Lowest Rainfall on Record for Eureka/Several Rivers at Record Minimums for This Time of Year

For Eureka, this was the second driest December on record. But that simple fact just scratches the surface of how little water this county has received in 2013.

Normally, about 40 inches of water pours from the skies above Humboldt’s biggest city annually.

However, according to Ryan Aylward, Meteorologist with the US National Weather Service, rainfall in this notoriously watery town sunk to 16.6 inches this year—a whopping 4.57 inches below the previous record low of 21.17 inches set way back in 1929.

That’s right.  Eureka is not just at a record low in 2013. It’s a long ways below the last record low.

And it is not just Eureka. The whole county, in fact, the whole state, is dry.

Some areas are much worse than others. Ukiah, for instance, had a previous low of 19.98 inches of rain in one year.  But, this year, it only gathered a mere 7.5 inches of rain. That’s less than half the former record.

The problem isn’t just lack of rain. It is the lack of snow pack, too.


Snow pack is at 11% of normal here in Northern California. We’re seriously behind.  According to the California Department of Water Resources, “The mountain snowpack provides as much as a third of California’s water supply by accumulating snow during our wet winters and releasing it slowly when we need it during our dry springs and summers.”

Our rivers are running at levels seldom seen before in this season, too.  A spot check shows that several of them are at record lows for this time of year.

http://lostcoastoutpost.com/2013/dec/31/drought/
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Chemical spill shuts off water to 300K in West Virginia

CHARLESTON, W.Va.  - Schools and restaurants closed, grocery stores sold out of bottled water, and state legislators who had just started their session canceled the day's business after a chemical spill in the Elk River in Charleston shut down much of the city and surrounding counties even as the cause and extent of the incident remained unclear.

The federal government joined the state early Friday in declaring a disaster, and the West Virginia National Guard planned to distribute bottled drinking water to emergency services agencies in the nine affected counties.

About 100,000 water customers, or 300,000 people total, were affected, state officials reported.

Goodwin said the release of the potentially dangerous chemical into the water supply "has put hundreds of thousands of West Virginians at risk, severely disrupted our region's economy, and upended people's daily lives."

Shortly after the Thursday spill from Freedom Industries hit the river and a nearby treatment plant, a licorice-like smell enveloped parts of the city, and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued an order to customer of West Virginia American Water: Do not drink, bathe, cook or wash clothes with tap water.

The chemical, a foaming agent used in the coal preparation process, leaked from a tank at Freedom Industries and overran a containment area.

The tank that leaked holds at least 40,000 gallons, said Tom Aluise, a state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman. "We're confident that no more than 5,000 gallons escaped," he said. "A certain amount of that got into the river. Some of that was contained."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/some-people-treated-for-water-related-issues-in-w-va...
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The value of Fresh Water, to the human society, can not be underestimated!

Too much water, by way of flooding, is a problem, but not enough water is the more overriding concern, because without Fresh & uncontaminated Water there is no human society, as it is needed for both direct drinking & indirectly for Food Production & Agriculture in general.

There are plenty of other examples, but in Perth WA Political party's are still talking about increasing Perth's population by future millions, whilst our Fresh Water supply sources (underground aquifers, dams & rivers) are now quickly drying up, as a lengthy process of heating up & drying out is now coming to a head.

This process has been at work for decades, since the late 1960's to early 1970's.

And, you will no doubt find similar Realities in many places, where human inter-action with a changing climate OR simply human inappropriate actions on the Environment are causing problems for ourselves AND, AS IS OFTEN THE WAY, WE ARE SIMPLY LOOKING ELSEWHERE!      

lee wrote on Jan 18^th, 2014 at 11:43am:


Yes, the mounds (under ground aquifers) are being drained far too quickly, with many wetlands & Lakes suffering & too many completely drying up, with the Yanchep National Park lake now also becoming completely dry.

As for the pine plantations, they are now being culled, although that is a 2 edged sword, as the broader Climate Change issue needs more trees, not less.

Of course, the culling of these plantations puts Abbotts "Direct action program" into some perspective?

'As for the pine plantations, they are now being culled, although that is a 2 edged sword, as the broader Climate Change issue needs more trees, not less.

Of course, the culling of these plantations puts Abbotts "Direct action program" into some perspective?'

Yes, but the damage has been done. That is why natives need to be planted- not pines, not blue gums.