All this rain and flooding has not filled the reservoirs. The rain and flooding is highly visible, but not necessarily going into the locations that store the water for future use. Most of the runoff is finding its way back to the bay or other water outlets.

Another trick is the snow pack. A huge portion of our water comes from wet snow in the sierra's. The snow up there has been exceptionally dry. Hopefully some more storms like these recent storms will carry water up the hill for later use.

"It took three years to get this dry," said David Rizzardo, chief of the department's snow surveys section. "Barring an extraordinary year, it's going to take more than one year to get out of it."

The next two months will tell the tale, according to Rizzardo. The state could emerge from drought if the storms caused by that tempestuous weather maker known as El Niño keep coming, he said. But they would have to be particularly ferocious.

Forecasters are predicting regular storms until spring, but it is difficult for meteorologists to predict what will happen a week ahead, let alone several months in the future.

Although rainfall is now above normal in the Bay Area, Lake Oroville, the State Water Project's primary source of drinking water, is only 31 percent of capacity. That's about 48 percent of average for this date.

Reservoirs statewide, including Hetch Hetchy, appear to be doing relatively well, hovering around 72 percent of average. But most of them are tiny compared with Lake Oroville, which has a capacity of 3.5 million acre-feet of water. An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons, enough to cover an acre in a foot of water. Hetch Hetchy holds 360,400 acre-feet of water.

Rain and snow runoff in the northern Sierra feeds both Lake Oroville and the state's largest reservoir, Shasta Lake, which can hold 4.5 million acre-feet and is part of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Central Valley Project. Shasta is only half full. The two dams provide water to millions of people in cities up and down the state and on farms in the Central Valley.

The bottom line - Continue to conserve water. If you have the means, collect some of this rain water for your own garden in the spring.

Click the image to enlarge. Visit here to see more of my photos.


While we all, even nationally, were watching the news and locally hearing emergency broadcasts, I went out and took a few photos. Then I retreated into the house until the storm eased up.

I'm sure we all learned a little about what to do in a tornado situation yesterday. I had personal experience with them while visiting Denver in the 1980's and again on a trip to EPCOT in Florida about 10 years ago. These things can be very scary. Until yesterday, the idea of them showing up where I live didn't seem possible.

As I think about this, Climate Change, Global Warming and our impact on the planet, something simple occurs to me: Nature seeks balance. We upset the balance and nature will seek to get it back. If we create a vacuum, nature tries to fill it. This weather may be natures knee jerk reaction to help restore balance.

As we try to be better stewards of our environment, we also need to be careful we do not over-react and create new problems as we try to make up for mistakes already made. This is one reason conservation is our best immediate weapon against climate change and it is something we all need to do.

The good news from these storms is an improving water supply for the coming months. Keep in mind, we are still making up for being way overdrawn on our water budget. Please continue to be very frugal with your water use.

There is an article you can get to on the related link that lists 10 ways to go green that are not your typical angle on the subject. I really like what she has to say and her justifications. Follow the link for the whole article and I will summarize here:

1. Buy less stuff - vote with your wallet about shipping packaging and processing.

2. Try to set up your situation so that being green is easier than alternatives.

3. Try to start a "no use day". Keep only the necessary lights and heat on, but avoid tv, computers, video games, etc...

4. Low hanging fruit - if something seems like an obvious green move, don't wait, do it.

5. Use human power instead of gadgets. Often the cleaning of a device is added work that replaces the real work.

6. Eat based on your location. This will minimize shipping and processing. If something doesn't grow in your area, avoid it.

7. If it is the end that matters - change your means. If you want to be warm, don't heat the house, heat yourself with an electric blanket, dress warmer, etc...

8. Go at the big hogs. The things that are probably your biggest energy costs are heating, cooling, refrigeration, transport and your meat consumption.

9. Cut things in half. Nobody enjoys giving things up, so consider halving them instead.

10. Try and look at tasks and items with a new perspective. Sometimes a new perspective will reveal an interesting alternative that makes a task enjoyable that you may otherwise run to a non-green solution for.

Follow the related link below for the whole article:

Lets start by reminding ourselves that correlation does not necessarily mean something is in fact the cause. Until cause is verified, correlation means we should be suspicious and investigate.

Now, the chart above creates some real suspicion. The correlation of our oil volatility and the destabilizing in the investment environment are very close to in sync. If you really start to break down the timeline of events and economic impact closely, you almost see a simple cause and effect type pattern. More reason for suspicion.

As we work to protect the environment and shift away from non-renewable energy sources, this information is something to consider and remember so that we stay motivated.

Follow the related link for a ton of data and timeline comparison complete with charts and references.

2.4MB Glacier Comparison Images - click here

For some reason, people are still questioning these issues. I think we are past that and the questions should be "how bad has it gotten", "what can we do about it" and maybe "how much of this is directly caused by humans vs natural cycles". The last question of course is futile and does nothing to help toward a solution.

If you know anyone who prefers to believe it is a hoax or simply will not accept it until the evidence hits them personally, these photos may help.

From CNN:

In Double Exposure, images from the archive of pioneering mountain photographer Bradford Washburn have been placed alongside more recent photos taken by journalist David Arnold revealing the regression of glaciers in Alaska and Switzerland.

In 2005, Arnold was admiring Washburn's famous 1960 image of climbers on the Northeast ridge of Doldenhorn in Switzerland and started wondering what the peaks and glaciers Washburn had so expertly documented looked like now.

Soon enough, Arnold was off on the first of five flying expeditions to Alaska and the Swiss Alps.

Side by side Washburn's and Arnold's photos record the true extent of glacial retreat -- six and 14 and miles respectively in the case of the Shoup and Guyot Glaciers in Alaska.

Arnold's painstaking attention has produced images which faithfully reproduce Washburn's angles and perspective. He even made sure he shot his photos on exactly the day of the year, sometimes the same time of day as Washburn.

The pictures speak for themselves.