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Porsche928dude t1_jdpvxbn wrote

Reply to comment by plantboy97 in California Snow Depth Visualized (Winter '22-'23) [OC] by plantboy97

Okay so is all the snow a good thing considering California’s recent Drought issues or no?

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winterfresh0 t1_jdpzx05 wrote

Not claiming this will happen here, but just going to mention this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Flood_of_1862

>The event was capped by a warm intense storm that melted the high snow load. The resulting snow-melt flooded valleys, inundated or swept away towns, mills, dams, flumes, houses, fences, and domestic animals, and ruined fields. It has been described as the worst disaster ever to strike California.

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KDII t1_jdq57py wrote

A significant change between then and now is the dams we built to protect against exactly that.

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Jolly_Scholar7367 t1_jdt0vab wrote

Would have been easier and more informative to just make a colored contour map

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kbeks t1_jdqcoyp wrote

Important caveat is that since then, we’ve damned many rivers and built many reservoirs to capture the runoff. Those were also at historic lows thanks to the drought, so it would take a lot to overcome that deficit and produce such terrible flooding again. Not saying it can’t happen, but it would take a lot. Also, the Dollop did a great episode on the great flood.

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IrishMosaic t1_jdqksup wrote

Over 100 dams have been removed in California in the last 30 years. Resulting in historic flooding, mudslides, and the inability to capture the snow runoff before it reaches the pacific.

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Lance_E_T_Compte t1_jdqwf5s wrote

You neglected to mention WHY they were removed...

They made countless fish and wildlife extinct or nearly so.

The vast majority of those hundred you mention were very small.

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Toothmouth7921 t1_jdtsn91 wrote

Not to mention several were filled with silt and we’re becoming useless

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mexicanitch t1_jdqexfh wrote

I remember learning that as a lil kid in Ca. Huh. Cool beans. Thanks for the random memory pop up.

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brfoo t1_jdrelkh wrote

It will happen again. Just a matter of when

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webbitor t1_jdpytt8 wrote

My understanding is that it can reduce the drought, but it will take more than one wet year to fix it.

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slyjay505 t1_jdq00fq wrote

Here is the current drought monitor. One wet year did in fact lift a significant portion of California completely out of the drought. Comparison from 3 months ago.

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SWatersmith t1_jdqdxee wrote

shame honestly, I feel like this will allow people to kick the can down the road and not face reality

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millenniumpianist t1_jdqlstx wrote

As a Californian how the fuck is this a shame, I don't think you understand how badly we needed this water. Don't 3000 IQ yourself here.

Californians have been living in drought conditions since maybe early-mid 2010s. At this point I'm pretty sure we're wired to be concerned about water levels. Especially since groundwater levels are still low. I assure you Californians and public agencies are still thinking about droughts, everyone knows we will eventually have some dry winters. That's just Californian climate. It's just a matter of when.

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amanamongbotss t1_jdre8r3 wrote

While I agree that many don’t see this as a solve, in speaking to my friends that still live in California, 3/6 definitely think that the drought is solved.

Of those 3, 2 are basically totally uninformed about climate change and uninterested in the subject. The other is liberal and understands climate change but is convinced the drought is done and it’s all good from here.

All 3 just keep bringing up how there’s 60ft of snow in the mountains and it’s basically been raining non-stop for 3 months.

I’m probably more pessimistic than they are, but this feels like an extreme weather event (albeit in the other direction from the drought, which was also extreme) and that CA will swing between the two extremes increasingly as time goes on.

But I just wanted to chime in that my anecdotal experience of Californians not being so dumb as to think water issues are over- I think there’s a larger group than you want to admit that truly does.

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Porsche928dude t1_jdrgr3w wrote

Fair enough but from what I understand The whole point of all the damn structures you built was to help Control the water and mediate the highs and lows. So at least you have that I guess?

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Toothmouth7921 t1_jdtuot3 wrote

It’s complicated and certainly political, especially in the Central Valley where most of the water is used. Crops which are water intensive such as Rice , Cotton and yes Almonds are a huge user of water and building a bunch more little dams are not the answer. I am a 66 year old native and have lived in the Central Valley where some legacy( old timers) ranchers and farmers have almost bulletproof water rights, which means they can choose to grow crops which don’t make since in a semi arid place like California. There is a lot of cattle ranching, in central California and is extremely water intensive as well. Climate change is here to stay and the State is going to have to adapt. It can but will take time and $$

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amanamongbotss t1_jdrhd68 wrote

I hope so! I mean I’m definitely not rooting for the demise of CA, I like seeing them thrive economically and politically (even when it’s not all perfect).

My main concern is exactly that- I get have to basically be able to hold onto water for up to decades and it feels like no one in America, let alone California, is turning the boat fast enough to adjust our practices in the light of climate change.

My fear is all this freshwater just runs into the ocean and they’re in a severe drought again in 2-3 years, and this cycle keeps repeating…

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Porsche928dude t1_jdrput4 wrote

Well considering how low some of your Reservoirs and lakes are I would be very surprised if for nothing else the engineers and officials in charge of water management don’t use all that flood water to fill them back up some. But hey hopefully this isn’t a one off thing and the drought breaks some what. At the very least this should give CA some breathing room to organize better water management practices for the future. Assuming the politicians have the balls and the foresight to go through with it regardless of the short term grumbling.

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whydigettwoaccounts t1_jdskm3t wrote

Fun Fact: reservoirs in CA also feed western Nevada. Homes and businesses in Reno have had green lawns, very few water restrictions, and water features/parks/etc going this whole time. There are also very few water conservation requirements on buildings and homes. So Yea, a desert state wastes way more CA water than actual Californians.

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SWatersmith t1_jdqoepg wrote

It isn't "just Californian climate", it's Californian climate since you guys fucked it up and diverted all of the water for agriculture.

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Nalemag t1_jdrjo73 wrote

as a native Californian, yes, this is a shame and you are absolutely correct. they are already talking about lifting water restrictions and i'm like no, wtf, keep them in place! (yeah, yeah, yeah, but the excess can't be used anyway. doesn't matter, teach people lessons now for the future)

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