Luis Hernandez

lfhernan@visaliatimesdelta.com

It would take 11 trillion gallons of water to get California out of the current drought.

The recent storms have been helpful in replenishing water resources.

“It takes years to get into a drought of this severity, and it will likely take many more big storms, and years, to crawl out of it.”

The Tulare City Council ratified Tuesday an increase in local water rates. Councilman Carlton Jones alone voted to oppose the increase.

The decision comes on the heels of the Tulare Board of Public Utilities taking similar action. This is the third of five annual rate increases to bring in additional revenue to Tulare’s water system. The council and BPU also approved a temporary drought surcharge earlier this year.

When the rate was initially approved, council members wanted a provision that called for reviewing the increase each year.

Jones said he opposed the water increase because residents’ consumption has decreased and those living on a fixed income struggle to pay added costs.

“If the goal is to preserve water, why is the rate going up?” he said. “It doesn’t help much when they take steps to save water and we take the money at the end of the month anyway.”

Tulare Finance Director Darlene Thompson said the rate increase was needed.

“Water division worked hard to reduce operating and capital expenditures even through the drought situation,” she said. “Even with the reduction in expenses the rate is still needed to maintain and improve its financial condition.”

The new water rates take effect in January.

NASA drought news

NASA scientists say it would take 11 trillion gallons of water (about 42 cubic kilometers for the metric system inclined) to get the Golden State out of its current drought state.

The water estimate was part of a presentation NASA scientists gave earlier this week in San Francisco. According to a released statement, NASA said such data gives scientist the ability to identify drought components that can be used in water management decisions.

Jay Famiglietti led a group of scientists who worked on the project to come up with the estimate, the first-ever calculation of this kind. Earlier this year, during the peak of California’s now three-year drought, the team found that water storage in the state’s Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins was 11 trillion gallons below normal seasonal levels. Additional data collection showed the deficit increasing, according to a NASA news posting.

According to NASA, the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins decreased in volume by four trillion gallons of water each year since 2011. That’s more water than California’s 38 million residents use each year for domestic and municipal purposes. About two-thirds of the loss is because of depletion of groundwater beneath the Central Valley, according to the news report.

The recent storms have been helpful in replenishing water resources, Famiglietti said. But they simply are not enough to end the multi-year drought.

“It takes years to get into a drought of this severity, and it will likely take many more big storms, and years, to crawl out of it,” he said.

Online

www.nasa.gov/grace