had to move forward with such an expensive project when there were other options available. She says the town should have built a dam, instead of a new treatment facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dickason says a reservoir with a capacity of 600-700 acre feet would be much more “environmentally desirable,” with fewer issues than the new facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">‘The more we see that it does not have dramatic and drastic environmental adverse consequences, the more this town will look back and wonder, why were we upset with this?’\u003ccite>—Mark Rochefort,Cambrians for Water\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Sivas and Dickason are watching the project’s permitting process closely. They’re concerned about what will happen to the salty by-products of the reverse osmosis, and they want to be sure the plant doesn’t affect endangered species in the San Simeon Creek lagoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Airlin Singewald with the \u003ca href=\"http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/planning.htm\">San Luis Obispo County Planning Department\u003c/a> says those issues will be addressed in the draft environmental impact report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wouldn’t surprise many people if the project ends up embroiled in a legal process with the California Coastal Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, the commission does not have any authority over the project. However, that would change if the county approves the Coastal Development Permit, taking away the facility’s emergency status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Rochefort is a former lawyer who moved to Cambria to retire. He started a group earlier this year called Cambrians for Water to support the CCSD’s efforts. He says he’s not looking forward to a fight with the Coastal Commission, but he and many others in town believe it’s coming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Change is a threatening thing to a lot of people,” Rochefort says, “but I am firmly convinced that the longer this plant operates, the more we see its benefits, the more we see that it does not have dramatic and drastic environmental adverse consequences, the more this town will look back and wonder, why were we upset with this?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Singewald says a draft EIR could be ready in four to six months, but there is no timeline for the steps to be completed. If everything goes quickly, the planning commission could begin debating the project by late spring 2015.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California's Drought: Is it Global Warming?",
"headTitle": "California’s Drought: Is it Global Warming? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_24642\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/12290993595_30600f2df7_z-e1418080548549.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-24642\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/12290993595_30600f2df7_z-e1418080548549.jpg\" alt=\"12290993595_30600f2df7_z\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Uvas Reservoir north of Gilroy stood at less than four percent of its total capacity in early December. (Ian Abbott/Flickr)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Federal climate scientists say that \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - Drought Watch\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/series/california-drought-watch/?=science_widget\">California’s drought\u003c/a>, now in its fourth year, is not likely the product of human-induced global warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca title=\"NOAA - drought drivers report\" href=\"http://cpo.noaa.gov/ClimatePrograms/ModelingAnalysisPredictionsandProjections/MAPPTaskForces/DroughtTaskForce/CaliforniaDrought.aspx\">new report\u003c/a>, based on seven models that ran 160 “reenactments” of the last three years, concludes that “perhaps about two-thirds of the precipitation deficits” of the last three years have been the product of various convergent factors, including “a randomness of the atmosphere,” says Marty Hoerling, a climate scientist at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.noaa.gov/\">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u003c/a>‘s Earth System Research Laboratory and one of the study’s co-authors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, it’s been mostly natural variability, which is science-speak for the random year-to-year fluctuations in precipitation that we would normally expect.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">The current California drought is ‘one of the most severe’ since 1895.\u003ccite>— Richard Seager,\u003cbr>\nColumbia University\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Most climate models show that rising greenhouse gas emissions should produce more intense precipitation during California’s core mid-winter “rainy season” and less during the spring months, creating what lead author Richard Seager of Columbia University calls a “shorter, sharper rainy season.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That hasn’t been happening in recent years. Therefore, says Seager, “The events of the last three winters were primarily due to the natural variability of the atmosphere-ocean system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report has drawn fire from some scientists and commentators who say that it leaves out the effects of \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/01/15/heat-breaks-records-all-over-bay-area-weather\">record-high temperatures\u003c/a> in California this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brenda Ekwurzel, senior climate scientist at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.ucsusa.org/\">Union of Concerned Scientists\u003c/a>, wrote in a response that, “The NOAA study points to natural variability, but it is important to note that these random variations are happening in the context of higher overall temperatures caused by climate change and warmer temperatures spell trouble for water in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s well understood that \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2014/10/14/high-temps-intensified-california-drought/\">high temperatures tend to exacerbate drought\u003c/a> impacts, baking moisture out of the ground through increased evaporation and transpiration by plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”SJvxYJSRSSNAGhrem6PCh8609h1g5lSK”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, “Warmer temperatures are widening the gap between water supply and demand by contributing to earlier spring snow melt meaning less water is available when demands are the highest in mid-to-late summer,” said UCS climate scientist Juliet Christian-Smith in the same response. “As global warming continues, decreasing snowpack and earlier snowmelt — coupled with increasing demand for water — will likely exacerbate water shortages.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seager says the “main driver” of the drought has been lack of precipitation, which defied the predictive models amid rising carbon emissions, but he and Hoerling agree that it would be useful to “continue the analysis by looking at the land surface hydrology and working out what the role of increasing temperature was,” as Seager put it to reporters in a conference call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hydrologist Peter Gleick of the Oakland-based Pacific Institute says the NOAA report lends itself to misinterpretation because of the “fundamental difference between ’cause’ and ‘influence.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Asking whether climate changes ’caused’ the current drought is simply the wrong question,” Gleick wrote in an email to KQED. “While there remains plenty of interesting science to be done about how climate changes will cause extreme events in the future, we already see today a growing and clear influence of climate changes on storms and droughts around the world. The influence of human-caused climate change is already apparent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The NOAA scientists acknowledge the historic nature of the drought itself. Seager describes it as “one of the most severe” since 1895, when the state began keeping precipitation records. Even with December coming down on the wet side so far, it’s impossible to say whether this winter will extend the drought or help bring an end to it, according to Seager and Hoerling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the last three years, California lost essentially one whole year’s worth of precipitation,” Seager notes.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_24642\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/12290993595_30600f2df7_z-e1418080548549.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-24642\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/12/12290993595_30600f2df7_z-e1418080548549.jpg\" alt=\"12290993595_30600f2df7_z\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Uvas Reservoir north of Gilroy stood at less than four percent of its total capacity in early December. (Ian Abbott/Flickr)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Federal climate scientists say that \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - Drought Watch\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/series/california-drought-watch/?=science_widget\">California’s drought\u003c/a>, now in its fourth year, is not likely the product of human-induced global warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca title=\"NOAA - drought drivers report\" href=\"http://cpo.noaa.gov/ClimatePrograms/ModelingAnalysisPredictionsandProjections/MAPPTaskForces/DroughtTaskForce/CaliforniaDrought.aspx\">new report\u003c/a>, based on seven models that ran 160 “reenactments” of the last three years, concludes that “perhaps about two-thirds of the precipitation deficits” of the last three years have been the product of various convergent factors, including “a randomness of the atmosphere,” says Marty Hoerling, a climate scientist at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.noaa.gov/\">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u003c/a>‘s Earth System Research Laboratory and one of the study’s co-authors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, it’s been mostly natural variability, which is science-speak for the random year-to-year fluctuations in precipitation that we would normally expect.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">The current California drought is ‘one of the most severe’ since 1895.\u003ccite>— Richard Seager,\u003cbr>\nColumbia University\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Most climate models show that rising greenhouse gas emissions should produce more intense precipitation during California’s core mid-winter “rainy season” and less during the spring months, creating what lead author Richard Seager of Columbia University calls a “shorter, sharper rainy season.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That hasn’t been happening in recent years. Therefore, says Seager, “The events of the last three winters were primarily due to the natural variability of the atmosphere-ocean system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report has drawn fire from some scientists and commentators who say that it leaves out the effects of \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/01/15/heat-breaks-records-all-over-bay-area-weather\">record-high temperatures\u003c/a> in California this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brenda Ekwurzel, senior climate scientist at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.ucsusa.org/\">Union of Concerned Scientists\u003c/a>, wrote in a response that, “The NOAA study points to natural variability, but it is important to note that these random variations are happening in the context of higher overall temperatures caused by climate change and warmer temperatures spell trouble for water in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s well understood that \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2014/10/14/high-temps-intensified-california-drought/\">high temperatures tend to exacerbate drought\u003c/a> impacts, baking moisture out of the ground through increased evaporation and transpiration by plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, “Warmer temperatures are widening the gap between water supply and demand by contributing to earlier spring snow melt meaning less water is available when demands are the highest in mid-to-late summer,” said UCS climate scientist Juliet Christian-Smith in the same response. “As global warming continues, decreasing snowpack and earlier snowmelt — coupled with increasing demand for water — will likely exacerbate water shortages.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seager says the “main driver” of the drought has been lack of precipitation, which defied the predictive models amid rising carbon emissions, but he and Hoerling agree that it would be useful to “continue the analysis by looking at the land surface hydrology and working out what the role of increasing temperature was,” as Seager put it to reporters in a conference call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hydrologist Peter Gleick of the Oakland-based Pacific Institute says the NOAA report lends itself to misinterpretation because of the “fundamental difference between ’cause’ and ‘influence.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Asking whether climate changes ’caused’ the current drought is simply the wrong question,” Gleick wrote in an email to KQED. “While there remains plenty of interesting science to be done about how climate changes will cause extreme events in the future, we already see today a growing and clear influence of climate changes on storms and droughts around the world. The influence of human-caused climate change is already apparent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The NOAA scientists acknowledge the historic nature of the drought itself. Seager describes it as “one of the most severe” since 1895, when the state began keeping precipitation records. Even with December coming down on the wet side so far, it’s impossible to say whether this winter will extend the drought or help bring an end to it, according to Seager and Hoerling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the last three years, California lost essentially one whole year’s worth of precipitation,” Seager notes.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"soldout": {
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