58% of California is in Heavy Drought.
 

On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 8:36:55 AM UTC-8, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 9 Jan 2017 06:19:24 -0800 (PST), wrote:

The numbers you didn't find were in the very first sentence of
the NASA paper: "It will take about 11 trillion gallons of water
(42 cubic kilometers) -- around 1.5 times the maximum volume
of the largest U.S. reservoir."

Oops. I was looking at the wrong paper.
https://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/december/nasa-analysis-11-trillion-gallons-to-replenish-california-drought-losses
and as you note, it's obvious not correct.

There are 6,000.000 square inches to the acre. There are
231 cubic inches to the gallon. That means that one inch
of rain falling on a single acre is 26,000 gallons. This
is why you generally refer to rainfall in acre feet. One
acre foot of water would equal to about a third of a
million gallons - ONE ACRE.

1 acre-ft = 325,851 gallons.

Of what use is a precise number in the middle of a hundred suppositions? Remember that we are discussing both present rainfall, over an extremely large area in which there are actually areas that this downpour has missed entirely, and the MEAN rainfall. So absolutely none of these figures is very accurate to within 20% and giving a number exact to the third decimal point in the middle is meaningless.

58% of California is in Heavy Drought.
 

On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 11:36:55 AM UTC-5, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Snipped
1 acre-ft = 325,851 gallons.

The area in question (cropland) is approximately 1/5 of
the state of California pt 27 million acres and it is
ALL being inundated.

Assuming that we have minimum levels of rain at a bare
foot over these areas so far this year this is equal
to 8.5 Trillion gallons of water.

Most of which will be runoff and end up in the ocean. That's what I
as trying to estimate by reading the various papers on the topic of
groundwater recharge. It's quite non-linear and varies with soil
conditions and previous rainfall (ground saturation).

Snipped

Long periods of no or little rain can cause the ground to dry out to the point that it does NOT absorb much water. You really do NOT want to be in a canyon with steep sides or in a dry weash in the desert when it rains even miles away or in an area that has had a long drought. That's because the water runs off and water levels in washes or canyons can rise very high EXTREMELY quickly and the force of that water roaring through is virtually irresistable. You'd never be able to outrun it either.

That's part of what makes it so hard for underground aquifiers to get replenished after a drought = the water runs off into rivers and such before it has a chance to penetrate to the aquifier.

Cheers

58% of California is in Heavy Drought.
 

On Sunday, January 8, 2017 at 1:59:35 PM UTC-8, wrote:
But the entire state is on a flood watch.

But the riding will undoubtedly be marvelous this spring with new growth everywhere and the old dead growth knocked down by the heavy winds and water soaked root systems.

The hills will be alive with plants and animals everywhere. The bird watchers made a count a week or so ago and I'll be seeing one this coming weekend to see the results among other things.

Since I saw a wolf on Mt. Hamilton and all called me a liar since there are no wolves in California they have a bit of egg on their faces discovering that there have been wolves spotted in several other places in California.. There really are no such things as "lone wolves". These are very temporary. The Alpha Male or head wolf will evict the male pups from the pack after a couple of years when they get large enough to be a possible threat to his dominance. So seeing one wolf insures that many others are near.

The rivers even close to the cities are now turning up river otters. Naturalists are sort of confused about them. They only recently (relatively) discovered that sea otters are absolutely necessary to grow the kelp forests that grow the large diversity of sea creatures and other flora that maintain the health of the coastal waters. Now since river otters had disappeared so long ago the reappearance of them gives them pause. They do not understand what part they play in the ecosystem. They are still struggling with beavers as an absolute necessity as well.

If you LOOK while you ride it is amazing the things you can see. Now is only one of these reappearing animals will control the almost uncontrollable Crow and Raven populations.

What you saw was most likely a coyote, though, Tom

58% of California is in Heavy Drought.
 

On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 9:49:22 AM UTC-8, Sir Ridesalot wrote:

Long periods of no or little rain can cause the ground to dry out to the point that it does NOT absorb much water. You really do NOT want to be in a canyon with steep sides or in a dry weash in the desert when it rains even miles away or in an area that has had a long drought. That's because the water runs off and water levels in washes or canyons can rise very high EXTREMELY quickly and the force of that water roaring through is virtually irresistable. You'd never be able to outrun it either.

That's part of what makes it so hard for underground aquifiers to get replenished after a drought = the water runs off into rivers and such before it has a chance to penetrate to the aquifier.

However much truth there is to that this isn't the case since we had a month of very slow rains that gave the ground lot of time to reabsorb water all the way down to the water table.

Now the only thing standing in front of absorption is the normal percolation rates of the soils in various areas.

58% of California is in Heavy Drought.
 

On Sunday, January 8, 2017 at 3:01:47 PM UTC-8, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 8 Jan 2017 13:59:33 -0800 (PST), wrote:

But the entire state is on a flood watch.

The recent rains might help with reservoirs and surface water, but it
will take years to recharge the aquifier and return water table levels
to normal:
http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?CA

This is from 3 years ago, but is still generally valid:
"NASA Analysis: 11 Trillion Gallons to Replenish California Drought
Losses"
https://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/december/nasa-analysis-11-trillion-gallons-to-replenish-california-drought-losses/

Meanwhile, this is from only 4 days ago:
"California eyes treated wastewater for human consumption"
http://www.sonomanews.com/news/6506804-181/california-eyes-treated-wastewater-for

Since I saw a wolf on Mt. Hamilton and all called me a liar since
there are no wolves in California they have a bit of egg on their
faces discovering that there have been wolves spotted in several
other places in California.

There have been wolves in California for many years:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/jeffl/jeffl-wolf.gif

You weren't doin that the day I met you

58% of California is in Heavy Drought.
 

On Sunday, January 8, 2017 at 6:59:51 PM UTC-8, DATAKOLL MARINE RESEARCH wrote:
Water. Sand. Gravel

clean or brackish?

58% of California is in Heavy Drought.
 

On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 10:20:51 AM UTC-8, Doug Landau wrote:
On Sunday, January 8, 2017 at 1:59:35 PM UTC-8, wrote:
But the entire state is on a flood watch.

But the riding will undoubtedly be marvelous this spring with new growth everywhere and the old dead growth knocked down by the heavy winds and water soaked root systems.

The hills will be alive with plants and animals everywhere. The bird watchers made a count a week or so ago and I'll be seeing one this coming weekend to see the results among other things.

Since I saw a wolf on Mt. Hamilton and all called me a liar since there are no wolves in California they have a bit of egg on their faces discovering that there have been wolves spotted in several other places in California. There really are no such things as "lone wolves". These are very temporary. The Alpha Male or head wolf will evict the male pups from the pack after a couple of years when they get large enough to be a possible threat to his dominance. So seeing one wolf insures that many others are near.

The rivers even close to the cities are now turning up river otters. Naturalists are sort of confused about them. They only recently (relatively) discovered that sea otters are absolutely necessary to grow the kelp forests that grow the large diversity of sea creatures and other flora that maintain the health of the coastal waters. Now since river otters had disappeared so long ago the reappearance of them gives them pause. They do not understand what part they play in the ecosystem. They are still struggling with beavers as an absolute necessity as well.

If you LOOK while you ride it is amazing the things you can see. Now is only one of these reappearing animals will control the almost uncontrollable Crow and Raven populations.

What you saw was most likely a coyote, though, Tom

Right. We've always watched coyotes run across a mile of more of open ground at high speed. Coyotes are know for that don't you know. Are you aware that the spinal structure of a coyote and a wolf are different and that they have a different gait?

58% of California is in Heavy Drought.
 

On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 10:26:33 AM UTC-8, wrote:
On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 10:20:51 AM UTC-8, Doug Landau wrote:
On Sunday, January 8, 2017 at 1:59:35 PM UTC-8, wrote:
But the entire state is on a flood watch.

But the riding will undoubtedly be marvelous this spring with new growth everywhere and the old dead growth knocked down by the heavy winds and water soaked root systems.

The hills will be alive with plants and animals everywhere. The bird watchers made a count a week or so ago and I'll be seeing one this coming weekend to see the results among other things.

Since I saw a wolf on Mt. Hamilton and all called me a liar since there are no wolves in California they have a bit of egg on their faces discovering that there have been wolves spotted in several other places in California. There really are no such things as "lone wolves". These are very temporary. The Alpha Male or head wolf will evict the male pups from the pack after a couple of years when they get large enough to be a possible threat to his dominance. So seeing one wolf insures that many others are near.

The rivers even close to the cities are now turning up river otters. Naturalists are sort of confused about them. They only recently (relatively) discovered that sea otters are absolutely necessary to grow the kelp forests that grow the large diversity of sea creatures and other flora that maintain the health of the coastal waters. Now since river otters had disappeared so long ago the reappearance of them gives them pause. They do not understand what part they play in the ecosystem. They are still struggling with beavers as an absolute necessity as well.

If you LOOK while you ride it is amazing the things you can see. Now is only one of these reappearing animals will control the almost uncontrollable Crow and Raven populations.

What you saw was most likely a coyote, though, Tom

Right. We've always watched coyotes run across a mile of more of open ground at high speed. Coyotes are know for that don't you know. Are you aware that the spinal structure of a coyote and a wolf are different and that they have a different gait?

I should add that you should think about this for a second Doug. I'm sure that it's clear to you that a scavenger like a coyote has a completely different physical requirement than a predator.

58% of California is in Heavy Drought.
 

Sir Ridesalot considered Mon, 9 Jan 2017
09:49:19 -0800 (PST) the perfect time to write:

On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 11:36:55 AM UTC-5, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Snipped
1 acre-ft = 325,851 gallons.

The area in question (cropland) is approximately 1/5 of
the state of California pt 27 million acres and it is
ALL being inundated.

Assuming that we have minimum levels of rain at a bare
foot over these areas so far this year this is equal
to 8.5 Trillion gallons of water.

Most of which will be runoff and end up in the ocean. That's what I
as trying to estimate by reading the various papers on the topic of
groundwater recharge. It's quite non-linear and varies with soil
conditions and previous rainfall (ground saturation).

Snipped

Long periods of no or little rain can cause the ground to dry out to the point that it does NOT absorb much water. You really do NOT want to be in a canyon with steep sides or in a dry weash in the desert when it rains even miles away or in an area that has had a long drought. That's because the water runs off and water levels in washes or canyons can rise very high EXTREMELY quickly and the force of that water roaring through is virtually irresistable. You'd never be able to outrun it either.

That's part of what makes it so hard for underground aquifiers to get replenished after a drought = the water runs off into rivers and such before it has a chance to penetrate to the aquifier.

Cheers

It's a shame my father is no longer with us, as he quite literally
wrote the book on some of this stuff, with actual formulae to
calculate the expected retention of water on various ground types -
working back all the way to rainfall radar, so you could work out
flood likelihood in any given area from the radar images.
That was back when rainfall radar was a whole new concept.
Not being a member of the professional bodies of which he was a
member, I don't have access to the papers which he had published on
the subject.

Of course, rainfall - runoff - evaporation = water retention.
That part is simple and obvious.

58% of California is in Heavy Drought.
 

On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 10:35:17 AM UTC-8, wrote:
On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 10:26:33 AM UTC-8, wrote:
On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 10:20:51 AM UTC-8, Doug Landau wrote:
On Sunday, January 8, 2017 at 1:59:35 PM UTC-8, wrote:
But the entire state is on a flood watch.

But the riding will undoubtedly be marvelous this spring with new growth everywhere and the old dead growth knocked down by the heavy winds and water soaked root systems.

The hills will be alive with plants and animals everywhere. The bird watchers made a count a week or so ago and I'll be seeing one this coming weekend to see the results among other things.

Since I saw a wolf on Mt. Hamilton and all called me a liar since there are no wolves in California they have a bit of egg on their faces discovering that there have been wolves spotted in several other places in California. There really are no such things as "lone wolves". These are very temporary. The Alpha Male or head wolf will evict the male pups from the pack after a couple of years when they get large enough to be a possible threat to his dominance. So seeing one wolf insures that many others are near.

The rivers even close to the cities are now turning up river otters.. Naturalists are sort of confused about them. They only recently (relatively) discovered that sea otters are absolutely necessary to grow the kelp forests that grow the large diversity of sea creatures and other flora that maintain the health of the coastal waters. Now since river otters had disappeared so long ago the reappearance of them gives them pause. They do not understand what part they play in the ecosystem. They are still struggling with beavers as an absolute necessity as well.

If you LOOK while you ride it is amazing the things you can see. Now is only one of these reappearing animals will control the almost uncontrollable Crow and Raven populations.

What you saw was most likely a coyote, though, Tom

Right. We've always watched coyotes run across a mile of more of open ground at high speed. Coyotes are know for that don't you know. Are you aware that the spinal structure of a coyote and a wolf are different and that they have a different gait?

I should add that you should think about this for a second Doug. I'm sure that it's clear to you that a scavenger like a coyote has a completely different physical requirement than a predator.

As you can see Tom they are almost the same dam thing
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conserva...Identification