National Weather Forecast for SF Bay: "Atmospheric River" expected to bring significant rainfall

[Auggie]

Starting Thursday night, April 5th, through Saturday.



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[lapfog_1]

1. AKA "Pineapple Express"

coolio... a little late in the season, but most welcome.

OTOH, it could cause a major early snowmelt in the Sierras, which is bad news for later season runoff.

[Auggie]

3. Yeah ...

the snow pack isn't that great to begin with either!

California's weather has entered a new paradigm thanks to carbon. I believe we'll need to store more water artificially (reservoirs) than depend on the Sierra. I've been waiting years for progress but it's been moving really slow.

Voters OK’d $2.7 billion for new reservoirs. Critics say California won’t spend it

It’s a tantalizing pot of money, $2.7 billion for new dams and reservoirs approved by California voters during the worst of the drought.

But is the state willing to spend it?

The California Water Commission, the obscure state agency in charge of allocating the money, stunned the California water world recently by giving a decidedly lukewarm response to the 11 applications it received for funding. Farm irrigation districts and municipal water agencies applying for the money fear that the commission has raised the bar so high that few if any reservoir projects will qualify for the dollars.

The money would come from Proposition 1, a $7.5-billion bond measure approved by voters in 2014 to pay for water recycling, treatment and the like, including the nearly $3 billion set aside for reservoirs and other water-storage projects.

MORE: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article197968574.html

[Renew Deal]

2. That should solve some drought problems

Maybe too well

[Auggie]

5. I had no idea the Oklahoma panhandle was in such severe drought ...

north Texas too.

[msongs]

4. the atmospheric river in so cal a few weeks ago turned out be a total bust with few exceptions nt

[BigmanPigman]

6. Yep! We are in another drought. We had 5 years of a drought, then OK for two years,

now back to drought again. The GOP voters in the rural areas still want free water for their farms from the state which the fucking moron despises.

[JayhawkSD]

7. And San Diego officials are saying there is no need to conserve.

Despite the fact that with 8.5" for normal rainfall at this point we have received a mere 2.15" so far this year. The storm track this coming week, posted above, is forecast to stay well north of us, and for all of the cheering, the last one was a major flop.

And yet, when asked about limiting usage, San Diego water officials say there is "no need" to do so.

They are preoccupied at this point with customers who are freaking out over water bills which have been running $120 per month suddenly being upwards of $1700 per month. Customers who complain get told the meters were read and are fine, that they did use that much water, and that they must pay the bill.

Customers then go out and look at their meter and find that it is completely buried in muck and dirt and clearly has been for a long time. When told about that the Water Dept sort of stammers, admits one meter reader had "made mistakes," and adjusts bills for about 100 customers.

Water Dept holds public meeting to assure public that crisis is over and is inundated by thousands of customers waving water bills for outlandish amounts. Admits new "smart meters" might have a few "issues." The melodrama is ongoing as we speak.

[Auggie]

8. Our berg cut consumption by about 20% last year, and rates up anyhow. Reason ...?

The water department's billings were reduced by such a drastic amount that it ran low on operational and infrastructure funds. So they had to raise rates.

I'm okay with that. Water and sewage are utilities I'll gladly pay extra for when the need arises, especially when they are owned by the public, and "profits" are spent on operations and improvements, not shareholder dividends.