- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Rather than pinning hopes on a possible El Niño in the Pacific Ocean to alleviate the California drought, a UC expert suggested the state's residents should continue to prepare for the worst, reported Inside Climate News.
Reporter Amy Nordrum noted in the story that El Niño conditions only bring heavy rain one-third of the time. It would take an exceptional El Niño, the type that only happens 15 percent of the time, to return California water levels to normal.
"I think we really need to be prepared for more drought," said Doug Parker, director of...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The historical California drought of 2013-14 continues to dominate the news, and reporters are turning to the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources sources for analysis and commentary.
NBC News spoke to Doug Parker, director of the California Institute of Water Resources, about drought implications already being felt in the California agricultural sector.
He said an estimated 500,000 acres of farmland...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A storm is dropping some much-needed moisture in California today, but the drought drags on. Using UC sources, the media has been reporting on the effect of a prolonged rainless period this winter and well-below-average rainfall the last three years.
A story in the Los Angeles Times this week opened with the concerns of cattle ranchers. Without winter rain rangeland grass doesn't grow. Ranchers must decide whether to buy expensive feed or cull their herds to weather the drought.
"Their struggle is a bellwether for California's $45 billion agriculture sector," wrote reporter David Pierson. The repercussions will be felt beyond the state's borders. "The Golden State produces nearly half of...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A high pressure ridge has persisted off the California coast for 13 months, blocking storms that typically bring the state winter rains. The longer it lingers, the less likely it will leave, reported the Christian Science Monitor.
The high pressure ridge system is feeding on itself, “creating a sort of perfect environment for perpetuating the dry conditions," said climatologist Brian Fuchs, from the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Neb. Gov. Brown last week declared a drought emergency in California and called for 20 percent voluntary water conservation...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Doug Parker, director of UC ANR's California Institute for Water Resources, highlighted the importance of ensuring safe drinking water for residents of California's rural communities at a nitrogen management forum June 12 in Sacramento, reported Capital Public Radio.
"Currently there's a real problem of safe drinking water -- and we need to fix that system, and we need to do that quickly," Parker said. "But separately from that is how do we make sure we don't continue to have this problem in the future."
The Sacramento forum was one of two being hosted by the California...
