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California isn’t flooding; it’s burning

It’s time to fight fire with fire. Senate Bill 5 — the bane of Central Valley cities, counties, and property owners  who have never flooded but now have to spend hundreds of millions on upgrades to protect against events that are considered small on the flood rating scale — came about in 2007. It was on the heels of Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans that was far from a fair comparison to flooding concerns as well as record damages from Central Valley floods in February 1986, January 1997 and January 1999.

Business, water interests seek to increase bass limits to help salmon

A group representing powerful statewide business and water interests has filed a petition to ease Sacramento River fishing regulations for striped bass, a predator fish some blame for the demise of chinook salmon.

The California Fish and Game Commission will consider the petition, which also includes changes to black bass regulations, during its meeting next month in Folsom.

The filing is the latest in an ongoing debate over striped bass, a non-native fish some say eat enormous amounts of young salmon in the Sacramento River and in the Delta as the little fish try to make it to the ocean.

Sustainable use of groundwater matters

Is it possible to plan new housing that makes sustainable use of groundwater? Why should we care? One word: California. The members of the Friends of the San Pedro River have concerns that, without our own groundwater use being sustainable, we will follow in California’s footsteps.

While California has historically suffered intermittent water shortages, the past five years of drought have resulted in drying rivers and aquifers, as groundwater was pumped to compensate for the shortfall in the snowpack and surface water.

Wind, not Water, to Blame for Drought, Says Study

Since California’s most recent drought began more than four years ago, scientific studies have been helping us better understand the causes and implications. We know now that a lack of precipitation has largely been caused by a very stubborn high-pressure system sitting off the West coast – dubbed at one time the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge. We’ve also learned that high-pressure systems like this may be the kind of thing we’ll see more of with climate change. A new study published in Geophysical Research Letters helps increase our understanding of the relationship between drought and the water cycle.

Suit Challenges Delta Pumping Restrictions

In a failed effort to protect endangered fish, the federal government decided without proper study to default to restricting the giant pumps at the bottom of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

So argues a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento by a powerful consortium of water agencies. They’re hoping for a larger share of Delta water. It’s the latest salvo in a political and legal dispute over how to manage the competing demands on the fragile estuary.

Dying of Thirst

Two herons—one chalky blue, the other snowy white—lift from the reeds beside a gravel road running along the levee. On the other side, a lone mallard lands with a skid on the surface of the Santa Fe Canal, which is filled with water pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. As Ric Ortega steers his white pickup along these marshy wetlands southeast of Mount Hamilton, he says the patchwork of canals, tule clusters, and grassy bogs comes alive with clouds of birds in the fall, when ducks and geese are migrating south from Canada.

Proponents Planning a Redo of Stalled Water-Train Initiative

Backers of a controversial ballot measure intended to shift billions of dollars in state bond money from high speed rail to water storage projects say they will rewrite the stalled initiative in an effort to gain broader support.

The original proposal, despite receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from conservative and corporate agriculture interests, fell short of its money-raising goals and divided Central Valley growers. The measure has been promoted as a means of redirecting money earmarked for California’s proposed bullet train.

California Water-Bill Fight is Percolating Again on Capitol Hill

 

California water will retake the Capitol Hill stage in coming days, with compromise nowhere in sight.

Deep into a largely arid legislative season, lawmakers will again reflect on the state’s drought as early as Monday and wrangle over efforts to address it. A hearing and one or two votes in the House of Representatives whose outcomes are effectively preordained will expose the divisions that endure. “Things are on hold for the moment,” Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, said Friday, adding that “I don’t think we’re going to see a compromise” for at least several months.

 

 

Wind, Not Water, to Blame for Drought, Says Study

Since California’s most recent drought began more than four years ago, scientific studies have been helping us better understand the causes and implications. We know now that a lack of precipitation has largely been caused by a very stubborn high-pressure system sitting off the West coast – dubbed at one time the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge. We’ve also learned that high-pressure systems like this may be the kind of thing we’ll see more of with climate change.

A new study published in Geophysical Research Letters helps increase our understanding of the relationship between drought and the water cycle.

California water-bill fight is percolating again on Capitol Hill

California water will retake the Capitol Hill stage in coming days, with compromise nowhere in sight.

Deep into a largely arid legislative season, lawmakers will again reflect on the state’s drought as early as Monday and wrangle over efforts to address it. A hearing and one or two votes in the House of Representatives whose outcomes are effectively preordained will expose the divisions that endure.

“Things are on hold for the moment,” Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, said Friday, adding that “I don’t think we’re going to see a compromise” for at least several months.