Hope You Have Your Rhino Chaser Ready...
SURF:
If the models are correct, we may see our biggest swell in 10 years- if not 20- headed our way next week. Or it could be an early April Fools joke. Pretty sure it's an April Fools joke.
In all seriousness though, we did have plenty of surf the past week BUT... spring time conditions made finding a clean window a bit tricky.
For Friday, look for cleaner conditions and leftover NW windswell and peaking SW groundswell for chest high surf. Saturday drops just a touch but we'll still have nice weather.
For Sunday, we get an uptick in NW swell again- but another weak front will move through for questionable conditions. And here's the tides, sun, and water temps for the next few days:
- Sunrise and sunset:
- 6:34 AM sunrise (paddle out at 6:15 AM?)
- 7:10 PM sunset (paddle in at 7:30 PM?)
- Water temps are in the low 60's.
- And here's the tides for this weekend:
- 1' at sunrise
- 4' before lunch
- 0.5' late afternoon
- and up to 1' at sunset
FORECAST:
We SHOULD have good weather next week and that will help out in the surf department.
Monday starts off with more fun sized NW (chest high sets) while Tuesday sees more chest high SW swell filling in. The rest of the week looks to have fun combo SW/NW in the waist to chest high range.
Late next weekend, models hint at good SW again for chest high+ surf...
and MAYBE solid NW too. Could turn on the EBS if the weather cooperates (more on that below).
And then... a solid SW towards the 12th? It is SW swell season you know...
WEATHER:
Not a bad storm earlier in the week with most spots receiving 3/4" of rain along the coast and up to 1"+ in the hills. Big Bear even saw 4-6" of snow; pretty good for spring. We've got weak front moving through tonight for a chance of light showers then back to sunny skies Friday/Saturday and mild weather. Another weak front will swing through on Sunday for cloudy skies- and no real chance of precipitation. Next week should be nice but we could have some weak fronts move through again late in the week. Think 'typical spring weather'. If anything changes between now and then, make sure to follow North County Surf on Twitter!
BEST BET:
Pretty much the next 7 days with small but fun combo swell. OR... the 10th to 15th timeframe with bigger NW/SW swells IF the models hold up.
NEWS OF THE WEEK:
Good to see rain earlier in the week. Most locations along the coast are now approaching 7 total inches for the season. But as we head towards summer, the chance of a good storm adding to our totals diminish considerably. Our annual rainfall is around 10-11", so it looks like another year of drought around here. Conserving water will be of utmost importance again this summer for households. But what if the aqueducts that supply us can also conserver water- and as a byproduct- produce clean energy? Here's Fast Company magazine with a solution:
Mounting evidence suggests the western United States is now in its worst megadrought in at least 1,200 years. Groundwater supplies are being overpumped in many places, and the dryness, wildfires, and shrinking water supplies are making climate change personal for millions of people.
About 4,000 miles of canals transport water to some 35 million Californians and 5.7 million acres of farmland across the state. In a 2021 study, covering these canals with solar panels would reduce the evaporation of precious water—one of California’s most critical resources—and help meet the state’s renewable energy goals, while also saving money.
The first prototypes in the U.S. for both wide-span and narrow-span canals are now in development in California’s Central Valley. Researchers at the University of California, Merced, are involved in the project, and we will be trying to determine how this can become a large-scale solution.
CONSERVING WATER AND LAND
California is prone to drought, and water is a constant concern. Now, the changing climate is bringing hotter, drier weather. Severe droughts over the past 10 to 30 years dried up wells, caused officials to implement water restrictions, and fueled massive wildfires.
At the same time, California has ambitious conservation goals. The state has a mandate to reduce groundwater pumping while maintaining reliable supplies to farms, cities, wildlife, and ecosystems. In October 2020, as part of a broad climate change initiative, Governor Gavin Newsom directed the California Natural Resources Agency to spearhead efforts to conserve 30% of land and coastal waters by 2030.
Most of California’s rain and snow falls north of Sacramento during the winter, while 80% of its water use occurs in Southern California, mostly in summer. That’s why canals snake across the state—it’s the largest such system in the world. We estimate that about 1% to 2% of the water they carry is lost to evaporation under the hot California sun.
In that 2021 study, we showed that covering all 4,000 miles of California’s canals with solar panels would save more than 65 billion gallons of water annually by reducing evaporation. That’s enough to irrigate 50,000 acres of farmland or meet the residential water needs of more than 2 million people. By concentrating solar installations on land that is already being used, instead of building them on undeveloped land, this approach would help California meet its sustainable management goals for both water and land resources.
Mounting evidence suggests the western United States is now in its worst megadrought in at least 1,200 years. Groundwater supplies are being overpumped in many places, and the dryness, wildfires, and shrinking water supplies are making climate change personal for millions of people.
About 4,000 miles of canals transport water to some 35 million Californians and 5.7 million acres of farmland across the state. In a 2021 study, covering these canals with solar panels would reduce the evaporation of precious water—one of California’s most critical resources—and help meet the state’s renewable energy goals, while also saving money.
The first prototypes in the U.S. for both wide-span and narrow-span canals are now in development in California’s Central Valley. Researchers at the University of California, Merced, are involved in the project, and we will be trying to determine how this can become a large-scale solution.
CONSERVING WATER AND LAND
California is prone to drought, and water is a constant concern. Now, the changing climate is bringing hotter, drier weather. Severe droughts over the past 10 to 30 years dried up wells, caused officials to implement water restrictions, and fueled massive wildfires.
At the same time, California has ambitious conservation goals. The state has a mandate to reduce groundwater pumping while maintaining reliable supplies to farms, cities, wildlife, and ecosystems. In October 2020, as part of a broad climate change initiative, Governor Gavin Newsom directed the California Natural Resources Agency to spearhead efforts to conserve 30% of land and coastal waters by 2030.
Most of California’s rain and snow falls north of Sacramento during the winter, while 80% of its water use occurs in Southern California, mostly in summer. That’s why canals snake across the state—it’s the largest such system in the world. We estimate that about 1% to 2% of the water they carry is lost to evaporation under the hot California sun.
In that 2021 study, we showed that covering all 4,000 miles of California’s canals with solar panels would save more than 65 billion gallons of water annually by reducing evaporation. That’s enough to irrigate 50,000 acres of farmland or meet the residential water needs of more than 2 million people. By concentrating solar installations on land that is already being used, instead of building them on undeveloped land, this approach would help California meet its sustainable management goals for both water and land resources.
CLIMATE-FRIENDLY POWER
Shading California’s canals with solar panels would generate substantial amounts of electricity. Our estimates show that it could provide some 13 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, which is about half of the new sources the state needs to add to meet its clean electricity goals: 60% from carbon-free sources by 2030 and 100% renewable by 2045.
Installing solar panels over the canals makes both systems more efficient. The solar panels would reduce evaporation from the canals, especially during hot California summers. And because water heats up more slowly than land, the canal water flowing beneath the panels could cool them by 10 degrees Fahrenheit, boosting production of electricity by up to 3%.
These canopies could also generate electricity locally in many parts of California, lowering both transmission losses and costs for consumers. Combining solar power with battery storage can help build microgrids in rural areas and underserved communities, making the power system more efficient and resilient. This would mitigate the risk of power losses due to extreme weather, human error, and wildfires.
We estimate that the cost to span canals with solar panels will be higher than building ground-mounted systems. But when we added in some of the co-benefits, such as avoided land costs, water savings, aquatic weed mitigation, and enhanced PV efficiency, we found that solar canals were a better investment and provided electricity that cost less over the life of the solar installations. And this is before factoring in the human health benefits of improved air quality and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
BENEFITS TO THE LAND
To be clear, solar canals are about much more than just generating renewable energy and saving water. Building these long, thin solar arrays could prevent more than 80,000 acres of farmland or natural habitat from being converted for solar farms.
California grows food for an ever-increasing global population and produces more than 50% of the fruits, nuts, and vegetables that U.S. consumers eat. However, up to 50% of new renewable energy capacity to meet decarbonization goals could be sited in agricultural areas, including large swaths of prime farmland.
Solar canal installations will also protect wildlife, ecosystems, and culturally important land. Large-scale solar developments can result in habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation, which can harm threatened species, such as the Mojave Desert tortoise.
They also can harm desert-scrub plant communities, including plants that are culturally important to Indigenous tribes. As an example, construction of the Genesis Solar Energy Center in the Sonoran and Mojave deserts between 2012 and 2014 destroyed trails and burial sites and damaged important cultural artifacts, spurring protracted legal conflict.
CLEARING THE AIR—AND THE WEEDS
By generating clean electricity, solar canals can improve air quality. Another benefit is curbing aquatic weeds that choke canals. In India, where developers have been building solar canals since 2014, shade from the panels limits growth of weeds that block drains and restrict water flow.
Fighting these weeds is expensive, and herbicides threaten human health and the environment. For large, 100-foot-wide canals in California, we estimate that shading canals would save about $40,000 per mile. Statewide, savings could reach $69 million per year.
BRINGING SOLAR CANALS TO CALIFORNIA
California’s aging power infrastructure has contributed to catastrophic wildfires and multiday outages. Building smart solar developments on canals and other disturbed land can make power and water infrastructure more resilient while saving water, reducing costs, and helping to fight climate change.
Turlock Irrigation District, in California’s San Joaquin Valley, will build the first solar canal prototype in partnership with project developer Solar Aquagrid, researchers, and others supported by the state Department of Water Resources.
The prototypes in this mile-long demonstration project, along with future pilots, will help operators, developers, and regulators refine designs, assess collective benefits, and evaluate how these systems perform. With more data, we can map out strategies for extending solar canals statewide, and potentially across the entire West.
Sounds like a win-win for everyone. Now we just need to find a way to squeeze more rain out of the clouds.
BEST OF THE BLOG:
It’s almost time for the North County Board Meeting’s annual-ish golf tournament at Goat Hill Park in Oceanside on Friday, May 13th! And we’re proud to announce the beneficiary of this year’s event is Folds of Honor. Folds of Honor provides scholarships to spouses and children of America’s fallen and disabled service members. (You can learn more about them here).
We’re filling up fast on spots to play and sponsor holes. If you haven’t already, please make sure to either:
We’re filling up fast on spots to play and sponsor holes. If you haven’t already, please make sure to either:
- Make a check payable to North County Board Meeting and send to Alliance Multimedia, 2033 San Elijo Ave #230, Cardiff, CA 92007 or…
- Contact Rich Clark at Fuzion Payments for credit card payment at rclark@fuzionpayments.com
Since this is a charitable event, we hope you understand that it’s ‘1st come, 1st serve’; we can’t hold spots or take IOU’s. Cost again is just $100 to play and includes lunch. And hole sponsorship is only $200 and is a great way to bring awareness of your company to the local community.
And besides playing or sponsoring a hole, there are other ways you can help; we are also looking for raffle prizes and goodies for the swag bags. If you’d like to assist or have any other questions, please reach out to Michael at northcountyboardmeeting@gmail.com. Thanks for the support and we’ll see you on May 13th!
And besides playing or sponsoring a hole, there are other ways you can help; we are also looking for raffle prizes and goodies for the swag bags. If you’d like to assist or have any other questions, please reach out to Michael at northcountyboardmeeting@gmail.com. Thanks for the support and we’ll see you on May 13th!
PIC OF THE WEEK:
I know I'm biased, but here's a debate I throw at my friends from time to time: Name a better stretch of coast for surfing than north county San Diego. With just a short drive to Blacks in the south and Lowers to the north, there's point breaks, beach breaks, reef breaks, and river mouths in between. You can even trunk it in summer and the beaches pick up swells from every direction. Sure the North Shore of Oahu is the mecca of surfing- but what do you do in the summer? Surf Waikiki?! It'll take you hours in traffic just to get there! How about the Gold Coast you say? Also plagued with just 1 season- plus there's 38 million surfers (give or take 10 million). And I don't want to hear "Now you've let everyone in on our secret!!!" Umm, have you seen home prices lately? Too late. So the next time the surf looks 'small' or 'blown out' in north county and you're debating if you should drive home- just paddle out- you don't even know how good you got it.
Keep Surfing,
Michael W. Glenn
Fairest Of Them All
Float Like A Bee, Sting Like A Butterfly
My Board Has Retractable Fins So I Can Switch Between Tri Or Quad During A Turn
Michael W. Glenn
Fairest Of Them All
Float Like A Bee, Sting Like A Butterfly
My Board Has Retractable Fins So I Can Switch Between Tri Or Quad During A Turn
