As we learned in class, El Nino years are usually good for the areas of the Southwest United States that are used to heavy droughts. The current El Nino season has produced more rainfall than most typical years but is not living up to the expectations of the California people. The people were hoping for big rain storms that would allow for them to get far away from the drought-like conditions that they were used to. Californian’s are started to take their attention to saving up the storm water to use it when water becomes scarce. This method would allow them to fully take advantage of the El Nino rain that they experience and they could save it for years where water was extremely scarce. According to a NY Times article, scientists believe that a storm water collection system could collect 200 billion gallons of water which is enough to supply 1.4 million households for an entire year.

A water system like the one scientists are proposing would most likely cost around one billion dollars to implement. The State Water Resources Control Board has authorized spending 200 million dollars on the cause but this is likely not enough so the areas are not sure where they are going to get the extra money. The area of Los Angeles is a key area for projects to collect rainwater because they import 85% of their water. The importation of water can become costly and difficult when large areas of the Southwest are experiencing droughts of their own. It will be interesting to see how cities like Los Angeles start utilizing storm water because essentially they are missing out on clean water that could be used in the future.

Article:

Nagourney, Adam. “Storm Water, Long a Nuisance, May Be a Parched California’s Salvation.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/20/us/storm-water-long-a-nuisance-may-be-a-parched-californias-salvation.html>.