Tag:

drought

How We can Grow During the Drought

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During any kind of adversity we tend to grow with leaps and bounds. It may be slowly, but it is surely. Being in a severe drought offers this same opportunity to grow. How do we grow when we have less? Well, we can look at what we have that needs excessive water and make separate those things that have no real value in our lives. I have said in other posts that if the only person who walks on your grass is your gardener, then it’s time to let the grass / lawn go. This frees us, as Californians, to create a landscape that is sustainable and uniquely ours.

We must reduce our water usage by 25%. Why not make it 50%? There is nothing wrong with using water, we do not need guilt as we create something beautiful. By using water wisely we rid ourselves of that guilt…. and become part of a community of thinkers.

So, how do we create a replacement for grass? Can we rethink a false status symbol? YES!!! There are countless “soulutions”, but typically the front garden is part of the street-scape, an unused asset by the homeowner. Let’s talk about what grass does for a landscape. It is a mass of green, typically a fine texture that conjures a feeling of park like relaxation. This is an opportunity to redefine how our homes look and feel. Why not play up that park feel and create spaces for neighbors to want to congregate… build community through gardens. This can be done with thoughtful design.

During the drought we must protect our trees by deep watering them. This is a solution to a problem we all know we have—-tree roots that stay close to the surface. The trees tend to fall over during Santa Ana Winds…. or heavy rains. Trees planted in grass become use to irrigation, they spread their roots at the surface because that is where the water is. By eliminating grass and having to water it, we have found a solution to those shallow roots. Look around, look for trees planted in grass, and look for trees planted in a field. You find that there is no bulk of surface roots in nature.

Another way we can grow during a drought is by changing our home climate. Plant groves of trees. Create shade! And, by not having surface water your trees will develop proper roots. If selected properly, trees can provide shade in the summer, warmth in the winter, seasonal color, flowers, attract wildlife and evoke that park like feeling we all love.

Finally, we can create community gardens if we plant stone fruits, citrus and other trees with edible fruits. If your neighbor has a lemon, then perhaps you plant a lime tree, an avocado tree, grapefruit, fig, pomegranate….. this is an opportunity to build relationships who also want to conserve water and have a sustainable, beautiful garden.

April 13, 2015 0 comment

US Water Consumption Lowest in Decades

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One of the challenges we can expect to face in a climate-changed world is a dramatic redistribution of water resources. Some areas will experience drought, as California and all of the Southwest is currently facing, while others will be forced to deal with flooding, either from massive storms or snowmelt in the spring. These are enormous challenges which could threaten our economy and in some cases our livelihoods. The question of how we can prepare for this is an overwhelming one, though we know that we can surely benefit by becoming more resilient. In this context, this means, among other things, reducing the level of water consumption required for our way of life. That also implicitly means reducing our energy consumption, since the two are so inextricably linked.

There is some good news on that score. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), water use in the US, in the year 2010 has fallen to the lowest level since before 1970. This was largely due to reductions in the two largest water consuming activities: thermoelectric power generation and agricultural irrigation. The biggest drop was in withdrawals for feeding and cooling thermal power plants, which accounts for about 45% of all water withdrawals. That number fell by 20%. This derived from a migration away from fossil fuel plants, particularly coal, as well as improved efficiency. Irrigation, which accounts for another 33% of all withdrawals, fell by 9%. Public water supply withdrawals also fell by 5% despite an increase in population. The only areas that saw increases were aquaculture and mining. What’s not clear is whether that trend will begin to reverse with severe droughts like the one currently underway in California, which has already reversed decades of progress in air quality improvement.

These numbers were rolled up at a national level. Drilling down into the numbers, as the folks at the Hamilton Project did, shows a wide variation in water usage and water availability across the various regions of the country. Just because the national average is down, deosn’t mean that some areas aren’t struggling.

Regionally, most of the withdrawals for power generation occurred east of the Mississippi, though there is a substantial concentration in Southern California as well. As for irrigation, on the other hand, most of this took place west of the Mississippi, though there is also a dense pocket in Southern Florida. Domestic withdrawals vary, on a per capita basis, from 51 gallons per day in Wisconsin, to 168 gallons per day in Idaho. These differences are mostly attributable to landscaping.

The folks at ACEEE are looking at opportunities for savings at the energy-water nexus. Their recent report Watts in a Drop of Water: Savings at the Water-Energy Nexus, looks at opportunities to save energy in the conveyance, treatment, distribution of water and well as the treatment and discharge of wastewater. Their research also found large disparities by location, due to the various approaches being used. For example, if a municipality received their water from an upland source that could be fed to them by gravity, made a huge difference in energy consumption compared to those with downhill sources that had to be pumped in. According to Scott Sklar of George Washington University, 18% of the eastern electric grid and 30% of the western grid is dedicated to moving water and sewage around. The report calls for mew metrics to highlight the amount of embedded energy in a given water flow.

There is a tremendous opportunity here to continue to improve the efficiency of our water and energy system that can be best addressed by the two utilities working together and taking a systems approach. The more efficient we can become, the more resilient we will be and the better positioned will we be to withstand the shocks that lie ahead.

Article by RP Siegel of Justmeans, appearing courtesy 3BL Media.

November 13, 2014 0 comment

Southwestern U.S. Aquifers Are Extremely Low, NASA Data Show

written by Yale Environment 360

Groundwater reserves in the U.S. Southwest are severely low and prospects for their long-term viability are bleak as persistent drought continues to parch the land and prevent recharging, according to an assessment from NASA.

As shown in this map, many underground aquifers in the Southwest are extremely dry compared to average conditions over the past 60 years. Deep red areas on the map, such as in southern California and Nevada, depict aquifers that are so dry there’s less than a 2 percent chance they could have experienced such levels of drought-related depletion since 1948.

Although the Pacific Northwest is experiencing drought-related wildfires, aquifers in that region appear to be well-stocked, according to the map. The discrepancy is likely due to the long lag between dry conditions at the surface and depletion of groundwater reserves, researchers say.

This assessment, which NASA considers experimental, is based on observations of small changes in Earth’s mass and gravity field — features that are affected by the movement and storage of water.

July 28, 2014 1 comment

Browning of Congo Rainforest is Depicted in NASA Satellite Data

written by Yale Environment 360

Persistent drought has taken a major toll on Africa’s Congo rainforest, with large-scale browning intensifying and affecting a growing portion of the forest over the past decade, an analysis of NASA satellite data shows. A browning trend significantly dwarfed smaller areas of “greening” — a satellite-derived indicator of forest health — during April, May, and June each year from 2000 to 2012, according to research published in Nature.

The browning of Congo’s rainforest is significant, researchers said, because most climate models forecast that tropical forests may face increasing stress and rainfall shortages in a warmer and drier 21st century. A continued drying trend might alter the composition and structure of the Congo rainforest, affecting its biodiversity and carbon storage, the study said.

“Forests of the Congo basin are known to be resilient to moderate climate change because they have been exposed to dry conditions in the past few hundred years,” a NASA researcher said. “However, the recent climate anomalies as a result of climate change and warming of the Atlantic Ocean have created severe droughts in the tropics, causing major impacts on forests.

April 25, 2014 0 comment

In Some Measure, Climate Change Is Self-Correcting

written by Walter Wang

Here’s an article from the New York Times that makes an important point: as industry becomes increasingly aware that climate change is cutting into its bottom line, it takes action – and that action tends to (though does not always) militate in the direction of more eco-friendly business practices.

January 27, 2014 1 comment

Optimizing Corn Production in the Face of Climate Change

written by Walter Wang

Kenya is no stranger to adaptation when it comes to food production. Kenya’s cultural and political underpinnings are reliant upon adaptation to current climatic conditions. Present predictions are that drastic adaptation will be necessary once again. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Association for Strengthening

September 18, 2013 0 comment

Business Sustainability Planning – Let Water Be Your Guide

written by Walter Wang

When most people think of water issues, the first thing that comes to mind is falling reservoirs and water rationing at the tap. While this is a very significant impact, our business sustainability consulting is reminded that water stretches much further and deep in to the heart of business. The reality is that water is linked to every facet of life on our planet and directly interacts

February 18, 2013 0 comment

Middle East Water Loss Is Starkly Documented by NASA Satellites

written by Yale Environment 360

A pair of gravity-measuring NASA satellites has documented a precipitous drop in freshwater supplies in the arid Middle East over the past decade. NASA said that since 2003 parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran had lost 144 cubic kilometers of total stored freshwater, an amount roughly equivalent to the water in the Dead Sea.

February 14, 2013 0 comment

New Doubt Cast on Link Between Global Warming and Increased Drought

written by Walter Wang

There have been devastating droughts in the past few years in places like Africa, Australia, and the United States. Last summer, the drought in the central US caused the loss of massive crops, causing a major economic hit for the country. The seemingly increasing prevalence of droughts has some announcing the effects of climate change coming to fruition. However,

January 8, 2013 0 comment

NASA Visualization Captures Record Year for Wildfires in the U.S.

written by Yale Environment 360

This year has been an unusually severe one for wildfires in the U.S., with more than 9.1 million acres of land burned through the end of November, federal officials say.

The total affected area, which is depicted in a new NASA map, is already the third-largest since records were first kept in 1960, and will likely break previous

December 12, 2012 0 comment

U.S.-Mexico Reach Accord On Sharing Colorado River Water

written by Yale Environment 360

The U.S. and Mexico have reached an agreement on how to share water from the Colorado River, a five-year deal crafted to help both nations prepare for future droughts.

Under the agreement, regional water agencies in California, Arizona, and Nevada will purchase nearly 100,000 acre-feet of water from Mexico’s

November 21, 2012 0 comment

NASA Image Shows Low Waters of Drought-Stricken Mississippi River

written by Yale Environment 360

A pair of NASA satellite images comparing water flow along the Mississippi River this month with August 2011 illustrates the effects of a severe summer drought along the critical waterway. The recent photo, taken just south of Memphis, Tennessee on Aug. 8, reveals extensive sandbars that are newly exposed or far larger than they were a year ago.

August 22, 2012 0 comment

You Still Don’t Believe in Climate Change?

written by Walter Wang

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) just issued a troubling little news flash today …

July 2012 was hottest month on record for contiguous U.S. since record keeping began in 1895.

There are still quite a few people that don’t want to admit that human beings are altering the planet’s

August 16, 2012 0 comment

U.S. Meat Producers Call for Pause in Ethanol Quotas in Wake of Drought

written by Yale Environment 360

U.S. meat, poultry, and dairy producers are urging the Obama administration to suspend a quota for corn-based ethanol production, warning that the renewable fuels standard could trigger a food crisis as a prolonged drought pushes corn and soybean prices to record levels.

August 1, 2012 0 comment

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