The Water Cycle

Above average snowpack...still not a guarantee. One of southern Califonia's sources of water is the Sierra Nevada snowpack. The snowpack is a natural reservoir for us. There has been many rainy and snowy days and more to come, although the snowpack is above average, it is not an end all.  You can read more here.

The Water Cycle 

Trash, Trash and more Trash

 

Arroyo Seco waterway, Pasadena, California

When it rains in southern California water is not the only thing that gets washed out to the Pacific Ocean, but trash and debris.  This is a massive problem and is being addressed you can  read about it here. This is one of many reasons of the importance of collecting  and using rainwater. The trash and debris is clogging our water and is detrimental to marine and riparian life.

 

Here is more about the issue.

Why El Nino will not be enough.

http://www.capradio.org/58467

The map shows the critical state of California reservoirs. Even if El Nino brought enough water to California our existing reservoirs could not contain the volume of water needed. There are new reservoirs being constructed such Headworks, which would be the largest underground drinking water reservoir. Here is why it is underground. The majority of rain water that falls in southern California is channeled to the sewers and eventually out to the Pacific Ocean. This is part of my research why more need to be done to capture rain water.

The who's who of California water

The who's who (link)

I would also like to add,

Jeffrey Kightlinger  of the Metropolitan Water District and

 Jay Famiglietti, Hydrologist, UC Irvine Professor and JPL Scientist

Still dry in the west.

This map illustrates how the drought reaches across the west. This map was updated after the most recent rains in California and the map below illustrates.

The maps give a good idea how much rain and conservation effort we still need to have some relief from the current drought. 

One rainy day.

Rose Bowl loop Pasadena, CA

Hello and Welcome to my blog!

This blog is my journey of my capstone research as a graduate student at Antioch University in Los Angeles. I am studying rainwater collection and sustainable water practices in southern California. In graduate school,  I became obsessed with the undemocratic practices of municipal water agencies. My focus is on rainwater collection and its nonpotable uses.