California has seen a lot rain over the previous few weeks that farm fields are inundated and usually dry creeks and drainage ditches have change into torrents of water racing towards the ocean. But, a lot of the state stays in extreme drought.

All that runoff in the midst of a drought begs the query—why can’t extra rainwater be collected and saved for the lengthy, dry spring and summer time when it’s wanted?

As a hydrogeologist on the College of California at Santa Cruz, I’m excited about what will be achieved to gather runoff from storms like this on a big scale. There are two major sources of large-scale water storage that might assist make a dent within the drought: holding that water behind dams and placing it within the floor.

Why isn’t California capturing extra runoff now?

When California will get storms just like the atmospheric rivers that hit in December 2022 and January 2023, water managers across the state in all probability shake their heads and ask why they’ll’t maintain on to extra of that water. The truth is, it’s an advanced subject.

California has large dams and reservoirs that may retailer giant volumes of water, however they are typically within the mountains. And as soon as they’re close to capability, water must be launched to be prepared for the following storm. Until there’s one other reservoir downstream, numerous that water goes out to the ocean.

In additional populated areas, one of many causes storm water runoff isn’t mechanically collected to be used on a big scale is as a result of the primary runoff from roads is usually contaminated. Flooding may trigger septic system overflows. So, that water must be handled.

You may say, nicely, the captured water doesn’t should be ingesting water, we might simply apply it to golf programs. However then you definitely would want a spot to retailer the water, and also you would want a approach to distribute it, with separate pipes and pumps, as a result of you possibly can’t put it in the identical pipes as ingesting water.