You are now in California and the U.S. category.

Sale of Delta Islands on Hold – Again

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s $175 million purchase of five islands in the heart of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is on hold again.

How Sin City Might Get Watered Down

As the nation’s driest big city, Las Vegas knows a thing or two about water. With a metro population of more than 2 million people and just 4 inches of rain a year, the city has learned how to be very, very frugal. Now it’s taking that water consciousness — and all the years of experimentation it’s driven — and using it to transform itself into a hub for new and innovative water technologies. Long a leader in water conservation, Las Vegas has kept its water use down through a combination of fines, enforcement, incentives, education and innovation.

OPINION: California May Have a Water ‘Rainy Day Fund’

Californians are so used to bad news on the water front — from lengthy droughts to soaring water rates — that any good news seems particularly welcome. That’s certainly the case with a Stanford University study showing that the parched Central Valley has three times as much groundwater as previously assumed.

Researchers Mary Kang and Robert Jackson found the water in areas 1,000 to 3,000 feet underground, going much deeper than normal surveys.

Fighting Drought Will Be a Long-Term Battle, Says Study

The California drought is now in its fifth year. But what if we told you it could take four more years to get out of it?

That’s the alarming result of a study published June 21 in Geophysical Research Letters. The study analyzed California’s mountain snowpack to assess the severity of the current drought and compare it to past water shortages. The study found that the current drought is, without question, the worst ever recorded in the state as measured by the “deficit” in the snowpack and the crucial freshwater it provides to the state.

Delta Islands Sale Blocked By Court Order Again

The sale of four Delta islands to Southern California’s largest water district was put back on hold Friday by an appeals court as Northern California opponents plan to take their case to the state Supreme Court. Contra Costa and San Joaquin counties, environmentalists, and Delta land owners have opposed the move as linked to the governor’s plans to build twin water tunnels to export pumps near Tracy in the southern Delta. Two of the islands are along the route for the tunnels.

Delta Interests Get Another Delay on Islands Sale

Delta interests won another last-minute, temporary reprieve on Friday in their efforts to block Southern California’s controversial $175 million purchase of about 20,000 acres of land in the fragile estuary.The deal had been expected to close as soon as next week, after the 3rd District Court of Appeal on Thursday lifted an order that had delayed the purchase for several weeks.But the court reinstated that order Friday after San Joaquin and Contra Costa counties, along with Delta farmers and environmentalists, pleaded for time to persuade the state Supreme Court to take up the matter.