“Thirstwaves” Are Growing More Common Across the United States

https://eos.org/research-spotlights/thirstwaves-are-growing-more-common-across-the-united-states

A thirstwave is a period of extremely high evaporative demand that like its cousin the heat wave, can wreak havoc on a growing season. To be called a thirstwave, the ET_os must be above the 90th percentile for at least 3 days.

The researchers studied ET_os measurements for the contiguous United States for the 1981–2021 growing seasons, examining the intensity, duration, and frequencies of the thirstwaves they identified at the county level. They then grouped the results into nine regions.

The researchers’ analysis showed that thirstwaves occurred an average of 2.9 times throughout the growing season of April through October and had an average duration of 4 days. The longest duration was 17 days, and the greatest frequency was 20 events per season. Across the nation, the High Plains experienced the most intense thirstwaves; the South, Upper Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and West Coast experienced the longest average duration (approximately 4.5 days), and the West Coast and South experienced the highest frequency (around 3.5 events per season).

Here’s an article discussing a massive tunnel project in Northern California to move water to the southern cities.  More and more people are actively digging tunnels and pipelines for water in California.

https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2025/03/california-delta-tunnel-residents-fear

‘This will make our town uninhabitable’: The long-awaited Delta tunnel strikes fear in locals

In an early iteration in 1965, the Delta tunnel was to be an aqueduct. Billed “the peripheral canal,” it was killed by voters in 1982. It reemerged in the 2000s as a pair of tunnels. In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom downsized the plan to a single tunnel and has promoted it since.

California’s Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said the “whiplash between very dry conditions and very wet conditions” gives the project great urgency. In December, Newsom called the tunnel “the most important climate adaptation project in the United States of America.”

According to state officials, the tunnel will increase annual Delta exports of water by half a million acre-feet, enough to serve almost 5 million people. Buckman said this will offset expected water losses this century due to climate change.

The winter of 2024-25 got off to a great start after several storms at the start of the season helped build up the statewide snowpack in California to 108% by January 1.

January took a dry turn, though, dropping the Northern Sierra back to near average for snowpack by the end of the month. Elsewhere, the Central Sierra fell to 58% of the average, and the Southern Sierra Nevada dropped to just under 50% of the average.

“Despite a good start to the snowpack in the Northern Sierra in November and December, we can look back as recently as 2013 and 2021 to show how quickly conditions can change for the drier,” said California’s Department of Water Resources director Karla Nemeth.

“California missed out on critical snow-building storms in January, which has pushed the state down below average for this time of year. While we are excited to see some storm activity in the coming days, sustained periods of no precipitation can dry the state out very quickly. For each day it’s not snowing or raining, we are not keeping up with what we need.”

Snowpack in the Sierra improved a bit by the second week of March but was still below average overall. The Northern Sierra snow water equivalent was near normal. The Central and Southern Sierra snow water equivalent was 81% of the average. This “frozen reservoir” is an essential supplier of California’s water.

https://www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/sierra-nevada-snowpack-california-drought/

The Environmental Protection Agency has recently passed new water purification standards that will require water providers to filter out “forever chemicals” or PFAS.  Water providers will need to run new tests on their water to see if these contaminants are present.  If they are, expensive new filtering equipment will be required.

This is definitely something to keep an eye on.  Many areas in the high desert have PFAS issues in their water, whether from military bases or poor agricultural or manufacturing practices in the past (even the near past, those illegal marijuana grows ignored all rules).  Whether this will be an issue for Sheep Creek Water Company is something that remains to be seen.  Our water comes from the mountains, so hopefully it won’t have issues.

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4685181-pfas-forever-chemicals-water-systems-rate-hikes-filtration-epa-rule/

Water systems warn Americans could soon see major rate hikes to filter out toxic ‘forever chemicals’

Utilities from South Florida to upstate New York have warned customers that they could see significant price increases after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandated that they remove the substances, which have been linked to a number of cancers and other diseases, from their systems.

Last month, the EPA said it will require utilities whose water systems contain high levels of six types of PFAS to remove them from the water.

PFAS, which stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of thousands of chemicals that have been used to make a variety of nonstick and waterproof products and firefighting foam.

The substances have also become ubiquitous in the environment, due in part to the fact that they tend to persist for a long time instead of breaking down.

Exposure to these so-called forever chemicals has been linked to increased risks of prostate, kidney and testicular cancers, weakened immune systems, high cholesterol, and developmental issues in children.

Now, for the first time, utilities around the nation will be required to get them out of their drinking water to prevent customers’ exposure. But that will come at a price.

….

That means the locales that have informed their consumers of rate increases may only be the first of many. The EPA, in its rule, estimated that about 6 percent to 10 percent of water systems will ultimately be found to contain PFAS at levels requiring action.

Moody said he believes this is an undercount and that more of the nation’s water systems could be contaminated.

He added that much of the expense will come from the cost of installing and maintaining filters capable of eliminating the toxic substances.

Water providers recently settled a major class action lawsuit against manufacturers of PFAS, and chemical giants could have to collectively pay billions of dollars to offset treatment costs.

But, Moody said, the settlements are not expected to be enough to defray the expense.

“If you do get money through it, it’ll likely only help you with maybe a third or a fourth of the costs,” he said.

The added costs do come with the notable benefit of lowering communities’ exposure to the harmful substances: Garcia described PFAS treatment as “probably something important to do.”

But, he said, “we’re sort of paying the price” of companies’ PFAS use.

At the Annual Meeting on Saturday, the Board pushed through the proposal to pay for ongoing well costs through a fixed montly charge for service. Outside of allowing shareholders with no water service or many unused shares to avoid paying their fair portion of the well costs, this also increases the monthly charge for water service for Sheep Creek Water Company customers. $77 a month before you use a drop of water.

As this article makes clear, more and more utility companies are moving to fixed charges because they always get that money, whether or not the customer conserves. Fixed charges are an anti-conservation measure, and shareholders of Sheep Creek should push for the company to change this situation. There will always be an excuse tomorrow to keep the fixed charge around.

Anger builds over sweeping change in the way most Californians will pay for electricity

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-05-07/california-utilities-seek-higher-fixed-monthly-fee

“There is a trend nationwide of utilities trying to move more of the payments they extract from ratepayers into fixed fees because they get that money no matter what,” said Cook. “This is easy money.”

Scary stuff, it’s simply unbelievable how vulnerable critical infrastructure is here in the United States. Vulnerable to attack over the internet? We need to do better.

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13337445/russian-attack-cyber-cyberattack-texas-town-water-tower.html

The hack in Muleshoe, a community of 5,000 not far from the New Mexico border, led to the tower overflowing with thousands of gallons for almost an hour, leading to a state of emergency to be declared.

…

The city manager for Muleshoe, instance, reportedly said in a public meeting that the attack on the town’s utility is what caused the tank to overflow.

Officials in the nearby towns of Abernathy, Hale Center and Lockney also said they’d been ‘affected,’ with the well system for the former seen in the interface shown on the Telegram screen recording

All three towns reportedly disabled the software overseeing their utilities to prevent its exploitation, but officials in each locale also insisted service to customers in each case was never explicitly interrupted.

If you have ten minutes, this video has a big picture perspective on potential fresh water issues in the future.

Here’s a fun one.  More warnings about cyberattacks against water systems and water companies.  Something else for us to worry about I guess…

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-19/us-warns-of-cyberattacks-against-water-systems-throughout-nation

US Warns of Cyberattacks Against Water Systems Throughout Nation

“Disabling cyberattacks are striking water and wastewater systems throughout the United States,” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan wrote in a letter to governors made public Tuesday. “These attacks have the potential to disrupt the critical lifeline of clean and safe drinking water, as well as impose significant costs on affected communities.”

Hackers affiliated with the Iranian Government Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have attacked drinking water systems, while a People’s Republic of China state-sponsored group, Volt Typhoon, has compromised information technology of drinking water and other critical infrastructure systems, the letter warned.

“Federal departments and agencies assess with high confidence that Volt Typhoon actors are pre-positioning themselves to disrupt critical infrastructure operations in the event of geopolitical tensions and/or military conflicts,” said the letter.

The water system is an especially vulnerable part of US infrastructure, fraught with weak controls, insufficient funding and staffing shortages. The EPA is the lead federal agency for ensuring the nation’s water sector is resilient to all threats and hazards.