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Orange County Faces More Competition for Drought-Strangled Colorado River

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

For the past five years, as drought sucked dry California’s water sources and depleted its reservoirs, Southern California water managers have turned increasingly to the region’s large out-of-state water source: the Colorado River.

Now, Orange County, which draws up to half its annual supply from the river that snakes from the Rocky Mountains to Mexico, and other thirsty coastal communities are facing increased competition for reduced flows from the drought-strangled Colorado.

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Getting Ready as Back to Back Storms Hit

/in /by /CBS 8 (San Diego)

Waves of rain fell on California late Friday in a prelude to a powerful storm system expected to have heavy effects on much of the country in the week to come.

Heavy rainfall, mountain snow and strong winds will slam western states this weekend and early next week, the National Weather Service said. Heavy rainfall and severe weather will be possible in the central and southern U.S. starting on Monday and continue through the rest of the week. Residual river flooding is also possible.

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Experts Share the Good, the Bad and the Hopeful at Panel Hosted by ASU’s Decision Center for a Desert City

/in /by /ASU Now (Arizona State University)by By Scott Seckel

The Colorado River provides water for nearly 40 million people in seven western states, irrigating millions of acres of farmland, and generating thousands of megawatts of electricity. And though an official declaration of water shortage on the Colorado River has never been declared, and that careful planning has ensured Arizona and Colorado are well-supplied with water, residents need to know it’s a precious resource.

That was the message Thursday as the water chieftains of Arizona and Colorado spoke before a crowd of about 100 at the Water/Climate Briefing Annual Keynote Event held by Arizona State University’s Decision Center for a Desert City.

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Storms Bring Rain and Snow to California

/in /by /Capital Public Radio (Sacramento)by By Ed Joyce

The National Weather Service says the California dry spell will end with a series of storms. And, rain runoff into the Folsom Reservoir could mean releases from the Nimbus Dam, downstream into the American River.

A wind advisory starts at noon Saturday in northern California, for a storm forecast to bring heavy rain to the coast and valleys, and snow in the mountains. Wind gusts up to 50 mph are possible. In Sacramento, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is preparing to manage rain runoff into Folsom Reservoir.

 

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OPINION: Billions of Gallons Needlessly Flushed Out to Sea

/in /by /The Orange County Registerby By Mike Wade

Consumers and farmers are being unjustifiably denied what should be fairly normal water supplies this year while bureaucrats continue to waste water on a failed experimental effort to help fish. Unfortunately, the fish aren’t recovering, and the bureaucrats are just making a bad situation worse for all Californians.

People who receive water from the state and federal water systems are seeing this year’s supply once again flushed to the ocean – water that 3 million acres of farmland and 25 million consumers depend on.

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El Nino Leaves Much of Drought-Stricken California in Dust

/in /by /Associated Press (As published by ABC News)by By John Antczak

Ed Heinlein surveys the steep mountainside that has repeatedly unleashed tons of mud into the backyard of his Southern California home since a 2014 wildfire and still hopes the drought-stricken state gets more rain.

“We have to have the rain,” said Heinlein, whose home east of Los Angeles has become a poster child for the region’s cycle of fire and flood. “It’s bad for us but it’s desperate for the state.” Heinlein’s wish for rain may get answered this weekend, when forecasts call for a strong storm to bring rain and snow throughout California.

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Snowfall Could be Measured in Feet Across Sierra During ‘Miracle March’ Storms

/in /by /The Washington Postby By Angela Fritz

A series of Pacific storms are lined up in the forecast for California over the next week with the potential to dump a truckload of snow on the Sierra mountains. Over the next two weeks, forecast models are suggesting the potential for more than five feet of snow across the Sierra crest — much-needed precipitation at the end of a winter that has not lived up to El Niño hype.

The weather pattern has shifted significantly since February, when record high temperatures were set across Southern California and rainfall totals were well below average.

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Questions Remain on Plans for Sites Reservoir

/in /by /Chico Enterprise-Recordby By Heather Hacking

Questions remain about plans to build Sites Reservoir. This week the Butte County Water Commission was asked to approve a letter of support for the project to build a new surface water storage reservoir near Maxwell. Soon, the State Water Commission plans to distribute some of the Proposition 1 funds, and the project could receive a chunk of money for part of the pre-building process.

During the discussion Wednesday, most members of the Water Commission appeared to approve of the concept for Sites Reservoir. Yet, the majority of the group also wanted to add their questions to a letter of support.

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Floodplain Experiment Points to Water Policy Solutions to Support Both Salmon Recovery and Agriculture

/in /by /West Sacramento News Ledger

UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, the California Department of Water Resources and non-profit organization California Trout have launched an expanded experiment to better understand how the Sacramento River system can support healthy salmon populations.

For the first time this year, the agricultural floodplain habitat experiment will compare food web productivity and fish growth in three different kinds of river habitat.

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California’s Largest Reservoirs Still Well Below Average

/in /by /CBS (San Francisco)by By Wilson Walker

California’s largest reservoirs act as a report card for water officials, and unfortunately the grades aren’t very high right now. “Looking at that graph is a good snapshot of how they’re looking, and they’re not looking so good right now,” Doug Carlson with the California Department of Water Resources said.

Rainfall totals and snowpack levels can make it difficult to figure out exactly how the state is fairing against the drought. One of the best indicators of how the state is doing is Lake Oroville in Butte County – the second largest reservoir in California. As of today, it’s about 25 percent below average.

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