Will El Nino End The CA Drought?

We are well into the fall season and hopefully a rainy season will be in our near future. In May, Governor Brown enacted an executive order mandating a statewide water use reduction of 25% over 2013 usage. So far, we have been able to meet and often exceed those expectations on a statewide basis. But that was during the  heat of summer. Many municipalities and water districts put strict outdoor watering restrictions in place. Many have allowed their lush green lawns to turn brown. Some have replaced their lawns with artificial turfs or drought resistant landscaping. All good ways to successfully reduce our water usage. As we head into the cooler weather and hopefully, at a minimum a normal rainfall season, those who were still watering should be scaling back and soon stopping outdoor watering as mother nature takes over. How are we going to reach our 25% target as we head into the little or no watering season? Cutting back on our outdoor water usage over 2013 was the easy part. Now, when outdoor watering reaches its seasonal slowdown, as it did in 2013, where are we going to find our 25% savings? We ALL have a lot of work ahead of us over the next several months to meet the governors mandate! How are YOU going to help? Make a plan fast as we are here now!

Switching gears here to the predicted El Nino. We need it! I hope with all my heart that we get it without too much damage being caused. If the effects are only felt in Southern CA, we will remain in deep trouble. Southern CA has much less water storage capabilities than Northern CA. We need an El Nino that reaches far into Northern CA and drops massive snowfall in the Sierras and at the same time provides enough rainfall to start replenishing our reservoirs. Then we have to hope that the powers that be don’t too quickly release the water as the snowpack begins to melt and run into the reservoirs. No matter, with our reservoirs at historic lows after a 4-5 year drought, we are NOT going to get ourselves out of the drought with one El Nino rainy season! It is going to take a minimum of this El Nino and at least a normal rainy season in 2016-17 before we can possibly get our reservoirs up to the levels they need to be.

That said folks, we are never going back to the world that we knew before the drought began. We are learning to become better stewards of this valuable and precious natural resource. These conservation practices we have been implementing will largely become our new normal. We all need to help be part of the solution and conserve where we can and should. And on the slim chance that you have not yet heard, swimming pools are not water wasters! Unless it has leaks that should be repaired of course. A swimming pool in good repair uses less water than an equivalent amount of grass area, which is usually what pools replace in backyards. With the regular use of a pool cover, pools can match or even save more water than a drought tolerant landscaping can! Lets ALL be water wise and good stewards of our water! #LetsPoolTogether #SaveOurWater #TheCPSA