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Drought

Posts related to California's drought, 2012 - 2015, Folsom Lake, water conservation, history, San Juan Water District.

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Pictures and history of Folsom Lake and American River during the drought

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As the lake level drops, the history is revealed. As Folsom Lake hit record low water levels in 2015, a whole lot of history was revealed. A drought shrunken Folsom Lake of 2015 was the highlight for a guy like me who had been hiking around the reservoir for years looking for historical sites. After numerous hikes around the North and South Forks of the American River at Folsom Lake, I finally organized my photographs and historical research into a book, Hidden History Beneath Folsom Lake – Hiking Across a Dry Lake in Time of Drought.

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A dry Folsom Lake didn’t trigger any sacrifice or water crisis

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As winter rain finally begins to fill Folsom reservoir from its historically low water level brought on by a prolonged drought, local residents will probably be just as quick to flush away their water conservation habits. The water conservation practices that Northern California residents temporarily adopted because of statewide drought reduction targets resulted in minimal disruption and sacrifice to our lives. That so many households easily reduced their water consumption by 25% to 50% over 2013 levels illustrates that suburban household’s waste more water than we thought. Even with Folsom Lake approaching near dead pool level in 2015, we were never pushed to conserve more water and there was never sense of urgency.

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Folsom Lake Peninsula drought hike

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I started hiking from the Folsom Lake Peninsula campground down to the tip of this stretch of land. Usually underwater, the drought of 2015 had drained the lake down to 15% of capacity. This exposed lake bed that is rarely visited during normal lake levels. Like many people I tripped across sunken boats, abandon gold mines and a surprising number of dams.

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Granite Bay goes brown to conserve water during 2015 Drought

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As opposed to drought shaming I decided to highlight the many properties near Folsom Lake who were going the extra mile to conserve water during our nasty drought of 2015. The Granite Bay area and the San Juan Water District retail service area have been singled out for some of the highest per capita water use in […]

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Residents must conserve so Placer County can sell water to Bay Area

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In a May 18th op-ed in the Sacramento Bee Even in a drought, selling some water makes sense, Einar Maisch, General Manager of the Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) argued his agency was merely fulfilling their environmental duty to release 12,000 acre feet of water into the American River so it can be sold to […]

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Will the California drought create a residential water market?

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With Governor Brown’s declarations of a drought emergency in 2014 and subsequent State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) decisions that some water districts must conserve up 36% of their consumption over the baseline 2013 year, many homeowners are wondering how they can conserve enough water without killing their entire landscaping. While some homeowners have voluntarily […]

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Killing grass with wrapping paper and mulch

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  In the winter of 2015 the time had come for me to make my front yard grass disappear. After researching various labor intensive methods of removing turf, I finally settled on smothering the grass with wrapping paper and shredded cedar mulch. While this isn’t a full proof method, killing the grass in place is […]

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Granite Bay water consumption drops without price hikes

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As if to defy traditional market economics, the water consumption in the Granite Bay retail division of the San Juan Water District dropped without the advent price hikes. This water conservation, solely at the behest of the water districts and California officials, illustrates that consumers can change their consumption based on good information and awareness […]

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How do you know there’s a drought when the grass is still green?

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The drought of 2014 is affecting California communities unevenly. Where Granite Bay residents may be facing a severe Stage 5 water emergency declaration by year’s end, homeowners 10 or 20 miles away may still be keeping their grass green with daily irrigation. The visual triggers in order to get people to conserve water along with […]

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Granite Bay Golf Club uses recycled and spring water for irrigation

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When it comes to water conservation in the face of our current 2014 drought situation, golf courses, with the numerous acres under irrigation, come under intense scrutiny. This is why I wanted to talk with my fellow San Juan Water District Drought Committee member Matt Dillon who is the Golf Course Superintendent at Granite Bay […]

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