Monday, Jun. 29, 2009
SLO County in third straight year of drought after a skimpy rainy season
But forecasters see a drop of hope for next year: El Niño might bring a wave of wetter weather
Comments (0) | 
E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeToday San Luis Obispo County finishes its third straight year of drought. The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant area, for example, received 9.07 inches of rain for the 2008-09 water year, according to the meteorological station. Normally, the plant receives 24 inches, said John Lindsey, a meteorologist with Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which operates the plant.
The rainfall year runs from July 1 through June 30.
Last year, the plant got 13.33 inches and two years ago, 9.7 inches. This three-year dry period was preceded by two years of wet or normal conditions.
Other areas in the county received similar meager levels of rainfall in the 2008-09 precipitation year, leaving the county in dry conditions. For example, the city of San Luis Obispo ends this year with 15.94 inches, well under the 24.36 inches that is normal.
The ongoing drought has prompted officials in Atascadero and Paso Robles to institute mandatory water conservation rules. San Miguel has formed a committee to look into similar regulations. Such rules typically ban daytime watering of lawns.
The North County often has drier conditions than other parts of the county.
Impact on farming
The drought is also affecting agriculture. Grazing is hardest hit with forage levels estimated at 55 percent of normal. This is enough for county Agricultural Commissioner Bob Lilley to declare a disaster, which will make federal money available.
Aquifers are also dropping. No one has lost a well yet, but some are having to drill deeper, Lilley said.
Problems for agriculture are expected to get much worse if the drought extends into four years, he said.
Hint of a change
Meanwhile, there is some reason for optimism for the rainfall outlook next year.
Forecasters say conditions indicate that an El Niño weather event is forming. Such events feature warm ocean temperatures in the middle Pacific Ocean and are often accompanied by wetter conditions along the West Coast.
“If the El Niño does materialize, it could produce a more normal rainfall season,” Lindsey said. “But take that with a grain of salt, for sure. It’s a rough correlation.”
Only very strong El Niños produce reliably wet weather, and next year’s event will coincide with a longer-term dry period caused by a different weather pattern called the Pacific decadal oscillation.
Such oscillations typically last for 30 years and contain many small wet and dry periods. The dry conditions of the oscillation and the wet conditions of an El Niño may cancel each other out and produce a normal rainfall year, Lindsey said.
What you should know about comments on SanLuisObispo.com
SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.
Here are some rules of the road:
- Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
- Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
- Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
- Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and leave him a public message.
- Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
- Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
- Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
- Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About comments
Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.