While we watch as the megadrought blankets the west this should be a wake up call to those of us up here on the Peninsula that managing our water resources for the next ten years is likely to be a guessing game. Will the snows come again as expected? If not, how will it affect the flows in the rivers we rely on for our drinking water?
Right now, there has been discussions between the Port Townsend Mill and the City, on renewing a long term lease for the right to use our drinking water source for the mill manufacturing, as they have done for a century. My suggestion? Go for a 10 year lease and revisit it then. We seem to be ok for the immediate future. But 10 years from now it could be a very different situation.
A 22-year drought — the region’s most severe in more than a millennium — and climate change have made that fundamental problem worse. The alpine snowpack that feeds the river has been diminishing and was melting earlier this year. Parched soil soaks up much of it before it even enters rivers and streams. Extreme heat evaporates water in Lake Mead and other reservoirs more quickly and causes evaporation from plants.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/16/colorado-river-water-cuts-drought/
Filed under: Global Warming, Jefferson County, Olympic Peninsula, Port Townsend |
Must the mill use potable water?
Yes. From what I understand it needs clean water to run it’s paper processing.
Al, There’s a great article in the current New Yorker about Glen Canyon and Lake Powell. Check it out. I appreciate you sharing key stories!
Thanks Heidi! JoAnne and I get the New Yorker. I’ve not read it in the last few weeks. I’ll check it out.