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The Case for Watering Just Twice a Week

Manteca currently allows the watering of lawns three times a week.

And while the city shut off almost all of their irrigation at the start of December, they didn’t reduce watering days for everyone else assuming people would use common sense with the return of rain, the dormant cycle for everything from trees and shrubs to grass, and the fact morning dew is prevalent through the end of February.

Most people in Manteca displayed common sense but a good number didn’t even going as far as watering lawns in the middle of January storms.

California Drought Draws Attention in D.C.

In meeting rooms more than 2,200 miles from the slopes of the Sierra Nevada, the California drought dominated discussions as the California Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors met with congressional representatives and agency officials in Washington, D.C.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., announced her introduction of California drought legislation as she met with the CFBF board last week, and both she and members of the House of Representatives lamented the loss of water that has been allowed to flow out to sea during this winter’s El Niño storms.

BLOG: The Blob is Dead, Scientists Declare

The giant patch of warm water in the northern Pacific – nicknamed The Blob – has finally broken up. Compare images from this year and last.

These maps show sea surface temperature anomalies in the Pacific in July 2015 (above) and January 2016 (below). The maps do not depict absolute temperatures; instead, they show how much above (red) or below (blue) water temperatures were compared to the average from 2003 to 2012.

Unprecedented El Nino Study Uses Balloons, Aircraft

Researchers launched weather balloons Tuesday off the coast of Hawaii in an unprecedented effort to discover how El Nino affects weather forecasts thousands of miles away.

Craig McLean, assistant NOAA administrator for NOAA Research, explained how the project hopes to collect data from the Pacific Ocean using a research plane, a NOAA ship and drones.

OPINION: Valley Voice: Residents’ water conservation work wasted

At the same time Coachella Valley residents make their best effort to conserve water during this historical multi-year drought in California, growth and development projects continue to be approved by cities and water agencies, having the negative effect of consuming all the water saved by our community.

The Coachella Valley Water District and the city of Indio have implemented progressive water budget rates for residential customers, which were reduced by 36 percent to comply with the state water conservation mandate. Water budget rates are based on the principle that if you use water within your budget you pay a base rate but if you exceed your budget you will pay a higher price for increasing levels of water overuse. Water budget rates have been recognized by water agencies and conservation professionals as the most effective way to encourage people to conserve water.

South Orange County history: Water is today’s California Gold

Most of us living in south Orange County today value our water supply – especially during our recent dry years. However, throughout California’s long history, the cry of “water!” often has been as welcome as the cry of “gold!”

Of all the conditions that came together for the burst of development in and around South County in the 1960s, none was more important than the bringing in of an ample supply of drinking and irrigation water.

New Roadmap for Decentralized, Alternate Water Approaches

On Tuesday, February 16, representatives from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, City of Santa Monica Office of Sustainability and the Environment, TreePeople, Heal the Bay, and Natural Resources Defense Council showcased a new roadmap, that gives municipalities, businesses and homeowners with ways to help with LA County’s water management and planning through the use of non-potable water both outdoors and indoors.

According to a press release from the city of Santa Monica website, the new voluntary guidelines for non-potable water use are a first for LA County and possibly throughout the state of California.

State Relaxes Water Cutback Orders on Local Districts

Bakersfield-area water districts that have been complaining they just can’t meet the state’s water conservation rules because it’s so hot and dry here are going to get some relief.

Four local water companies that have been required to cut their water use by 36 percent compared to the corresponding month in 2013 will instead have to reduce use by 33 percent starting March 1.

Valley Farmers, Others Come Out Against Rail-Water Initiative

A group of central San Joaquin Valley agriculture, government and Latino leaders is raising an alarm about a proposed ballot initiative to take money away from high-speed rail and use it instead for water-storage projects in California.

Their opposition to the initiative – which is now being circulated for signatures to qualify for the November ballot – is rooted not in support for the controversial bullet-train project, but because the measure would also divert $2.7 billion in water-storage money from Proposition 1, a water bond act approved by more than two-thirds of California voters in 2014.

El Nino to La Nina: California Stays Dry, Drought Likely to Intensify

It’s February in California, but it’s been impossible to tell. Warm weather and a lack of rain has disappointed many Californians who expected El Nino would bust the state’s drought. Instead, the reestablishment of resilient weather patterns could mean the state’s drought will intensify through the next year and likely beyond. Ironically, El Nino itself could be responsible for the dry spell.

California has enjoyed the El Nino weather, with the return of rain and snow across the state following four years of epic drought. However, since mid-January, the return of high pressure off the coast has brought hot, dry weather back to the state in spite of El Nino.