Amidst record-breaking heat wave, NASA reveals California has one year's worth of water left

Sunday, March 15, 2015, 9:31 AM - While Canada has been suffering through the last blasts of winter, California has had the opposite problem.

A March heat wave has broken records across the state. Temperatures reached about 34 C in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday and are expected to feel just as hot on Sunday.

The sweltering heat has forced organizers to alter the scheduled L.A. Marathon. The race's start time will be pushed back by 30 minutes and all participants will have access to air conditioned buses where they can cool down.

The heat wave will break on Monday as temperatures cool down back to seasonal.

But that's not the end of the bad news for the state.

In an op-ed piece published in the Los Angeles Times, a senior water expert working at a NASA California lab said that drought conditions were reaching a critical point.

"As our 'wet' season draws to a close, it is clear that the paltry rain and snowfall have done almost nothing to alleviate epic drought conditions. January was the driest in California since record-keep began in 1895. Groundwater and snowpack levels are at all-time lows," Jay Famiglietti wrote. "We're not just up a creek without a paddle in California, we're losing the creek too.

According to NASA's data the total amount of water stored—including snow, river and reservoir water—was approximately 40 billion cubic metres below normal.

"The simple fact is that California is running out of water," Famiglietti said.

One of the main sources of the loss is underground water pumping due to agricultural causes but according to Famiglietti the rate at which they are obtaining this water is unsustainable.

"Wells are running dry. In some areas of the Central Valley, the land is sinking y one foot or more per year," he explained.

What's worse, according to the op-ed California doesn't have a plan in place to solve the problem. They have been in 'emergency mode' but depend mostly on rain, that seems to never arrive.

Famiglietti says immediate measures need to be taken.

"First, immediate mandatory water rationing should be authorized across all of the state's water sectors."

Alongside that drastic measure, he also suggests that California put together a think tank to come up with solutions to the situation; and that the general public take more responsibility and get more involved.

"This crisis belongs to all of us — not just to a handful of decision-makers," he said. "Water is our most important, commonly owned resource, but the public remains detached from discussions and decisions."

Source: Los Angeles Times

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