California Drought (Sacramento: foreclosure, agriculture, homeless)

[citizensadvocate]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

All construction is water hungry. ALL of it.

That’s very correct statement, scolding residents and shaming them for flushing toilets while constructions sites just down the block pour more water per minute than a resident can use for a week is just ridiculous. And those only serve to farther burden the infrastructure not improve the infrastructure. Think of improving the infrastructure first. Not add more industries to burden it.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by citizensadvocate

That’s very correct statement, scolding residents and shaming them for flushing toilets while constructions sites just down the block pour more water per minute than a resident can use for a week is just ridiculous.

I'll say. And this almost defies logic. How horrible. These poor homeowners.

WOODLAKE, Calif. — After the rain stopped Wednesday afternoon, the prevailing sounds in northwest Woodlake were those of rushing water and gas generators.

On the town’s edge in Tulare County, northeast of Visalia, dozens of houses had flooded repeatedly since early Friday as more storms slammed California.

A new development was cut off from existing homes by a river of brown water a foot deep and 10 feet wide, coursing around signs reading “Sold” and “Ready to Move In!” before hitting a main street and being channeled to a natural creek bed.

Keylan Liles, who has lived in a house on West Cajon Avenue for decades, said he’d “never seen anything like this.”

“Then they built that,” he said, pointing to the new development across the street, which he said replaced orchards and Antelope Creek with ribbons of asphalt.

The family is unhappy with the response from local officials: “No hotel, no food, nothing,” Irineo Zaragoza said. “We were abandoned by the city.”

...Like many in the neighborhood, he questioned whether the new development contributed to the flooding.

It “was made on top of the creek,” he said. He has written to the city to ask how the homes were approved and what their environmental impact statement said.

Yanez Homes, developer of the Hillside Estates, said in a statement to The Times that the wave of storms that hit the state was “unprecedented” and that the development had been “built in compliance with all applicable municipal requirements relating to drainage and other building requirements.”

Like the Zaragozas, Diaz did not have flood insurance.

https://www.latimes.com/california/s...ew-development

[OyCrumbler]

This week's drought map (with data up to the morning of Tuesday March 14th): https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Curre...onitor.aspx?CA I wonder if next week or the week after's update will see the state with the majority of the state having exited even the abnormally dry category given where the projected rains for the coming weeks are. One problem is that much of the West Coast, Intermountain West, and Southwest still have a lot of areas in drought and the state shares a lot of water resources with them, so that's still going to be a point of contention. Hopefully they also end up leaving drought conditions behind for the most part.

That's looking pretty good. The other good thing is that California's been working on ways to replenish groundwater which is very much depleted from historic levels and these aquifers are likely the cheapest and largest "reservoirs" the state has: https://phys.org/news/2023-03-flush-...oundwater.html This easing of the permitting process is on the back of several years of research and trials to see how effective this is with fairly good results, and this year is going to essentially be a sizable expansion of these pilots.

[joosoon]

Originally Posted by citizensadvocate

That’s very correct statement, scolding residents and shaming them for flushing toilets while constructions sites just down the block pour more water per minute than a resident can use for a week is just ridiculous.

What exactly are you witnessing that makes you think this?

When developers have a big swathe of land to prep for homes, there might be a couple water tenders doing dust control while the individual lots are formed and graded. But that's a tiny bit of water in the overall picture of what a family of four uses yearly once that house is built and occupied. Beyond that, if the ground is over-saturated, it won't properly compact, won't pass perc. testing, and can't be built on. Same if there's an abundance of ground water beneath it, so in all scenarios, it would be counterproductive to add large amounts of it even if by accident. Plus most municipalities and the state have strict rules about runoff and nobody wants to rack up those fines.


This theory that construction unnecessarily dumps water all over for no particular reason doesn't add up.

[joosoon]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

Hopefully they also end up leaving drought conditions behind for the most part.

Good news but honestly, it'll never be enough. From the second link:

"To the degree we can increase the supply, and we can only do that by capturing these large flood flows and storing them, that's our main card in this game," Harter said. "It's not going to take away the need to reduce the demand, but it will lessen the need to do that.

[citizensadvocate]

Originally Posted by joosoon

What exactly are you witnessing that makes you think this?

When developers have a big swathe of land to prep for homes, there might be a couple water tenders doing dust control while the individual lots are formed and graded. But that's a tiny bit of water in the overall picture of what a family of four uses yearly once that house is built and occupied. Beyond that, if the ground is over-saturated, it won't properly compact, won't pass perc. testing, and can't be built on. Same if there's an abundance of ground water beneath it, so in all scenarios, it would be counterproductive to add large amounts of it even if by accident. Plus most municipalities and the state have strict rules about runoff and nobody wants to rack up those fines.

This theory that construction unnecessarily dumps water all over for no particular reason doesn't add up.

My point is stop the rapid build build build mentality that results in construction projects.
I mean while they need large amounts of water for dust control and other necessities to build I been next to one and the projects that are completed also would use up a lot of water in the long run. We don’t need more luxury McMansions with water hungry pools, water features, and landscaping or penthouse condos to house the rich from everywhere in the world who would be driving cars even if there isn’t more road space or parking which they are moving in for their California entrepreneur dream, we should focus on those who can barely afford a roof over their heads and we don’t need any more big industries Ie almond farming or other manufacturing that takes up a lot of water until we get better infrastructure both water and otherwise Ie transportation. Construction is just tip of the ice burg but the infrastructure is further weighted down when these projects complete. Ie apparently NIMbyists stop infrastructure improvements much more than wealthy developers that really causing problems no roads no rail no power plants no new water facilities yet they are powerless to stop the build build build facilities that heavily tax the few existing infrastructure left.

Instead of rabidly building things that adds burden to our overburdened public utilities, We should be building water storage facilities and desalination plants as well as reducing bottle necks on existing roads, complete the planned road system(freeway revolts and incomplete system really caused a nightmare), and metro rapid rails(not glorified reinvented streetcars trolleys) automated parking facilities, and hsr between Sd/TJ border or airport to LA and ultimately LV and Central Valley.

[stablegenius]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Yanez Homes, developer of the Hillside Estates, said in a statement to The Times that the wave of storms that hit the state was “unprecedented” and that the development had been “built in compliance with all applicable municipal requirements relating to drainage and other building requirements.”

https://www.latimes.com/california/s...ew-development

Please. Unprecedented or not, I wouldn’t be surprised if most developers barely plan for drainage assuming it’s never going to rain again. Just as I bet most cities blow their pothole money on other things assuming it won’t rain.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by joosoon

Good news but honestly, it'll never be enough. From the second link:

"To the degree we can increase the supply, and we can only do that by capturing these large flood flows and storing them, that's our main card in this game," Harter said. "It's not going to take away the need to reduce the demand, but it will lessen the need to do that.

Well, yea, you still have a lot of the state in abnormally dry this year so far, and there's a massive deficit from drawing much more groundwater than can be recharged in a year as well as no clear indication that you won't hit another dry period so you do want to save up for when you have you're not-so-rainy rainy days. I think finding more ways to conserve without hitting quality of life in any substantial way is a good idea.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by stablegenius

Please. Unprecedented or not, I wouldn’t be surprised if most developers barely plan for drainage assuming it’s never going to rain again.

How stupid of them.

[CA4Now]

I hope that Newsom knows what he's doing.

DUNNIGAN, Calif. — On the heels of one of California’s wettest winters on record, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced that he will roll back some of the state’s most severe drought restrictions and dramatically increase water supplies for agencies serving 27 million people.

Among the rescinded items is Newsom’s call for a voluntary 15% reduction in water use, issued amid drying conditions in July 2021. He declared a statewide drought emergency that October.

The governor also rescinded a March 2022 order requiring urban water suppliers to activate Level 2 of their water shortage contingency plans, which indicates a shortage of 20% and prompts increased conservation actions.

Newsom made the announcement at a ranch in the green Dunnigan Hills in Yolo County, north of Sacramento, where rice and almond farmers were celebrating the wet winter and have been able to recharge some groundwater supplies this season for crops.

But Newsom stopped short of declaring that the drought is over, saying some parts of his drought emergency order remain important as California adapts to volatile weather patterns and the looming possibility of another long dry spell.

“It’s incumbent upon us to continue to maintain our vigilance and maintain some provisions of the executive order to allow for fast tracking of groundwater replenishment projects, stormwater capture and recycling programs here in the state of California,” he said.

Provisions around wasteful use will remain in place, including prohibitions on watering lawns within 48 hours of rainfall and using hoses without shut-off nozzles...

https://www.latimes.com/california/s...t-restrictions