Drought

[Hey Adrien!]

What's that I hear? Is it rain? It still rains in Connecticut?

The streams have dried up and the lawns of southwestern Connecticut have turned a shade of ochre due to our current drought: we haven't had measurable rain since June 27th. Combining this along with our incoming week-long heat wave has bummed me out, both in the short team of hating the heat/humidity (we don't have HVAC in our 1890s house), but also worried for our planet.

How has the recent drought affected your area?

 

[RichCTBB]

Have you guys checked out the Mitsubishi ductless mini-splits? They're not cheap, but they work great and are far preferable to window units imo.

Seriously considering one for next year.....our main floor has a large kitchen, living room and small dining room, somewhat open layout with vaulted ceilings and 5 drafty 4'x6' single pane sliding windows. When we first moved in, I bought a 14,000 BTU portable AC unit and all it did was make noise....didn't drop the temp by a single degree. I was thinking that in addition to upgrading our panel to 200 amp we'd also need to replace all of the windows first, but I'd be fine with skipping new windows if I the AC unit was sized appropriately to the space. Mr. Cool has a 36K BTU unit for about $3K.....upgraded electrical panel would probably run about $2K.....if that's what the cost amounts to, doesn't seem to be a bad deal at all if it allows us to enjoy that part of our house in the summer. Anyone have any experience with the Mr. Cool units?

 

[borninansonia]

I'm in the southern CA desert. We've had 1" rain for the last two years, normal is 4". So Disney is putting in a new development with a 33 acre pond, another developer is putting in a large surf / wave pool using potable water fed by Colorado River water, there are 100+ golf courses within a 10 mile radius of me that consume about a million gallons per day. The upscale developments have water fountains, ponds, hundreds of acres green grass and water the courses throughout the summer even though all the residents go north. What, a rich person worry about water for the next generation, are you kidding?

This area has the best winter bicycling for me at age 73, that's why I am here. But the immorality here is beyond what I can handle. Moving to Tucson.

 

[Edward Sargent]

I'm in the southern CA desert. We've had 1" rain for the last two years, normal is 4". So Disney is putting in a new development with a 33 acre pond, another developer is putting in a large surf / wave pool using potable water fed by Colorado River water, there are 100+ golf courses within a 10 mile radius of me that consume about a million gallons per day. The upscale developments have water fountains, ponds, hundreds of acres green grass and water the courses throughout the summer even though all the residents go north. What, a rich person worry about water for the next generation, are you kidding?

This area has the best winter bicycling for me at age 73, that's why I am here. But the immorality here is beyond what I can handle. Moving to Tucson.

Tucson is worse! I have family in Tucson and Phoenix. You will never drink tap water again knowing it's 60 to 70% reclaimed waste water.

 

[8893]

I'm in the southern CA desert. We've had 1" rain for the last two years, normal is 4". So Disney is putting in a new development with a 33 acre pond, another developer is putting in a large surf / wave pool using potable water fed by Colorado River water, there are 100+ golf courses within a 10 mile radius of me that consume about a million gallons per day. The upscale developments have water fountains, ponds, hundreds of acres green grass and water the courses throughout the summer even though all the residents go north. What, a rich person worry about water for the next generation, are you kidding?

This area has the best winter bicycling for me at age 73, that's why I am here. But the immorality here is beyond what I can handle. Moving to Tucson.

If you have never read Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang, you should.

 

[storrsroars]

We've been getting soaked here for past 24 hrs.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Have you guys checked out the Mitsubishi ductless mini-splits? They're not cheap, but they work great and are far preferable to window units imo.

A contractor that fixed our spigot specializes in ductless AC/heating, but we weren't interested.

Maybe we'll invest in them whenever we sell the house 20+ years down the road, but we'd really only need AC downstairs for about 15-20 days out of the year. During heat waves, I do almost all of our cooking on the grill, so that helps with the indoor heat big time.

I had a window unit downstairs, and central AC upstairs. Got the Mitubishi min-split about 7-8 years ago. It's a game changer and now reaches the whole downstairs effectively. We have an open foyer, so some AC "leaked" down, but the window unit wasn't cutting it.

With @Hey Adrien! 's smaller house, one would do the job, but maybe isn't even needed with an attic fan. I grew up in a house with an attic fan, they are amazing until it gets muggy. They can't do anything about the humidity.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'm in the southern CA desert. We've had 1" rain for the last two years, normal is 4". So Disney is putting in a new development with a 33 acre pond, another developer is putting in a large surf / wave pool using potable water fed by Colorado River water, there are 100+ golf courses within a 10 mile radius of me that consume about a million gallons per day. The upscale developments have water fountains, ponds, hundreds of acres green grass and water the courses throughout the summer even though all the residents go north. What, a rich person worry about water for the next generation, are you kidding?

This area has the best winter bicycling for me at age 73, that's why I am here. But the immorality here is beyond what I can handle. Moving to Tucson.

Tucson is worse! I have family in Tucson and Phoenix. You will never drink tap water again knowing it's 60 to 70% reclaimed waste water.

If you have never read Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang, you should.

Moving from SoCal to Tucson with any part of that being based on water usage and water rights is at best a push.

Without getting too cesspoolish, California's legacy water rights which were deeded before many laws and regulations are a helluva barrier to overcome. Also, that central valley region of California which produces so much of our country's produce year round isn't good for water conservation. Add in the almond farming out there which is completely non-native to the area and soaks up so much water and you start to see the affect. Don't like mass agrifarming and cattle polluting the air with their farts??? Drink almond milk!! Except farming almonds is another horrible choice for the region.

Long story short, IMO, California really needs to settle on desalinization and for their water needs and free up the Colorado river water for Vegas and Arizona. Not that I believe Vegas has any reason to exist as it does any more than New Orleans should exist below the water line of the Mississippi, or much of southeast Florida being built on swamps, but you tell everyone they have to leave.

 

[John]

Like others have said, my lawn was doing fantastic until probably July 4th. Right now it’s very crispy

Been trying to keep up with watering, but even with that effort the lawn is mostly burned up. Might just stop and let it ride until Fall, feels like wasted resources.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Blame me for the drought . We normally spend 5-6 weeks in Ct June into July .
In those 30+ days it normally rains a minimum of a third .
My wife decided we would come for Thanksgiving through Christmas this year
So . I would get prepared for an early winter with my luck.
Hopefully I’ll survive maybe even see a basketball game.

 

[John]

I'm in the southern CA desert. We've had 1" rain for the last two years, normal is 4". So Disney is putting in a new development with a 33 acre pond, another developer is putting in a large surf / wave pool using potable water fed by Colorado River water, there are 100+ golf courses within a 10 mile radius of me that consume about a million gallons per day. The upscale developments have water fountains, ponds, hundreds of acres green grass and water the courses throughout the summer even though all the residents go north. What, a rich person worry about water for the next generation, are you kidding?

This area has the best winter bicycling for me at age 73, that's why I am here. But the immorality here is beyond what I can handle. Moving to Tucson.

Been keeping a regular eye on youtube videos about the dropping levels in Lakes Mead and Powell. Hoover Dam is barely producing electricity because the water level has dropped below the intake towers. I believe it's currently at inactive pool status

 

[Edward Sargent]

Moving from SoCal to Tucson with any part of that being based on water usage and water rights is at best a push.

Without getting too cesspoolish, California's legacy water rights which were deeded before many laws and regulations are a helluva barrier to overcome. Also, that central valley region of California which produces so much of our country's produce year round isn't good for water conservation. Add in the almond farming out there which is completely non-native to the area and soaks up so much water and you start to see the affect. Don't like mass agrifarming and cattle polluting the air with their farts??? Drink almond milk!! Except farming almonds is another horrible choice for the region.

Long story short, IMO, California really needs to settle on desalinization and for their water needs and free up the Colorado river water for Vegas and Arizona. Not that I believe Vegas has any reason to exist as it does any more than New Orleans should exist below the water line of the Mississippi, or much of southeast Florida being built on swamps, but you tell everyone they have to leave.

Agree with everything you've said except freeing up the Colorado. The river and Lake Mead are already in danger of drying up. My sense is we should be making it more difficult and expensive to live in the desert. I also think this applies to real estate development along shorelines. Desalinization is a good idea, which I like a lot better than waste conversion

 

[HuskyHawk]

Moving from SoCal to Tucson with any part of that being based on water usage and water rights is at best a push.

Without getting too cesspoolish, California's legacy water rights which were deeded before many laws and regulations are a helluva barrier to overcome. Also, that central valley region of California which produces so much of our country's produce year round isn't good for water conservation. Add in the almond farming out there which is completely non-native to the area and soaks up so much water and you start to see the affect. Don't like mass agrifarming and cattle polluting the air with their farts??? Drink almond milk!! Except farming almonds is another horrible choice for the region.

Long story short, IMO, California really needs to settle on desalinization and for their water needs and free up the Colorado river water for Vegas and Arizona. Not that I believe Vegas has any reason to exist as it does any more than New Orleans should exist below the water line of the Mississippi, or much of southeast Florida being built on swamps, but you tell everyone they have to leave.

The Central valley was once swampy. Drained it and switched to agriculture. Almost certainly a lot of lasting damage from that. It's crazy what they still try to grow there. CA water usage is absurd. We need to shut off the spigot. I vaguely recall a state tried in my Clean Water Act class in law school and lost due to those legacy rights.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

What the hell is rain?

 

[John]

Agree with everything you've said except freeing up the Colorado. The river and Lake Mead are already in danger of drying up. My sense is we should be making it more difficult and expensive to live in the desert. I also think this applies to real estate development along shorelines. Desalinization is a good idea, which I like a lot better than waste conversion

Lake Powell is also drying up, in fact I think Reclamation was impounding water at Powell rather then sending it downstream to Mead.

 

[8893]

What the hell is rain?

 

[CONN78SEJ]

What's that I hear? Is it rain? It still rains in Connecticut?

The streams have dried up and the lawns of southwestern Connecticut have turned a shade of ochre due to our current drought: we haven't had measurable rain since June 27th. Combining this along with our incoming week-long heat wave has bummed me out, both in the short team of hating the heat/humidity (we don't have HVAC in our 1890s house), but also worried for our planet.

How has the recent drought affected your area?

Were your grandparents worried for the planet? If they lived in the 1930’s or as they’re remembered “the Dirty Thirties”, they had it far worse.

Fact Brief : Do record US heat waves in the 1930s disprove global warming? | Gigafact

NO, The most severe heat waves in the U.S. did occur in the 1930s, but overall temperatures today are higher than they were then, both domestically and globally.Climate is a measure of weather overtime. G

repustar.com

The Heat Waves Of The 1930’s

By Paul Homewood A Washington, D.C. heat wave cartoon from July 28, 1930. The heat wave is pictured trying to break a "sitting record," imitating the popular flagpole sitters of th…

notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com

 

[John]

Were your grandparents worried for the planet? If they lived in the 1930’s or as they’re remembered “the Dirty Thirties”, they had it far worse.

Fact Brief : Do record US heat waves in the 1930s disprove global warming? | Gigafact

NO, The most severe heat waves in the U.S. did occur in the 1930s, but overall temperatures today are higher than they were then, both domestically and globally.Climate is a measure of weather overtime. G

repustar.com

The Heat Waves Of The 1930’s

By Paul Homewood A Washington, D.C. heat wave cartoon from July 28, 1930. The heat wave is pictured trying to break a "sitting record," imitating the popular flagpole sitters of th…

notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com

Oh boy, here we go....

 

[CL82]

Seriously considering one for next year.....our main floor has a large kitchen, living room and small dining room, somewhat open layout with vaulted ceilings and 5 drafty 4'x6' single pane sliding windows. When we first moved in, I bought a 14,000 BTU portable AC unit and all it did was make noise....didn't drop the temp by a single degree. I was thinking that in addition to upgrading our panel to 200 amp we'd also need to replace all of the windows first, but I'd be fine with skipping new windows if I the AC unit was sized appropriately to the space. Mr. Cool has a 36K BTU unit for about $3K.....upgraded electrical panel would probably run about $2K.....if that's what the cost amounts to, doesn't seem to be a bad deal at all if it allows us to enjoy that part of our house in the summer. Anyone have any experience with the Mr. Cool units?

The window replacement is well worth the money. I was kind of ambivalent about it until we actually did it. It makes a huge difference in comfort and would certainly make whatever air conditioning/heating system you end up with much more effective.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Were your grandparents worried for the planet? If they lived in the 1930’s or as they’re remembered “the Dirty Thirties”, they had it far worse.

Fact Brief : Do record US heat waves in the 1930s disprove global warming? | Gigafact

NO, The most severe heat waves in the U.S. did occur in the 1930s, but overall temperatures today are higher than they were then, both domestically and globally.Climate is a measure of weather overtime. G

repustar.com

The Heat Waves Of The 1930’s

By Paul Homewood A Washington, D.C. heat wave cartoon from July 28, 1930. The heat wave is pictured trying to break a "sitting record," imitating the popular flagpole sitters of th…

notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com

My Grandparents smoked 3 packs a day and didn't make it to their 70s so they weren't even worried about themselves

 

[auror]

I hit this site up every Thursday morning to get a feel for the US as a whole.

New England isn't too bad except the NW burbs of Boston and Southern NH. Nothing a few good douchings can't rectify.

Current Map | U.S. Drought Monitor

droughtmonitor.unl.edu

I'm in those NW burbs and we've been dodging rain for a couple weeks now. Every 40-50% chance day it has ended up not raining and every day has been 85+.

Didn't check my weather today but it was bright and sunny and hot and so watered my garden in an effort to prevent blossom end rot when it did finally rain and then an hour later it rained. Classic.

 

[borninansonia]

Moving from SoCal to Tucson with any part of that being based on water usage and water rights is at best a push.

Without getting too cesspoolish, California's legacy water rights which were deeded before many laws and regulations are a helluva barrier to overcome. Also, that central valley region of California which produces so much of our country's produce year round isn't good for water conservation. Add in the almond farming out there which is completely non-native to the area and soaks up so much water and you start to see the affect. Don't like mass agrifarming and cattle polluting the air with their farts??? Drink almond milk!! Except farming almonds is another horrible choice for the region.

Long story short, IMO, California really needs to settle on desalinization and for their water needs and free up the Colorado river water for Vegas and Arizona. Not that I believe Vegas has any reason to exist as it does any more than New Orleans should exist below the water line of the Mississippi, or much of southeast Florida being built on swamps, but you tell everyone they have to leave.

Tucson has excellent bicycling and has a superb trail system. All of Arizona has serious long-term water problems, but it appears like they are aware of the problem.

 

[HuskyHawk]

You know it's bad when this is the radar picture, showing it's raining, but out the window there is no rain.

 

[Edward Sargent]

The window replacement is well worth the money. I was kind of ambivalent about it until we actually did it. It makes a huge difference in comfort and would certainly make whatever air conditioning/heating system you end up with much more effective.

I agree with you on the windows. We've done it in several houses and it has made a huge difference. Talk to your tax accountant too because there are tax credits (or at least there were).

 

[RichCTBB]

Terrific downpour right now….going on 10 straight minutes now

 

[Northbound]

The dry and cool weather is pushing the chanterelle harvest back and that sucks as i trade them for beer.