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As Snowpack Deepens, Drought Concern Lingers

/in /by /The Orange County Register by By Aaron Orlowski

Halfway through the winter, more water is stored in California’s snowpack than is usual for this time of year – signaling that maybe, just maybe, this could be the year the drought eases.

 

With a strong El Niño, it’s not really surprising that winter rain has arrived in California. What’s notable is the location.

 

Normally, El Niño drives storms to California’s Central Coast, with tailing fronts drenching Southern California. So far this winter, storms have for the most part hit farther north, dumping snow and some rain in the northern Sierra mountains that are the linchpin in California’s water system.

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OPINION: More Water Storage Capacity is a Must

/in /by /Valley Center Happeningsby By Marie Waldron

We are all hoping the current El Niño will bring an end to the drought. Whether or not we’ll continue to receive normal or above-normal precipitation is still a question, though an end to the drought may be unlikely this year. Whatever the outcome this year, future droughts are certain.

In 2014, California’s voters passed Proposition 1, a $7.12 billion water bond. While the bond contained $2.7 billion earmarked for water storage projects including dams and reservoirs, few if any such projects are currently under way.

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Democrats Break With Governor, Demand Vote on Water Tunnels

/in /by /The Associated Press (As published by: The Daily Journal)

Six Northern California Democrats are breaking from Gov. Jerry Brown to demand a vote on his proposed tunnels to send water to Southern California. Democratic Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman of Stockton said Friday that she’ll introduce a bill to ask voters about the $15.5 billion project.

 

The Democratic governor has proposed building two massive tunnels in the San Joaquin Delta to supply residents and farmland further south.

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California Farmers Brace for Water Shortage

/in /by /The Associated Press (As published by: Log Cabin Democrat – Conway, Ark.)by By Scott Smith

Farmers in California’s fertile San Joaquin Valley are bracing to receive no irrigation water from a federal system of reservoirs and canals for a third consecutive year and looking to El Nino to produce the very wet winter they need.

 

The year kicked off with heavy rains and an above-average snowpack in the Sierra Nevada. The El Nino — a global weather system associated with wet winters in California — may play out nationwide through late spring or beyond, officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say.

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Feds: California Reservoirs Only Half Full After Big Storms

/in /by /The Associated Press (As published by: The Daily Republic, Fairfield)

The recent onslaught of El Nino storms only slightly increased the levels of California reservoirs that now stand at half of historic depths for this time of year, federal officials said Friday while releasing an initial water outlook for 2016.

 

The federally operated reservoirs that supply farms and cities throughout the agriculture-rich Central Valley are now 49 percent full, compared with 47 percent on Oct. 1, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said.

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Dear Drought Fighter: Short Shower Savings Add Up

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune

Q: Why are we asked to limit showers? Are the water savings significant or is it more to conserve energy in heating the water? Dennis C., Solana Beach

 

A: Changing showering habits can absolutely reduce water and energy consumption. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that showering accounts for 17 percent of total indoor water use at the average home — and that’s a lot of water when multiplied by hundreds of thousands of families countywide. Because the energy used to transport, treat and heat water is also significant, shorter showers conserve that resource as well.

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Carlsbad Plant Brings Ocean Water to Your Tap

/in /by /Encinitas Advocateby By Joe Tash Quoted: Bob Yamada, James Palen

Jennifer Jones held out a plastic cup of water to a visitor.

 

The water was crystal clear and tasted fresh and pure, as if it had been poured from a bottle of spring water. There was nothing to suggest that as recently as one hour earlier, that water had been pulled from the ocean by powerful pumps.

 

Jones, a spokeswoman for Poseidon Water, was taking a reporter on a tour of the new seawater desalination plant on the Carlsbad coast, which officially went online Dec. 23 after a 15-year planning, permitting, design and construction process. The $800 million plant is expected to provide between 7 and 10 percent of San Diego County’s drinking water for at least the next 30 years.

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El Niño Inspires Hope of ‘Major Dent’ In Drought, But Empty Reservoirs Point to Long Recovery

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Rosanna Xia, Rong-Gong Lin II

After months of warnings by some officials that El Niño and winter rains were far from certain, the bounty of storms plowing through Northern California has opened hope that there could be a huge improvement in the state’s severe drought by spring.

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Turf Rebate Recipients Will Have to Decide How to Report Funds on Federal Taxes

/in /by /The Los Angeles Timesby By Taylor Goldenstein

Southern Californians who received cash rebates for replacing their lawns with drought-tolerant landscaping will soon get a federal tax form in the mail reporting the amount, but water officials said Thursday it is still not clear whether the reimbursement will be taxable.

 

Officials from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — which funded a $340-million incentive program — say they are sending 1099 forms to turf rebate recipients of $600 or more and leaving reporting up to participants and their tax advisers.

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Possible Reason for Unusual Rain Pattern This El Nino

/in /by /AccuWeather by By Ken Clark

I have stated this before and I will say it again. This has not been your typical strong El Nino West Coast winter, at least through what looks like now much of January.

 

The Pacific Northwest has been consistently wet. Most of western Washington and Oregon are 30 to 60 percent above normal in precipitation since Oct. 1. Northern and north-central California are about normal while the Sierra snow is anywhere from normal to 25 percent above normal. Meanwhile, from San Luis Obispo on south precipitation totals are averaging 30 to 40 percent below normal. For Southern California, three of the five usually wettest months have already gone by.

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