Entering the Dry Season in the Fourth Year of Drought: A Case Study on the Yuba River

By: Karl Ronning, River Monitoring Coordinator and Rachel Hutchinson, River Science Director

With California entering its fourth year of drought, SYRCL’s volunteer River Monitors brought back evidence in March that water temperature and quality is suffering across the Yuba River watershed.

Sierra Snowpack at Historic Low

The lack of snow in the Sierra Nevada’s makes the 2012-2015 drought more extreme than past droughts. The Sierra Nevada snowpack contributes one-third of California’s water supply and serves as late season water storage, often melting well into our dry, Mediterranean summer. What little precipitation the Sierras has encountered in 2015 has primarily fallen as rain rather than snow. Below is a representation of the snow water content of the Northern Sierra Nevada by the Department of Water Resources (http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/snowapp/swcchart.action). As of late March 2015, we are at 8% of the average and below the minimum snowpack level recorded in the drought of 1976-1977.

Drought is Impacting Yuba River Water Quality

SYRCL’s water quality monitoring data gives us a 15 year record in the Yuba watershed and can help us understand the effects of the 2012-2015 drought. As over 40 volunteers trickled back into the office in March to report on 34 locations across the watershed, we accepted their observations with resignation: high temperatures and low dissolved oxygen levels. This year water temperatures were the highest for the month of March at all sites since the program began. The overall decrease in snow pack has allowed water temperatures to rise throughout the watershed. Dissolved oxygen levels hit the lowest records at 7 of the 11 examined sites for the month of March. As temperature increases, less oxygen can be dissolved in water. Below is an example of this case at two sites on the South Yuba.

Beyond the temperature and quality of the river, the water level is dropping and is at record lows. Below is a comparison between the current flow data and the historic flow data by CDEC at the Highway 49 Bridge Crossing over the South Yuba. We are below the average and minimum flow (grey) maintained at this site in years past.

Nevada County is shown as resting in areas of extreme and exceptional drought depicted in the diagram provided by NOAA, USDA, and NDMC below. The diagram released before this initialized on March 10^th is nearly identical to the March 24^th diagram. The second map below provided by NOAA presents a lack of rain in the near future from the three-month outlook.

How you Can Help

SYRCL is working on water conservation education for children in grades 1st through 6th through our Great Water Mystery Assembly program. SYRCL requests that we all come together as a community to do our part in the drought and conserve water. There are numerous ways to conserve water, here are some helpful tips:

• Check toilets, faucets and pipes for leaks.
• Insulate your water pipes. You’ll get hot water faster plus avoid wasting water while it heats up.
• Never put water down the drain when there may be another use for it such as watering a plant or garden, or cleaning.
• Store drinking water in the refrigerator rather than letting the tap run every time you want a cool glass of water.
• Do not use running water to thaw meat or other frozen foods. Defrost food overnight in the refrigerator or by using the defrost setting on your microwave.
• Install water-saving shower heads and low-flow faucet aerators.
• Put plastic bottles or float booster in your toilet tank.
• Turn off the shower after soaping up, then turn it back on to rinse.
• Turn off the water after you wet your toothbrush and rinse your razor in the sink.
• If it’s yellow, let it mellow.
• When washing dishes by hand, don’t leave the water running for rinsing.
• Put a layer of mulch around trees and plant drought-resistant lawns, shrubs and plants.
• Water during the early parts of the day to avoid evaporation.
• Install a rain barrel water catchment system or a simple drip-irrigation system.
• Avoid over-watering plants and shrubs, as this can actually diminish plant health and cause yellowing of the leaves.