第1706期:Will Rainstorms Help California’s Drought?

California has been hit with a series of powerful storms that began late last month. The storms have brought the state an extreme amount of rainfall. More than 17 people have died from the storms and over half of California’s 58 counties have been declared disaster areas, the governor said. There are even more storms expected in the coming days. California has also experienced a multi-year drought. The extreme dry period has severely cut water supplies and forced officials to urge residents to save water. Experts say the series of storms will help drought conditions, but it is not yet clear exactly how much.

上个月底开始的一系列强风暴袭击了加利福尼亚。风暴给该州带来了极端的降雨量。州长说，超过 17 人死于风暴，加州 58 个县中有一半以上已被宣布为灾区。预计未来几天还会有更多风暴。加州也经历了多年干旱。极端干旱时期导致供水严重中断，迫使官员敦促居民节约用水。专家表示，这一系列风暴将有助于缓解干旱状况，但尚不清楚具体有多大。

However, the rain and snow will not be enough to fix some of California’s long-term water problems that climate change is making worse. Here is a look at how the storms will affect California’s long struggle with drought:

然而，雨雪不足以解决加州的一些长期水资源问题，气候变化正在加剧这些问题。以下是风暴将如何影响加州与干旱的长期斗争：

California has experienced six so-called atmospheric rivers in recent weeks. Atmospheric rivers are narrow areas in the atmosphere with a lot of moisture. Three more are expected, with the storms set to continue for at least another week, Governor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday.

最近几周，加州经历了六条所谓的大气河流。大气河流是大气中含有大量水分的狭窄区域。州长加文·纽森 (Gavin Newsom) 周二表示，预计还会有三场风暴，风暴将至少持续一周。

The rain has come especially hard in central California, including the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento Valley. Rainfall is 138 percent higher than the average for this time of year, officials said. The storms have also brought snow to the Sierra Nevada Mountains along California’s eastern border. Most of the state's reservoirs remain below average for this time of year. But some have begun to fill, especially those close to the hard-hit Sacramento area and along parts of the Sierra Nevada. The reservoirs are important for supplying water to the Central Valley. That is an area of farmland that grows large amounts of fruits, nuts and grains. The reservoirs also supply water to millions of people living in coastal cities.

加利福尼亚州中部的降雨尤其严重，包括旧金山湾区和萨克拉门托山谷。官员们说，降雨量比每年这个时候的平均水平高出 138%。风暴还给加州东部边界的内华达山脉带来了降雪。每年这个时候，该州大部分水库的水位仍低于平均水平。但有些已经开始填满，尤其是那些靠近受灾严重的萨克拉门托地区和内华达山脉部分地区的地区。这些水库对于向中央山谷供水很重要。那是一块种植大量水果、坚果和谷物的农田。这些水库还为沿海城市的数百万居民供水。

“What we’ve got so far puts us in good shape, probably for at least the next year,” said Alan Haynes. He is a water expert with the California Nevada River Forecast Center. Snowpack is its own type of reservoir. Snow saves moisture that hopefully melts slowly into reservoirs, supplying people with water during summer and fall. But now that snowpack often melts too quickly and reservoirs are not able to capture enough of it.

艾伦海恩斯说：“到目前为止，我们所拥有的一切都让我们处于良好状态，可能至少在明年是这样。”他是加州内华达河预报中心的水资源专家。积雪是它自己类型的水库。雪保存的水分有望慢慢融化成水库，在夏季和秋季为人们提供水源。但是现在积雪经常融化得太快，水库无法收集足够的积雪。

It is still early in the winter and it is unclear what the next few months will bring. Last year, statewide snowpack around this time also looked hopeful. But a few warm, dry months followed. When snowpack was supposed to peak in early April, it was just 38 percent of the historic average. Also, the storms have not dropped as much water on northern California. A reservoir at Lake Shasta that was at 55 percent of its historical average on December 25 had risen to 67 percent by January 9. It is better, but still well below historical averages, Haynes said. The atmospheric rivers are not hitting everywhere. David Gochis is an expert in how water affects the weather at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. For some of the biggest reservoirs, it may take five or six large rainfall events to fill them, he said.

冬天还早，还不清楚接下来几个月会发生什么。去年，这个时候全州范围内的积雪看起来也充满希望。但接下来是几个温暖干燥的月份。当积雪本应在 4 月初达到顶峰时，它仅为历史平均水平的 38%。此外，风暴并没有给加利福尼亚北部带来那么多的水。沙斯塔湖的一个水库在 12 月 25 日的蓄水量是历史平均水平的 55%，到 1 月 9 日已经上升到 67%。海恩斯说，情况有所好转，但仍远低于历史平均水平。大气河流并非无处不在。 David Gochis 是国家大气研究中心研究水如何影响天气的专家。他说，对于一些最大的水库，可能需要五到六次大降雨才能蓄水。

Many farmers in California pump water from underground. Some wells are running dry. It is something that is not going to be solved by a short-term series of storms, experts said. And while there have been some wet years mixed in, California’s drought has been going on for about 20 years. Climate change is creating drier, hotter conditions. Water evaporates faster. California officials predict there will be less water in the state’s future. Jeannie Jones is with the California Department of Water Resources. She said, “Big picture, this series of storms really is kind of just a drop in the bucket.”

加利福尼亚州的许多农民从地下抽水。一些水井正在干涸。专家表示，这不是短期的一系列风暴就能解决的问题。虽然有一些潮湿的年份，但加州的干旱已经持续了大约 20 年。气候变化正在创造更干燥、更炎热的环境。水蒸发得更快。加州官员预测，该州未来的水资源将会减少。珍妮·琼斯供职于加州水资源部。她说，“从大局来看，这一系列的风暴真的只是沧海一粟。”