Storms Add Billions Of Water To California Reservoirs

I heard that on the news, California has gone through so much drought, then flooding and mudslides when they do get rain, but this added water is like the silver lining of the grey cloud.
 
I'm really thankful for all the rain but glad I didn't have to drive very far during the day. The news on my car radio was all about road closures, mud slides, and flooding. It was really windy for a while in the afternoon. But after being on water rationing due to 4 years of drought in 2012 through 2015, it's welcome. We had pretty good rainfall last year, but not enough to make up for the dry years.

Our Azaleas, Camellias and roses should be spectacular this year.
 
I heard a commercial on the car radio yesterday that was priceless. I don't remember the exact wording and don't remember the company to try to look it up. I think it was some tree service company. (I wasn't really paying attention at first.) It was a man's voice, a little groggy sounding. It went something like this:

Hi, this is your tree talking. Thanks for letting me crash at your house last night. I guess I had a little too much to drink last night and maybe a little too much wind. But I feel much better this morning. I apologize for any damage I caused to your roof and I guess I got a little carried away with part of your chimney too. I may need a little help getting up this morning....

Why doesn't the car radio have instant rewind like the DVR? :D
 
I'm beyond grateful for the water but wonder how long it will last. I was literally traumatized and depressed by the drought. And even during the drought I see so much water wasting. No one seemed to care.
 
I have a friend in Roseville. Her house that she just move into over the summer backs up to a creek. Yesterday afternoon she had five city/county agencies at her house sandbagging it. My oldest daughter used to live in Roseville. Back on January 10th,1995,as she was at home with their newborn,she received a call from her husband (now ex,lol) that he had just submerged their brand new Honda. Yes,they do get their floods there. My sons in law both do storm repair-one works restoring power and the other does road repair. Here they are.....
 

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Robusta said:
Has the drought been declared over? I am assuming that it would take several wet years to replenish the shortfall.
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These big rainfall do very little to offset years of drought....Most of that water just causes floods, and runs off in the creeks and rivers, with little soaking into the ground. California's central valley, which supplies much of the fruits and vegetables for the nation is largely irrigated by ground water from deep wells...and those wells have been drying up. It would take years of above average rainfall to resupply the ground water.
 
Don M. said:
These big rainfall do very little to offset years of drought....Most of that water just causes floods, and runs off in the creeks and rivers, with little soaking into the ground. California's central valley, which supplies much of the fruits and vegetables for the nation is largely irrigated by ground water from deep wells...and those wells have been drying up. It would take years of above average rainfall to resupply the ground water.
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You do want to get your rain or snow melt metered out and not all at once... so like you point out it is hard to tell whether what they are getting is more of a blessing or more of a curse. Obviously if your home is destroyed it doesn't look like a good thing.

When I see these huge rain amounts I sometimes try to imagine the total amount of water that falls out of the sky in terms of the volume of water in some lake or river. As in that cloud in the sky covering several states contains about the same amount of water as Lake Erie, etc. I don't recall it being compared that way but think it would be interesting/educational... especially if you were to factor in how fast it came and compare that with the flow of some major river(s) at various times-- average water flow, flood level, etc.
 
From what I hear the drought is not over. They are increasing the release of water at Shasta dam, that will keep the Sacramento river high for a while. During the drought, the water had gotten so low you could see the old tower left in the lake that was used when they built the dam. During the drought in 1976 this same tower was exposed and next to it was a large island of cable that was left also. I remember going up and seeing it.

shasta-dam-tower.jpg

270px-Shasta_dam_main_tower.jpg
 
Yes ground water is a huge issue. We are depleting it all over the word from what I understand. It's a scary thought really and I'm glad I won't be leaving any offspring behind on this planet.

I wish I could just get out of California but weather is changing everywhere and right now with my step father here, I'm trapped.
 
Mrs. Robinson said:
I have a friend in Roseville. Her house that she just move into over the summer backs up to a creek. Yesterday afternoon she had five city/county agencies at her house sandbagging it. My oldest daughter used to live in Roseville. Back on January 10th,1995,as she was at home with their newborn,she received a call from her husband (now ex,lol) that he had just submerged their brand new Honda. Yes,they do get their floods there. My sons in law both do storm repair-one works restoring power and the other does road repair. Here they are.....
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Waterfront property is nice...............until it isn't:).
 

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