 Poster: A snowHead
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-32157126
We've seen the pictures of Tahoe. Obviously California is seriously lacking in snow and rainfall. Are these new rules going to affect snow making? California has a lot of people for one State and it makes me wonder if people will look East to Colorado, Utah etc. for their skiing if California continues to dry up. This will have a significant impact on these resorts further East.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I would think that snow making, watering of golf courses and filling swimming pools will be given high priority in this situation.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@cameronphillips2000, from the looks of Tahoe, water restrictions are the least of their problems
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3006133/Dried-runs-chairlifts-hanging-rocky-slopes-Skiers-snowboarders-pictured-Californian-resort-left-virtually-no-snow-drought.html
As these restrictions have only just come into force you would have thought that snow making would have been high on the agenda for Tahoe, and yet even with that back up they just haven't had enough snow.
It could just be a one off year and next year the rains and the snow could be back, but if its a continuing theme then Tahoe should look to other tourist trade, like climbing, hiking, paragliding, mountain biking etc, cos if they have no precipitation then they have no ski industry, no matter how many snow making machines they have.
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Colorado is going to get very busy
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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there might be a positive to come out of this, it might lead to improvements in desalination technologies that could help not just California but many other places in the world, although the most immediate strategies will be hosepipe bans, recycling of water in the home and industrial waste water treatment
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Bringing us right up to date (well, yesterday at least), there is 'no snow' in the most recent survey of the Sierra Nevada.
“This was the first time in 75 years of early-April measurements at the Phillips snow course that no snow was found there,” the California Department of Water Resources said in a statement on Wednesday
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/01/california-governor-orders-mandatory-water-restrictions-drought
@Sack the Juggler, but will it be too late? The crisis is upon them and the scale of the need for irrigation in California is mind-boggling. By the time desalination technology and infrastructure has been developed to the scale required, their agricultural industry will very likely be long gone.
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The wars we have seen over oil will be nothing to the wars this planet will see in the future over water.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| grazzenger wrote: |
Bringing us right up to date (well, yesterday at least), there is 'no snow' in the most recent survey of the Sierra Nevada.
“This was the first time in 75 years of early-April measurements at the Phillips snow course that no snow was found there,” the California Department of Water Resources said in a statement on Wednesday
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/01/california-governor-orders-mandatory-water-restrictions-drought
@Sack the Juggler, but will it be too late? The crisis is upon them and the scale of the need for irrigation in California is mind-boggling. By the time desalination technology and infrastructure has been developed to the scale required, their agricultural industry will very likely be long gone. |
very true, if they don't get any rain in the new few months then that is likely rather than possible, but assuming that they do have rain and implement immediate restrictions then its possible that they may have time to develop and implement cheaper desalination technology
http://www.ornl.gov/ornl/news/news-releases/2015/ornl-led-team-demonstrates-desalination-with-nanoporous-graphene-membrane
One of the biggest drains on California's water supply is the cities so going forward if the cities have their own water supply then in theory, there should be enough water higher up the chain to support the farms and other industries.
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a UCLA study shows that 77% of water use in California is agricultural -http://www.environment.ucla.edu/reportcard/article4870.html
given the scale of the overall problem they're facing, i'm not sure that solving urban usage will be enough.
ofr an idea of what's under threat, in 2013, the agricultural industry in california was worth >$46bn http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/statistics/
as a comparison, UK agriculture's Gross Value Added in 2011 was estimated at <£10bn, making california's agriculture industry approximately 3x the size of the UK's. imagine if our agricultural industry was under that sort of threat and then triple it. it's a very worrying situation.
oh, and stockpile marzipan now. >50% of the world's almonds are grown in california!
sorry for the thread hijack 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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we could corner the global almond market. mwahahahahaahaah
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| grazzenger wrote: |
a UCLA study shows that 77% of water use in California is agricultural -http://www.environment.ucla.edu/reportcard/article4870.html
given the scale of the overall problem they're facing, i'm not sure that solving urban usage will be enough.
ofr an idea of what's under threat, in 2013, the agricultural industry in california was worth >$46bn http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/statistics/
as a comparison, UK agriculture's Gross Value Added in 2011 was estimated at <£10bn, making california's agriculture industry approximately 3x the size of the UK's. imagine if our agricultural industry was under that sort of threat and then triple it. it's a very worrying situation.
oh, and stockpile marzipan now. >50% of the world's almonds are grown in california!
sorry for the thread hijack |
Indeed - a lot of our produce here (and I assume much of N.America) comes from California
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You know it makes sense.
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California has historically been very fertile and the north south belt running through the middle is one of the fruit baskets of the world.
I guess we could live without almonds but no skiing??!!!!!!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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It won't be the only place in the world with no skiing. I remember reading an article on SLF website that in light of changing climate and snow line solely creeping up they estimate there won't be any skiing in the Alps in about 80-100 years below 3000 meters so alpine resorts should start thinking of diversification now to prepare for the future.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Sack the Juggler wrote: |
It could just be a one off year and next year the rains and the snow could be back, but if its a continuing theme then Tahoe should look to other tourist trade, like climbing, hiking, paragliding, mountain biking etc, cos if they have no precipitation then they have no ski industry, no matter how many snow making machines they have. |
1) It's not a "one off" year. It's been for the last 4 years, with this one being the worst.
2) The "other tourist trade" is actually the main attraction of Tahoe, with skiing being mostly a side show. One of the reason lodging being relatively affordable in the Tahoe areas is because there's a huge amount of capacity to satisfy the summer vacationers.
Winter is the "off season" for Tahoe.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| abc wrote: |
Winter is the "off season" for Tahoe. |
I believe that most visitors would know it as Lake Tahoe. The clue is in the name. If the lake dries up, however................. 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| abc wrote: |
| Sack the Juggler wrote: |
It could just be a one off year and next year the rains and the snow could be back, but if its a continuing theme then Tahoe should look to other tourist trade, like climbing, hiking, paragliding, mountain biking etc, cos if they have no precipitation then they have no ski industry, no matter how many snow making machines they have. |
1) It's not a "one off" year. It's been for the last 4 years, with this one being the worst.
2) The "other tourist trade" is actually the main attraction of Tahoe, with skiing being mostly a side show. One of the reason lodging being relatively affordable in the Tahoe areas is because there's a huge amount of capacity to satisfy the summer vacationers.
Winter is the "off season" for Tahoe. |
agreed, and it would need a huge change in rainfall to make up for all that missing water, but my point was that the ski industry in Lake Tahoe does not seem viable without this change
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| Sack the Juggler wrote: |
| my point was that the ski industry in Lake Tahoe does not seem viable without this change |
Draught is nothing new for California. They live with the weather cycle. Some years are worst than others. This being one of such.
Skiing in Tahoe is perfectly viable. Just not every year. And not even all the whole winter months even on a good year. That's nothing new either. Tahoe ski resorts had lived with this feast and famine all along.
The sky is not about to fall. Not just yet. Not even for the Tahoe ski resorts.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Tahoe's problem is California's problem. Lack of precip due to sustained blocking high pressure ridges off the coast. It doesn't mean it's doomed for ever but there is now a perception problem that will prevent people booking far in advance. This means that practically for many Euro skiers it may be a no go. Which is a shame as places like Squaw and Kirkwood have a far higher proportion of steep and interesting terrain than most places in Colorado for example.
For a related reason snowmaking is pretty irrelevant. Squaw is made of granite and groomers are not its primary attraction. So it needs plenty of natural Sierra Cement to become money.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| mcspreader wrote: |
| abc wrote: |
Winter is the "off season" for Tahoe. |
I believe that most visitors would know it as Lake Tahoe. The clue is in the name. If the lake dries up, however................. |
If the lake dries up? You do realise that its 500m deep don't you? I was in Tahoe in September 2012 and it is the most beautiful place I have ever been to. It was very dry when we were there and I hope the rains come soon enough because as others have said, the lake is probably the biggest source of income, More so than the the skiing. It won't ever dry up but could drop, just like it is doing at the minute.
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