Water is a very good servant, but it is a cruel master.

                                                ~ Canadian poet C.G.D. Roberts, 1886-1940

Summer 2020 was like no other as a pandemic overtook our lives. Instead of the usual 4^th of July celebrations, we waited in long lines for COVID tests and then anxiously awaited the results. Our entire family fell victim. Thankfully hospitalization wasn’t necessary. Now here we are, one year later and life seems to be getting back on track.

June 21 marks the first day of summer. Graduations and senior proms have come and gone. Now with heightened anticipation we’re moving along to vacations, beach days, backyard barbecues, the Hollywood Bowl … the list goes on and on. Best of all, we are together and rarin’ to go! The weather mirrors our eagerness. The typical June Gloom is a no-show and without its cooling nature to make for a slower transition into summer the heat arrived early and intensified.

Temperature readings beyond 100 degrees have settled in, in spite of a few spring days remaining. It goes without saying that the chance for measurable rain has come and gone. Rainfall for the 2020-21 season, according to my gauge and counting every last drop, stands at a concerning 7.43 inches; normal is 23-24 inches. The drought returns … but in the southwest U.S. is it ever gone?

Drought, as defined by the National Weather Service, isn’t a sudden onset of characteristics but rather a creeping trend. It’s classified after a period of time when the prolonged lack of water in a system causes problems in a particular area. California is a big state and impacts vary by location. Impacts for water users in one location may not represent drought for water users in a different part of California, or for users with a different water supply. There are two sources, reservoirs and groundwater basins – aquifers – and their supply dictates as to the impact and timing of when drought occurs. A single dry year isn’t a drought for most of California because of the state’s extensive system of water infrastructure. Groundwater resources buffer impacts.

Individual water agencies, such as Crescenta Valley Water District, may use criteria such as rainfall runoff, the amount of water in storage or expected supply from a water wholesaler to define its water supply conditions. It’s all rather complicated and at times becomes political. From what I gather there are three major contenders vying for a single class of water: farmers/ranchers, environmentalists and us “average Joe” users.

Our water story goes like this: An average of 50% of CV’s water comes from local wells. The rest comes through the Metropolitan Water District, which receives water from the Colorado River. The original source is the snowpack melt in the Rockies stored in Lake Mead/Hoover Dam. As of June 15 it was at 35% capacity. Not good. Although not mandatory yet, water conservation goes with the territory of life in the southwest.

In conclusion, it’s over 100 degrees. A cool down can be expected by late September.