Brown and barren land: Bolivia’s historic drought – in pictures.
Towards the end of last year, the government of Bolivia declared a state of emergency after the worst drought in 25 years affected at least seven of the country’s major cities.In November and December 2016 and January 2017, photographer Marcelo Perez visited reservoirs that supplied drinking water to La Paz, the capital, and neighbouring city El Alto to document the critical levels they had reached.
The Inkachaka, Ajunkota and Hampaturi dams supply drinking water to more than 30% of the population of La Paz.
I expected to see military or personnel from the water company, but the place was totally empty.
Bolivians staged protests in major cities, mirroring the demonstrations of the Cochabamba ‘water war’ in 2000.
Moreira resigned in January.
Water rationing was used for the first time in La Paz, affecting 80,000 people.
The Chacaltaya glacier – once the world’s highest ski resort – has already completely disappeared.
The two Tuni-Condoriri glaciers that provide water to El Alto and La Paz lost 39% of their area between 1983 and 2006.
Here, a rubber emergency channel drains water from a lagoon to ease water shortages.

“As far as soil conditions go, it’s actually like a normal spring,” said Phil Ferdinando, owner of J&F Farms in Derry.
A wet spring combined with recent snowmelt have brought an end to New Hampshire’s drought conditions that began last spring and persisted through some of the winter months.
“With the latest rain things are coming up,” said Tom Hawley, a meteorologist and hydrologist at the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine.
April was a wet month, Hawley said, adding that the rainy weather is expected to continue over the next couple of weeks.
“Right now we’re certainly in a wet period.
“If we can get to normal levels we should be OK going into the summer,” he said.
The recent drought was the worst since one in the 1960s that lasted for several years.
It began last spring after the state experienced below normal snowfall and a dry April.
“We didn’t get the typical recharge in the spring that we would normally get.
Unlike last year, Ferdinando said there are parts of his fields that are now wet.

2015 drought damage estimate was way off — it’s much worse.
Growers across the state lost $700 million as a result of Washington’s 2015 drought — far more than an early $85 million estimate, a state report estimates.
But officials also say the revised valuation may be too low when it comes to the complete economic impact of the drought — total losses could be as high as $1.2 billion.
“In a state that produces 300 commodities, it’s hard to determine all the drought effects.” Rapid snowmelt, high temperatures and one of the driest years on record hit growers, especially those with junior water rights, especially hard in 2015 as they scrambled to recover profits from lower yields and lower-quality fruit.
Growers, water management officials and legislators need to keep the tough lessons of drought years front of mind even when water is more bountiful, experts say.
The planning that happens in years with healthy water levels helps to prevent losses similar to those growers experienced in 2015, said Washington Tree Fruit Association president Jon DeVaney.
The analysis, released in February — more than a year after the drought — comes at a perfect time to serve as motivation for increased investment in irrigation, such as through the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project, which aims to improve river flows, habitat and fish passages in addition to increasing water storage.
Efforts to ensure a reliable water supply during drought conditions are already underway.
For example, the Department of Agriculture has already started planning its future drought response based on findings from the study, McLain said.
The 2015 study allows the agency to devise drought plans, but continued study in successive drought years is needed to determine effectiveness.

To avoid drought, Round Rock promotes year-round voluntary water conservation.
The NWS defines a drought as a deficiency in precipitation over an extended period, normally a season or more.
In 2011, Texas had an average of 14.8 inches of rain for the year.
The majority of Round Rock’s conservation effort focuses on educating city water users on best practices.
“I’m a licensed irrigator, so I do irrigation evaluations and that basically means going out to somebody’s house and teaching them how to use an irrigation system, running through the system, explaining any problems, talking to them about solutions and about the rebates,” Woods said.
Currently, Round Rock uses a tiered water rate system, which is implemented May 1 of each year.
The city is evaluating this system through a water rate study that is set to end in June and may move to a tiered system throughout the entire year for residential use, while issuing a flat system for commercial use.
“As a customer, you would be able to log in and see your usage in almost real time,” Thane said.
“Right now, they get a bill once a month, but with this they can be more aware of it.” Thane said that since the drought in 2011, people have been more conscious about monitoring their water consumption.
Although the conservation effort is implemented on a voluntary basis, the city does have measures in place in case there is reckless use.

Dry soil in California affects this weather pattern?
Water Deeply: Does that mean soil moisture in California could predict this Wave-5 pattern, the way ocean temperatures predict El Niño?
What we are doing is just trying to find out factors like how tropical precipitation or soil moisture can affect the probability of the Wave-5.
Water Deeply: Will you be able to use this pattern to warn about the next drought?
Water Deeply: Is Wave-5 connected in any way to other weather patterns, such as El Niño?
Teng: El Niño can influence mid-latitude atmospheric circulation.
But this Wave-5 pattern is an atmospheric-intrinsic pattern.
Water Deeply: Once it forms, how long does this Wave-5 pattern last?
That’s why, during the California drought, it had this longer pattern.
Teng: We only focused on the California drought.

Say goodbye to drought surcharge?.
The district’s board of directors held its second public meeting on its study of water rates, on Monday, at the Highland Park Senior Center.
The challenge facing the district was summarized by director Margaret Bruce: “What is the fastest route to a healthy reserve” fund?
The directors acknowledged that the board’s annual $8 million budget includes no funds for reserves, which would pay for infrastructure repairs and replacement throughout the sprawling mountain district.
First details of the actual rates to be considered under several options will be revealed at the board’s next rate hearing in June.
No date or location has been set for that session.
Board President Gene Ratcliffe cautioned the audience that even though the California drought is officially over, “Santa Cruz County is in a groundwater drought” because the depleted aquifer, source of much of the district’s drinking water, has not been fully replenished by two years of heavy rain.
The board is considering increases in connection fees, as well as adjustments in rates for water consumption.
Posted in Press Banner, Press Banner News on Thursday, May 4, 2017 12:32 pm.

Home styles linked to water use levels.
Affluent neighborhoods with lawns — and occasionally swimming pools — use up to 10 times more water than neighborhoods with higher density housing with less landscaping, according to a Portland State University study.
The study, conducted by PSU geography professor Heejun Chang, was recently published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
Chang found that the highest water use was in newer suburbs where big lawns were most common.
The more affluent the neighborhood, the more water the residents were likely to use.
That’s because those neighborhoods have more water-demanding landscapes, and homeowners there can afford to spend more on water.
Chang studied urban water use on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis in four US cities: Portland, Ore., Salt Lake City, Phoenix and Austin, Texas.
All were cities likely to experience water shortages in coming years.
His research is significantly more detailed than previous studies of urban water use.
Original written by John Kirkland.

Seasonal rains bring hope and disease to drought-ravaged Somalia.
The U.N. has warned that drought and conflict mean civilians in Somalia, along with South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen, face mass starvation without food aid.
On Tuesday, the U.N. said 1.4 million Somali children would be acutely malnourished this year.
But it has not said to what extent the rains might ease the humanitarian crisis, if at all.
The rains began in parts of the country in the second week of April but by last week had spread to most areas.
The rains will allow farmers to plant crops as well as grass for the livestock that sustain Somalia’s nomadic families.
But the long drought has already devastated herds and forced many farmers to seek aid in cities.
Moreover, the rains bring cold and spread disease, a double threat for people and animals whose immune systems have been weakened by sustained hunger.
The disease has already killed more than 500 people.
"The goats were very weak," he said.

Josh Newton’s Water Jobs & More, Part II – 4 May 2017.
All things freshwater: news, analysis, humor, reviews, and commentary from Michael E. ‘Aquadoc’ Campana, hydrogeologist, hydrophilanthropist, Professor of Hydrogeology and Water Resources Management in the Geography Program of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS) at Oregon State University, Emeritus Professor of Hydrogeology at the University of New Mexico, Past President of the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) and Past Chair of the Scientists & Engineers Division of the National Ground Water Association (NGWA).
He is President of the nonprofit NGWA Foundation and the nonprofit Ann Campana Judge Foundation, an organization involved with WaSH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) in Central America.
He serves on the Steering Committee of the Global Water Partnership (GWP).
CYA statement: with the exception of guest posts, the opinions expressed herein are solely those of Michael E. Campana and not those of CEOAS, Oregon State University, ACJF, AWRA, NGWA, GWP, my spouse Mary Frances, or any other person or organization.

Drought’s last stand?
Strong storms, heavy rain due.
Shopping Cart icon Buy Photo At 11 a.m. Thursday, Pennsylvania’s drought task force is scheduled to meet to talk about the region’s ongoing drought watch, which seems to have more staying power than a spring cold.
The overall precipitation landscape has improved dramatically in the last three months, but rainfall for the last 30 days remains substantially below normal in all eight counties.
That should change by day’s end on Friday as a potent storm migrates toward the Mid-Atlantic coast, and the National Weather Service is calling for 1 to 2 inches of rain.
The Storm Prediction Center, in Norman, Okla., lists a “slight risk” of severe weather — winds approaching 60 mph — for most of Delaware and areas near the Pennsylvania-Maryland border.
A flow from the south will import moist air ahead of the mass of showers, the storm center says.
This time of year, the foliage develops a mighty thirst, and stream levels remain quite unimpressive.
Groundwater supplies have been stubbornly low, and that is one reason that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has continued the drought watch in Philadelphia and its neighboring counties.
That watch could end by Thursday afternoon.