By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Dry Winter - Weather Raises Concern
Placeholder Image

The first snow survey readings of the winter conducted on Jan. 3 are the driest on record – tied with those from January of 2012, according to California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR). With a couple dry winters in a row, the lack of rain to this point in the winter raises concerns in the agriculture industry. That, according to Tom Orvis of the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau, who noted that the farmers he’s been in contact with are worried.

“The cattlemen (are concerned) because they don’t have any grass and are feeding hay, and the orchard guys because they are starting to think about when the irrigation districts will turn the water in (to the canals) or when they’ll have to turn the pumps on,” he said. “The dairymen are thinking the same thing with their winter forage and wonder if there will be enough water for their silage corn and alfalfa. They all see the mountains with no snowpack to speak of.”

However, it’s still early in the season and forecasters say there’s still time for the winter to get wet. Orvis said the area has been known to get rain later in the winter and have “March miracles.” While that doesn’t help the cattlemen with winter pasture, a rainy spring would make a difference in the reservoirs.

The California Department of Water Resources’ website states that the first snow survey of the winter on Jan. 3 showed that manual and electronic readings of the snowpack’s statewide water content is at about 20 percent of normal for this time of year. It further states, “…In addition to the sparse snowpack, many areas of California ended calendar year 2013 with the lowest rainfall amounts on record. All this could change quickly if weather patterns shift and bring stormy conditions that are typical for January and February.” The April 1 measurement is when the snowpack normally is at its peak before melting into streams and reservoirs to provide a third of the water used by California’s cities and farms, stated on the website.

DWR will issue its first snowmelt runoff forecast of the winter season on Jan. 9, based on information from automatic snow sensors and field surveys.

With the dry season thus far and dropping reservoirs, relying on groundwater starts to come into play. There’s been chatter around the county about a possible moratorium on wells and with that, Orvis said, there was a surge in well permits in the county – comparing it to how the U.S. saw spikes in gun and ammunition sales when there’s talk in the upper echelons of government about gun and ammo control.

Orvis said that just because people are putting in a well, it doesn’t mean they’re drawing water out of it, although he said some people think otherwise.

“I think there are a lot of people drilling wells now as an insurance policy,” Orvis said.

According to the California State Water Resources Control Board, private domestic wells typically draw from shallow aquifers, while deep wells draw from deep aquifers. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, “Although ground water can move from one aquifer into another, it generally follows the more permeable pathways within the individual aquifers from the point of recharge…to the point of discharge.”

Orvis talked about the drought of 1976 and 1977 and said that there were wells around the county that went dry. He said that the difference now is that there are “a lot more straws in the ground and those straws come in the form of ranchettes and Ag wells.”

In a report given in November 2013 at an Oakdale Irrigation District board meeting by OID Water Operations Manager Eric Thorburn, it showed from 2005-2011: the district’s water allotment (full or partial), a mix of wet and dry years, the amount of groundwater pumping (including private use in OID), and the amount of groundwater recharge in the OID service area of 55,000 acres. The average pumping per year for wet years during that time was 23,169 acre feet (AF) and the average total recharge being 68,371 AF, resulting in a net groundwater recharge of 45,202 AF. The dry year average was 33,093 AF in pumping and an average total recharge of 74,195 AF, resulting in a net groundwater recharge 41,102 AF. There was note made that OID doesn’t know and can’t control what’s happening outside its service area.

Snow Ranch, Orvis’ family’s ranch, which sits along State Highway 4 about 11 miles east of Farmington and 17 miles north of Oakdale, gets slightly more rain than Oakdale but for many years it was a reporting station for DWR. The ranch still measures and reports rainfall to local entities, Orvis said. Snow Ranch collects rain data in a July 1 through June 30 cycle. It recorded rainfall of just 7.9 inches in the cycle of 1975-76. For 2012-13, it was 13.09 inches of rain and so far, from July 2013 through December 2013, it’s recorded 1.98 inches. Its data shows that the six month average for rains from January through June is approximately double the average of those from July through December. So if the water cycle holds true to the average for this season, the rainiest part of the year is yet to come.

According to the rainfall records for Oakdale maintained by the office of the A.L. Gilbert Company, the total for the 2012-13 year in a September to August cycle was 11.01 inches. The previous year was 10.50 inches in the same period. Its 1975-76 cycle showed 6.9 inches.

According to DWR, many lakes and reservoirs are less than 40 percent capacity as of Dec. 31, 2013 including Lake Shasta (37 percent), Folsom Lake (19 percent), Lake Oroville (36 percent) and San Luis Reservoir (30 percent). As of midnight Jan. 5, New Melones Reservoir was slightly better at 43 percent of total capacity, which is 78 percent of the historical average for this date. Current storage is at 1,050,622 AF, and the average storage for Jan. 5 is 1,350,759 AF.

“It’s not going away until it rains,” Orvis said drolly of the dry conditions. “…We’ve been through this before.”