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Mark Arax: Desert Irrigation And A New Deal For Westlands

The helicopter landed in the western hills above the San Joaquin Valley and out of the dust walked President John F. Kennedy. It was Aug. 18, 1962, and the sun would not let go. In the hollow of the mountain, where California was about to build its newest reservoir, the air felt like a blast furnace. Summer had baked the earth to a tan and shrunken form. The hills turned to hide. Though not a drop of rain had fallen from the sky since spring, no one in the assembled crowd, certainly not the cotton kings, thought of this as drought.

Negotiations Over Arizona Drought Plan Ongoing

Arizona farmers, cities and tribes continue to work on a deal to avert major cutbacks in water deliveries from Lake Mead in the coming years.

State water managers are quietly making their pitch to those stakeholders who rely on the Colorado River to voluntarily give up some water now to avoid potentially losing even more later.

There’s about a 50 percent chance Southwest states will face a shortage declaration in 2018. The proposed “drought contingency plan” would result in almost 200,000 acre feet being left in Mead when the water level is between 1090 feet and 1075 feet.

California Aims To Recalibrate Water Flow From Depleted Rivers

The report’s findings were unequivocal: Given the current pace of water diversions, the San Francisco Bay and the Delta network of rivers and marshes are ecological goners, with many of its native fish species now experiencing a “sixth extinction,” environmental science’s most-dire definition of ecosystem collapse. Once a vast, soaked marsh and channel fed by the gushing Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, the Delta has diminished dramatically over the previous century as those rivers and their mountain tributaries have been diverted to irrigate Central Valley farms and Bay Area urbanity.

Wettest Start In 30 Years To Rainy Season In Northern California, But Don’t Forget The Drought

It’s only a beginning. But it’s a strong beginning, and it offers at least a rain gauge’s worth of hope to a state enduring its fifth year of drought. The National Weather Service said Monday that the rainy season in the northern Sierra Nevada is off to its wettest start in 30 years. Mountain conditions are critically important to monitoring the drought because a major share of the state’s water supply is stored for months as snow.

Initial State Water Allocation Set At 20 Percent

Dozens of water agencies in drought-weary California may only receive 20 percent of their requested deliveries in 2017, state officials said Monday. But the Department of Water Resources initial allocation forecast is twice more than that announced a year ago. Officials said winter storms in coming months may boost the first 2017 allocation, but point out California’s deep drought lingers. Initial allocations almost always change. The 10 percent allocation ultimately gave way to a 60 percent allocation for 2016. The rainy season has had a strong start with snow in the Sierra Nevada and rain in parched Southern California.

California Drought: State Initially Estimates 20% Of Full Water Deliveries

California’s Department of Water Resources has made its initial projection of how much water public agencies can count on receiving from the canals and pipelines of the State Water Project next year: 20 percent of their full allotments. The state’s preliminary annual estimate for the major north-to-south water artery is typically readjusted depending on rain and snowfall, and the percentage often ends up higher at the end of the winter. This year, the state initially projected 10 percent and water districts eventually received 60 percent of their full allotments.

More Rain Expected For Parts of San Diego County Monday Afternoon

Gusty winds and a slight chance of rain are in the forecast for parts of San Diego County Monday, but the weekend storms that generated record-breaking rainfall and prompted numerous weather advisories have moved out of the region. In a 48-hour period ending just after 9 p.m. Sunday, the back-to-back weekend weather systems dropped an inch of snow on Mt. Laguna and half an inch on Palomar Mountain.

To Save SF Bay And Its Dying Delta, State Aims To Replumb California

The report’s findings were unequivocal: Given the current pace of water diversions, the San Francisco Bay and the Delta network of rivers and marshes are ecological goners, with many of its native fish species now experiencing a “sixth extinction,” environmental science’s most-dire definition of ecosystem collapse.Once a vast, soaked marsh and channel fed by the gushing San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers, the Delta has diminished dramatically over the previous century as those rivers and their mountain tributaries have been diverted to irrigate farms and Bay Area urbanity.

Winterlike Weekend Storm Drops Rain And Snow; Cold Air Will Remain In Valley

An impressive storm system drenched much of the Central San Joaquin Valley with rain over the weekend and dropped much-needed snow in the Sierra. Snow levels fell to around 3,500 feet in the foothills. “It was our first, real significant winter system,” National Weather Service meteorologist Jeff Barlow said. An overall .77 inches of rain was recorded at the Fresno Air Terminal by Sunday. In Madera County, half an inch of rain was recorded at the Madera Airport by Sunday.

BLOG: The Coming Droughts of California in 2017 – November 27, 2016

California is a big diverse place. California probably will experience droughts this year of different types in different places, and no drought at all in some places, simultaneously.  Even if conditions this year are very wet, with flooding, parts of California will have drought issues. (This is what makes California a great place to work on water problems.) The first two months of this new water year have been wetter than average in the north and much drier than average in the south.  But it is still early days.