Health

El Niño May Not Help State Water Supply

By Ed Joyce / Reporter

Published August 31, 2009 at 11:27 AM PDT

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

California water managers are concerned about a fourth year of drought in 2010. Three years of dry conditions have brought mandatory conservation to San Diego and other areas of the state.

The California Department of Water Resources said reservoir storage is below average, with key reservoirs significantly lower than average. They also say drought conditions remain severe and the developing El Niño over the Pacific Ocean may not improve statewide water supply next year.

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El Nino years typically bring wetter winters to Southern California.

Maury Roos, chief hydrologist with the state Department of Water Resources, said there have been dry periods during an El Niño in California too.

"In Northern California it can go either way. Some of our past drought years have been El Niño years and some have not been," Roos said.

But Roos says while the rain will help, most of the region's water comes from Northern California and the Colorado River.

By early winter, climatologists will have a better idea of El Niño's impact on California's water supply.

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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