Posted: 01/31/14 EST | Updated: 01/31/14 EST
January 31, 2014, 2:04 p.m.
Officials Friday said that for the first time ever, the State Water Project that helps supply a majority of Californians may be unable to make any deliveries except to maintain public health and safety.
They also said they were cutting releases from large reservoirs in the northern part of the state to preserve supplies in the face of what could be the worst drought in modern California history.
“It’s about holding back water so we’ve got it tomorrow,” said Chuck Bonham, director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The zero allocation for the State Water Project is the first in the sprawling system’s 54-year history. It will be reassessed monthly and could be adjusted upward if storms drop snow and rain on the parched state in the next three months.
Most of the contractors that get water from the project have other sources, such as storage and groundwater, and state Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin stressed that the delivery cut did not mean faucets would run dry.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the state project’s largest customer, has said it has enough supplies in storage to get the Southland through this year without mandatory rationing.
Cowin said it was necessary to take aggressive action now to ensure water would be available later for people, farms and fish. “This is not a coming crisis. ...This is a current crisis,” he said.
The State Water Resources Control Board announced that it is temporarily dropping requirements for reservoir releases to maintain environmental standards in California’s water hub, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
The board is also telling junior rights holders in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins that they will have to curtail diversions from rivers and streams. Officials said most of the 5,800 junior diverters, who are primarily agricultural, have access to groundwater or other sources.
In another step, the board is limiting pumping from the delta to exports necessary for human health and safety, an action that in effect eliminates irrigation deliveries from the delta to the San Joaquin Valley.
Cowin called the actions “largely unprecedented but also unavoidable.”
Cameroon’s Lake Nyos in western Africa. (Credit: Flickr User jbdodane via Creative Commons)
The 1986 carbon dioxide release from Lake Nyos in Cameroon killed 1,700 people by some estimates. Others place the number higher.
The unusual natural disaster was highly publicized, as people around the world struggled to make sense of the lake’s sudden gas release. Government officials in the African nation were stumped. They interviewed witnesses, surveyed the land nearby and even dared to step near the shore of a lake that had just suffocated every living animal within a 15-mile radius.
Cow killed by Lake Nyos gasses. (Credit: Jack Lockwood, U.S. Geological Survey)
Nyos rests in a crater on the flanks of an inactive volcano. A pocket of magma runs beneath, and its CO2-saturated water comes from the same area underground. Investigators looked at those features, guessing that a small eruption from the dormant volcano could have caused a limnic eruption – a very rare form of overturn that causes a lake to release its dissolved carbon dioxide into the air.
But scientists weren’t sure. Some theorized a landslide or earthquake was involved. Or that cool rainwater falling on one side of the lake caused a turnover. The precise cause of the release is still unknown, but the event laid bare a scientific shortcoming: Lake Nyos and very few volcanic lakes had been studied enough.
This is possibly because much of the world’s population doesn’t live near volcanic lakes – and neither do leading researchers. Much of research funding goes to projects that have clear, quick benefits for those populous societies: clean drinking water, air or soil. And the costly, sometimes dangerous, travel to remote locations near volcanoes is discouraging.
Sabalan Volcanic Lake, northwestern Iran. (Credit: Omid Jafarnezhed via Wikimedia Commons)
The International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) – an organization that studies everything around volcanoes and the earth’s crust – formed a commission to advance the study of volcanic lakes. It has supported expanded research ever since. Before the Nyos event, there was none.
The IAVCEI publishes results of the commission’s findings in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research – the February 2014 edition features a promising announcement. Almost 30 years after the Nyos disaster, scientists have compiled a database of volcanic lakes.
Chadburn Lake as seen from a helicopter, Yukon Territory. Volcanic ash gives its water different hues. (Credit: Flickr User grampymoose via Creative Commons)
It’s called VOLADA and it’s the first database of its kind. It covers 474 lakes, a number that was surprisingly high to the scientists, which just goes to show the still-extensive lack of knowledge about these lakes. Authors note in the journal: “Many of the compiled lakes were almost unknown, or at least unstudied to date.” They hope their open-access database, complete with interactive working tools, will reduce that number.
Posted by James Smith on January 29, 2014
Digging into the soil at the Effingham Inlet in British Columbia, Canadian scientists have confirmed that a city-destroying megathrust earthquake in the Northwest is due.
January 28, 2014 | By Jake Ellison
Never missing the opportunity to scare the living daylights out of us, earthquake experts in Washington remind us that this past Sunday was the 314th anniversary of the last megathrust quake in the Cascadia Subduction Zone that would have wiped out a big part of Seattle and the infrastructure of the region had we all been there.
And we are due for another one.
So, the Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup has updated its scenario document for what that magnitude of quake would do to us now.
THE CASCADIA SUBDUCTION ZONE: The geography of northern California, Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia is shaped by the Cascadia subduction zone, where the North American Plate collides with a number of smaller plates: the largest of these is the Juan de Fuca Plate, flanked by the Explorer Plate to the north and the Gorda plate to the south. These smaller plates “subduct” (descend) beneath the North American Plate as they converge along a 700-mile long (1,130 km) boundary. A large portion of the boundary between the subducting and overriding plates resists the convergent motion, until this part of the boundary breaks in a great earthquake. Above: Schematic view of the source area for the largest Cascadia earthquakes. (Image adapted from U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1707 (page 8), Atwater et al., http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/pp1707/)
The group said in the news release:
The very advances that are the foundations of our modern communities create vulnerability along with convenience said Michael Kubler, Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup (CREW) President. The revised Cascadia scenario is a crucial tool for regional leaders to use in developing policies and plans for the next earthquake. Events over the last few years have expanded our understanding of earthquake science and the hazards faced by our region from a future Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake.
For a bit more background, here’s some of the story we wrote last summer proclaiming … Canadian study confirms megathrust earthquake is due in NW:
Digging into the soil at the Effingham Inlet in British Columbia, Canadian scientists have confirmed that a city-destroying megathrust earthquake in the Northwest is due.
The Cascadia Subduction Zone running the length of the coast from northern Vancouver Island down to California last slipped and shook the surface of the Earth 300 years ago, and that was just the latest of 22 such quakes in the past 11,000 years.
The scientists, whose work is published in the latest Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, used a new aging model for identifying and dating disturbed sedimentary layers in a core raised from the inlet.
The disturbances appear to have been caused by large and megathrust earthquakes that have occurred over the past 11,000 years, According to a science news site run by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Best Buddies will meet today during lunch. We will be passing out t-shirts and talking about upcoming activities.
Valentine's Day is coming up! Stop by E-hall to pick up a gift for that special someone! We will be selling body scrubs and hand soap. There's no better way to say Happy Valentine's day!
NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY: Our next meeting is Monday, February 3rd, at lunch in Mrs. Green's room. This is an important meeting because it is the only time we will be meeting in February due to the Presidents' Day Holiday. The tutoring schedule needs to be finalized, especially for Language Honor Society members, and preparations for election of next year's officers must be made. There will also be updates on fundraising, community service and the plans for this year's induction and awards ceremony. Check the Facebook page for your status in meeting lettering requirements. See you Monday at lunch in E 214.
Congratulations to all 500 students that received a 3.5 GPA or higher for the fall semester. Administrators will be coming around this week to recognize you in front of your 5th period classes. On Friday, we will have a special ceremony and surprise for you in the main gym at the end of 7th period. Please hang onto your certificate that will be your pass to get out of class and into the gym. Great job Hawks and we encourage everyone to strive for the best grades possible.
Winterball tickets are on sale today for $15.00 in the Activities Office during lunch. You must have your current student ID to purchase a ticket. If you are bringing a guest that does not attend Volcano Vista please have the completed permission slip with you when you purchase your tickets. Each student is limited to one ticket and one guest. Ticket prices will increase to $20.00 on February 4th. $1.00 of each ticket will go to Make-a-Wish.
Buy a Make-a-Wish star from any senate member or from the activities office.
Spirit week begins next week for Winterball:
Monday is Nerd Day.
Tuesday is Dress as your Favorite VVHS Teacher Day
(Teachers you can dress as you favorite student-no sagging pants please)
Wednesday is Twin Day
Thursday is Opposite Day
Friday is Olympic Day:
Faculty and staff wear black
Seniors wear blue
Juniors wear red
Sophomores wear green
Freshmen wear yellow.
These are all the colors of the Olympic Rings.
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT YOU MUST BE IN DRESS CODE.
Were you hoping to take Yoga next year? If you were, and can't find it on your course card, sign up for Aerobics and Body Conditioning! Yoga is offered every other year, and is very similar to Aerobics and Body Conditioning. We will see you next year!" Please see Coach Kowalski or Coach Nord if you have any questions.
Attention Hawks who want to take DECA next year. When you are completing your registration card, please enroll in Business, Marketing and Finance I. This Business class is what we refer to as DECA! When you register for a business class you also become part of the DECA Club. We look forward to having you in our class and club next year!
COUNSELING:
An admissions officer from UTAH STATE will be here on Friday, Jan. 31, during lunch. She will meet with students in the Career Center, Rm. E224.
The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is the most widely used multiple-aptitude test battery in the world. As an aptitude test, the ASVAB measures your strengths, weaknesses, and potential for future success. The ASVAB also provides you with career information for various civilian and military occupations and is an indicator for success in future endeavors whether you choose to go to college, vocational school, or a military career. The test will be given in the Volcano Vista High School lecture hall on Wednesday, February 12th from 7:30am to approximately 12pm. To schedule yourself for the test, please sign up in the JROTC classroom no later than February 5th. If you have any questions please contact Major Campbell.
ATHLETICS:
Softball try-outs begin on Monday, Feb. 3. Bring your cleats, gloves and physicals to the try-out. Be at the softball field at 2:45. Also, softball players remember to work in the snack bar this next week.
All student-athletes interested in joining the track and field team this year need to make sure they have a physical on file with the school by February 11th. Also, all sprinters, jumpers, throwers, and distance runners, there will be one hour of pre-season practice Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next two weeks. Please plan on attending so you can get into the flow of things. See you out there!
B. Basketball plays at home on Friday against Hobbs.
Swim this Saturday at West Mesa.
Wrestling will be in the Metro Championship this Friday and Saturday at Eldorado
During lunch today please remember to throw your trash away. Thanks for keeping Volcano Beautiful!
And remember . . .
As always . . .
It's Great to be a Hawk
The number of flu-related deaths in California rose by 52 to a total of 147 so far this season -- and Sacramento County has one of the highest death rates, according to state figures released today.
About 1.2 of every 100,000 Sacramento County residents under the age of 65 have died from the flu so far this season, almost triple the statewide rate. Much of the Central Valley also has flu death rates well above the state average.
Statewide, the number of flu deaths so far has eclipsed the total number of deaths during all of the last flu season by a wide margin.
“This influenza season continues to be a severe one as the increasing number of influenza-related deaths indicates,” said Dr. Ron Chapman, director of the California Department of Public Health. “Once again I urge all Californians to get vaccinated, because it is the best defense against influenza.”
This map shows flu death rates among Californians under 65 so far this flu season. About Tableau
Sources: California Department of Public Health; U.S. Census data
If Cloverdale manages to dodge the drought disaster descending on it, it will be because of beer. And some conservation.
But largely because of beer.
In November, when it seemed clear that tough, dry times were setting in, the Bear Republic craft brewery gave $466,143 to the tiny Wine Country town to start drilling two new wells, which in turn would help the company expand beer operations. Without that money, the city wouldn't have been able to dig.
And without those new wells, the town's taps could run dry. State officials on Wednesday placed it on a list of 17 communities that are in danger of running out of water in 100 days.
"The whole water situation doesn't look good at all, no matter how you look at it anyway," said Cloverdale Vice Mayor Robert Cox, standing downtown Thursday in the unseasonably warm January sunshine. "The Russian River is where we get our water, and it's just about dry. There's no rain. About the only good news on the horizon is those new wells.
"We'd be in really bad shape without them."
At 8 million gallons a year, the craft brewery is one of the biggest water consumers in the area, but it's also ahead of the curve when it comes to conservation. It uses 3 1/2 gallons of water to make a gallon of beer, compared with the industry average of 6 to 1, and it's testing a recycling system that could cut usage by 10 percent.
Still, if it wants to expand beyond the 1 million cases of Racer 5 IPA and other beers it ships internationally every year, it needs more water. Hence, the wells.
"Everyone wins in this one," said Bear Republic co-owner Richard Norgrove Sr. "When we first went to the city and said we'd like to expand, they said they didn't have enough water to support that. So I said, 'What would it take?' And this is what we came up with."
By themselves, however, those wells won't see Cloverdale through what's shaping up as a dirt-dry year. City planners reckon that in May the water system could start falling short of supplying the 1.5 million gallons that Cloverdale's businesses and 8,500 residents soak up every day.
So last week, the City Council declared a mandatory 25 percent water conservation order for everyone and everything in town. The idea is to carry Cloverdale to July 1, when the wells will start supplying about 600,000 gallons a day. Bear Republic will use about 1.5 percent of that.
Even then, conservation will be necessary, unless the rains that have stubbornly avoided California suddenly materialize.
"Contrary to what the state says, I really don't believe we will entirely run out of water," said City Manager Paul Cayler. "Our focus right now is not panicking. It's telling people to conserve."
Under the cutback order, watering lawns is "strongly discouraged." Many residents such as Vice Mayor Cox have already had the sprinklers turned off so long their lawns are brown or near to it.
Hosing down driveways and walkways is prohibited, and restaurants can provide drinking water only upon request.
Penalties for those who don't cut back 25 percent will escalate from nasty letters from the city to disconnection of water service.
The downtown Eagles Nest Deli and Grill has taken the mandate one step further. It's offering only bottled water - nothing from the tap.
"It's hard for us, because we didn't use much water as it was," said waitress Denise Benner. "We only gave out 5 gallons a week to customers, and we use all recycled water in the dishwasher.
"I don't know what else we can do - tell people they can't flush the toilet? I sure don't want to smell that."
Stroll the charming downtown, with its hip new sculptures of abstracts and nudes, and there is little that immediately evokes a drought. For that, you have to go to the edges of the city.
There, the hills are a parched tan normally seen in August, the sheep and other farm critters are munching on trucked-in hay instead of homegrown grass, and many grape growers are cutting back buds on their vines to reduce crops.
The typically surging Russian River is a wide strip of rocks with a trickle running down the middle. Lake Mendocino, which sits 37 miles north and feeds the river, is at only 35 percent of average for this time of year.
"It hasn't been this bad around here since 1976, '77, and probably even before that," said Jack Hiatt, taking his daily stroll across the First Street Bridge spanning the Russian, the river that doesn't really look like a river anymore. "That little bit of rain we had this week just brushed the dust off the weeds, so now they're even more of a fire danger than before."
Hiatt, a 67-year-old volunteer firefighter and retired vineyard owner, is a sixth-generation Cloverdale resident. He doesn't see much dribble at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.
"This kind of drought has never happened here before, as near as any of us can tell," he said. "It's all new. I don't know what's ahead, but it doesn't look good."
marin-county-bear-valley-earthquake-trail-sign by Suzy Rosenburg on Flickr
Tectonic landscapes make for some lovely scenery. Also, as a resident of such a shaky state, it is a good idea to get to know the earthquake fault that makes California earthquake country.
The San Andreas Fault is at essence "plate boundary on land", the boundary between the Pacific & North American plates. It is a strike/slip or transform fault that runs over 700 miles long as the crow flies.
In Marin County, the San Andreas Fault runs the length of Tomales Bay in West Marin, passing through the communities of Stinson Beach, Bolinas, Inverness, Olema, and Point Reyes Station. This is a part of the world where you can see the effects of Pacific Plate as it slides northwest with respect to the North American Plate. The plates are moving past each other at a rate of about 2.5 inches per year, about the same rate that fingernails grow.
Tomales Bay by DBerry2006 on Flickr
The geology of Point Reyes is visible in the rock and flora differences in the east and west sides of Tomales Bay, which is the fault trace in this area. The east side is variegated sandstone, shale, and clays overtopped with grasslands, chaparral, and occasional oak trees.
The west side is almost all granite, and covered with a thick forest of oak, pine, spruce, bay, and fir trees. The granite that makes up the Point Reyes Peninsula has traveled far north along the San Andreas Fault from its source in the Southern Sierra Nevada.
As much of the land on either side of Tomales Bay is park land, it's a great place to hike along the San Andreas Fault. The All Things Marin blog suggests the easy, ranger-guided "On Shaky Ground" hike along the fault trace within the Point Reyes National Seashore.
Point Reyes by Michael_Peck on Flickr
Knitting Nurse blog describes what she considers her favorite hike: a day-long trek out to the end of Point Reyes. The hike she describes is 9.5 miles to the point and back, but it takes in forests, beaches, and vistas of grazing tule elk.
The Marin Independent Journal describes a vigorous 8.5 mile hike that takes you to Bolinas Ridge capped with stunning vistas of the tectonic landscape. A day-long hike, the trail starts in the trees, then wanders through marshes, grasslands and rolling hills, all created by the action on the fault.
The USGS has published a great resource for exploring the San Andreas Fault in the San Francisco Bay Area that maps out hiking trails all over the fault zone. You can also get free trail guides online and at the ranger station at Point Reyes.
Slurp by dotpolka on Flickr
Before you head up on your hike, you can stock up on snacks in West Marin's gourmet shops, bakeries, and restaurants in Point Reyes Station, Bolinas, Olema, and Marshall. And while you're there visit some oyster farms along Tomales Bay.
So take advantage of the dry weather we are having, and take a day to explore the beauty of West Marin's tectonic landscape.
C-130H paint design, by Scheme Designers
The Chief of the U.S. Forest Service has approved the paint design for the seven C-130H aircraft the agency is receiving from the Coast Guard. The National Defense Authorization Act required the transfer of the C-130Hs plus 15 Shorts C-23B Sherpas from the military. The C-130Hs are being converted by the Air Force into air tankers, while the Sherpas will be used to deliver smokejumpers and cargo and to perform other wildfire support missions. The C-130Hs will be owned by the USFS but will be operated and maintained by contractors. Some of the Sherpas will be flown by agency personnel and others by contractors. All of the Sherpas will all be maintained by private companies.
The paint for the C-130Hs was designed by a company in New Jersey, Scheme Designers. Craig Darnett, their founder and CEO, told Fire Aviation that they have also designed the paint for other USFS aircraft, including the DC-3 and some smokejumper planes. Other examples of their work can be found at Airliners.net.
If someone is restoring an automobile that is at least 27 years old, as these C-130Hs are according to our research, paint is the very last step in the process. Five of the seven have to go through a 10-month wing box replacement, and then the rest of the conversion process can begin, including cutting a hole in the belly and installing a retardant tank system.
Initially bringing the 22 aircraft into the agency will be extremely complex and time-consuming, with FAA approvals, inspections, evaluating, painting, writing then awarding contracts for maintenance and pilots, deciding on a tanking system, contracts for installing tanking systems, avionics, etc. And, developing a comprehensive PLAN of how to manage the aviation assets now and in the future. The Air Force will do some of this, other than the planning, before the actual final transfer of the C-130s to the USFS (the Sherpas will not receive retardant tanks), but the Forest Service has to be involved in the decision making. Then, after the 22 aircraft are completely up and running, managing the programs on a continuing basis is not simply a part time job for one person.
Below are some other paint designs on USFS aircraft:
J-42, a US Forest Service DC-3, retires. USFS photo, taken at Ogden, Utah, October 24, 2012.
Redding smokejumpers’ Shorts 330 Sherpa. USFS photo.
Smokejumper aircraft, N143Z. USFS photo.
One of the U.S. Forest Service’s Infrared aircraft, their Cessna Citation Bravo, N144Z
Lead planes at Cheyenne, WY, May 7, 2013. These were not government owned, but were under contract to either the USFS or BLM. Photo by Bill Gabbert.
The U. S. Forest Service’s Fire Watch Cobra helicopter. July 28, 2011.
USFS infrared aircraft N149Z at Phoenix in 2013
Well if nothing else you have to give Ben credit for researched originality. I have studied the moon for years knowing that the given scientific explanation for its creation was severely flawed. Then along comes Ben with the answer that meets far more of the explanation needs than what we have today. It is not accepted of course so maybe I have to put it aside.
So it looks like I might get to use my original impact extrusion mechanism on a one-time-only basis after all.
Regards,
Ben Fishler
