In the field of climatology, 50 years is not much time. Scientists looking for long-term, significant changes in the weather must usually study periods that are much longer than 50 years. The last 50 years have been quite different, however, as we have experienced substantial changes in weather patterns, both in the southwest and nationwide. 

Regardless of your beliefs about human-caused climate change, if you've paid  attention to the weather, you've probably noticed that it has been odd. It is drier than normal and it's getting warmer earlier and for longer periods of the year.

 According to scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the average temperature for the contiguous U.S. for 2012 was 55.3°F, which was 3.3°F above the 20th century average and 1.0°F above the previous record from 1998 of 2.3°F.

 In the last 118 years, eight of the 10 warmest years have occurred since 1990!

Santa Fe is no different -- our summers have been getting warmer. The year 2012 was one of the warmest on record since records have been kept and this includes the last decade in which our monthly temperatures were consistently above the long-term average.

In comparing weather locally over the last decade (i.e. 2003 - 2012) with data from WeatherUnground, the winter was the colder and shorter and four months of the year were the warmest in the last decade. Additionally, three other months were within 2 degrees of the record high.    

Rising temperatures mean we need more electricity to cool our homes and more water to water our plants. Given the rising costs of both, I highly recommend you start preparing for a drier, warmer climate. 

Planting trees to shade the west side of the house is a simple yet great way to increase the comfort of our homes during our increasingly warm, sunny, summer days. Slowing changing out our landscape to more drought, heat tolerant plants. Swapping out light bulbs with CFL or LED-type bulbs is another great way to reduce heat inside the house, save electricity and thereby save water.

The most likely scenario is for temperatures to continue to go up. As they do, water usage will also go up (i.e. more outdoor watering and water usage by cooling systems increase as temperatures increase). 

Get an energy audit or a water audit to learn how much energy or water you use and ways you could conserve. As our climate becomes warmer, start thinking about how to stay cool without increasing your overall energy or water "footprint."

 

Slaking a Region's Thirst While Cleaning Its Beaches

The title of this article says it all - rain is pollution.  This small misconception is preventing relatively low -cost rainwater harvesting solutions from helping solve our growing water problem.

This is also an invisible tax on all of us.  Hardscapes promote runoff, runoff promotes pollution and pollution must be cleaned up with waste water treatment plants.The costs of these large, oft-time approaching billion dollar plants, is sped like peanut butter across all of us at a city, county, state and federal level.  Yet, the "polluter" do not get taxed at a higher rate.  They get a free ride.

We need to start taxing stormwater runoff.  If it leaves your property, you pay for it.  If you build to 100 year flood standards with all rain staying on your property you don't.  This would greatly reduce this "pollution causing rain" as well as reduce the need for large stormwater plants. 

It is great to see LA thinking about dealing with it's stormwater issue in an integrated fashion maybe more cities will follow. However, taxing us all when those actually creating the problem are not paying more is flat wrong.

Somehow polluters tend to get a free-ride at the cost to all of us.  We need to create a true cost of business - pollute you pay, don't pollute you don't.  Pollution hurts us all. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/08/us/los-angeles-plan-to-turn-pollution-into-drinking-water.html?emc=eta1&_r=0

What do you think?

Jamaica is pushing forward with required rainwater harvesting for new developments.  Per the article linked below:

Government Senator Norman Grant, while supporting the motion, argued that the country's water problem lies in the management and distribution of the commodity.

However, Grant said rainwater harvesting "must become a bigger part of the conversation" as the country deals with the strategy to provide all Jamaicans with potable and irrigation water.

He emphasised that the installation of rainwater-harvesting systems in new housing developments would mitigate the predictable drought conditions experienced mainly during the dry months.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Drought-triggers-Senate-support-for-rainwater-harvesting_13778719

Drought seems to move mountains where they existed before.  In Santa Fe, New Mexico it took a severe drought a decade ago to move the city to adopt expansive water conservation measures and the county to adopt mandatory rainwater harvesting for larger homes.

In Atlanta it took a drought to enact leading legislative actions legalizing rainwater drinking systems.  The same for California's new water programs and it is the same in Texas.

Although drought is never a good thing, it is forcing governments to evaluate strategies that had no been looked at before.  Mandates are one approach, rebates and incentives another and guidelines a third. Mandates level the playing field so everyone must abide by the same rules and have the bigger, longest term impact at a direct cost to the builder and homeowner.   Rebates and incentives; even paying for the entire systems, have much less impact and cost the government and thus all taxpayers for something only a few will take advantage of. Guidelines are by far the preferred approach in the United States and have even less long-term impact. 

Eventually as drought becomes more and more prevalent guidelines will move to incentives and then to mandates.  Water is a common and the cost of saving it should be a direct cost.  This will drive prices down and lead to the biggest savings of this precious resources that most of us have come to think of as a human right.


  

 

Yes, 2011 and 2012 were dry and 2013 looks to be the same.  What are we doing state-wide - not much?  What are we doing in Santa Fe - preparing to pump ground water.

Yes, we have an Emergency Drought Management Ordinance, but it only comes into effect if our supplies fall below our projected demand significantly.  With our 13 wells this is not likely to happen due to our low consumption rate.  So we will pump our future out of the ground.

With the drought continuing and not knowing how long it will continue, what should we be doing?  The recent article in the Santa Fe Reporter reviews the current drought, our state-wide inactions, and what California did when it was in a similar situation.

http://www.sfreporter.com/santafe/article-7246-water-inaction.html

Per an earlier article in the Santa Fe New Mexican the drought may force some action.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/localnews/120612drought#.USJfbvL9ypo

Sounds off on what you think we should do?

Water is increasingly becoming a legal issue between states, cities, counties and nations.  Drought is usually a forcing issue, but the issue behind the scenes is population growth and the need for more and more water.  The recent lawsuit between Texas and New Mexico is one of many that are now ongoing.

As climate change alters rainfall patterns and river flows, tensions are bound to rise between states and countries that share rivers that cross their borders. In the Rio Grande Basin of the American Southwest, that future inevitability has arrived. Last week Texas, suffering through a devastating drought, filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court alleging that New Mexico is failing to live up to its water delivery commitments under the 1938 Rio Grande Compact.

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/01/18/drought-fuels-water-war-between-texas-and-new-mexico/

Finally linkages between what we drink and it's health consequences.  These types of studies are long overdue.  It makes logical sense that the bad stuff we consume would have bad impact on our bodies.  However, there is are few studies directly investigating this local linkage.

I am very excited about a study which is scheduled to come out next year about harmful substances in the water, linked to vegetables we consume and the direct impact to health.  Again an area that is totally under-funded for studies. 

Think organic foods and organic labeling which require no water testing to be able to promote as organic. 

I am hopeful this whole line of research will start getting the attention it deserves.  And oh yea, of course another reason why rainwater is better as one reader pointed out.

"We wanted to see if there was an association between certain pesticides and food allergies, and we were specifically interested in dichlorophenols because those were the ones that had this antibacterial effect," said lead researcher Dr. Elina Jerschow. "When researchers have compared bacteria from the bowel in healthy kids versus bacteria in the bowel for kids that have lot of allergies, they've noticed a big difference."

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/12/03/pesticides-in-tap-water-linked-to-food-allergies/

Why is it that the United States is not leading in this market.  It makes no sense, given our innovative drive and our vast need for fresh water. 

In the United States each state, county and city can do their own thing.  This has resulted in inconsistent codes, fragmented market and low visibility of a very simple solution to a large environmental issue.

Here is a short excerpt from this article:

Collecting rainwater is an ancient idea, done in places like India and Rome before people could rely wholly on centralized piping systems. These days, the concept is returning to advanced economies, especially in drought-stricken areas. Germany is a leader in rainwater harvesting, with more than 1.5 million systems in homes and businesses, according to Dietmar Sperfeld, an official at the Association for Rainwater Harvesting and Water Utilization in Germany. Britain has about 100,000 systems, with 5,000 being added each year, according to estimates by Terry Nash, director of the U.K. Rainwater Harvesting Association.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/15/business/energy-environment/15iht-green15.html?_r=0

What do you think?

In the great arid southwest, it has been more arid than normal the last decade.  Shorter ski seasons; longer, drier summers; windier springs and higher water bills have all become the norm.

One of the things we love about living in Northern New Mexico, besides green chili and brilliant blue skies, is our ability to walk in our pine forests just a few short miles outside of town. 

But that may be changing according to a recent article published in the Nature Climate Change.  Drought may have a very profound impact on our forests.  It has happened before and it seems to be happening again.


Read more >>

Related articles

• Dire Drought Ahead, May Lead to Massive Tree Death (zen-haven.com)

Yet another reason to catch the rain before it hits the dirt. 

The below study, a first of it's kind, begins to examine the buildup of a few drugs in soils over time.  It is well known that there are hundreds of contaminants not monitored by the EPA in our water supplies.  This study takes it one step further and starts to examine them in the soils and how long they last.  Much more research needs to be done in this area to help us understand how to remove these harmful contaminants before they enter our food system, but at least we are starting to understand that they just don't disappear because we flush them down the drain.

Health Problems Uncovered By New Research - Wastewater Reuse

Of course, capturing rainwater and using it is one way to ensure you are not watering your garden or drinking water with these contaminants. 

Related Links:

Water - Why Care
Drinking Water, Is it Safe?

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