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Reservoirs Starting To Fill In California, But Nobody’s Saying The Drought Is Over

/in /by /The Fresno Beeby Lewis Griswold

As a result of the nearly weeklong deluge, water is flowing into California lakes and reservoirs, prompting dam operators to release supplies in advance of a storm expected next week. But it’s too early to say if the series of storms is a drought-buster. “Very generally, the storms are very beneficial to reservoir storage,” said Ted Thomas, spokesman for the California Department of Water Resources. But dam operators are watching the skies, he said.

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California Snowpack Makes A Huge Recovery

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Rob Krier

How much has the California snowpack grown this month? On Jan. 3, the statewide “snow water equivalent,” a measure of the water content of the snow provided the California Cooperative Snow Surveys, stood at 70 percent of normal. By Wednesday morning, the number had more than doubled, to 158 percent of normal. The number could top 170 percent of normal today after Wednesday’s Sierra storm.

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Could Trump Create Water Risks For Businesses He Wants To Protect?

/in /by /Thomson Reuters Foundation Newsby Peter Newborne

As we wait to see if President-elect Donald Trump upholds his campaign pledge to tear up the Paris climate change agreement, one of his close to home constituencies is already struggling on the frontline of the climate struggle. CEO’s who may publicly doubt climate change can readily see what is happening to their bottom line as pressure mounts on our most precious resource – water.

 

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BLOG: Why Record Precipitation May Not Be A Cure-All For California Water Issues

/in /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Tara Lohan

Californians may be getting all the precipitation they wished for, and then some. A wet October followed by a series of big rain- and snowstorms kicking off the new year has made for one of the wettest rainy seasons so far in California’s record-keeping. “It’s undoubtedly in the top five,” said Doug Carlson, an information officer with the state’s Department of Water Resources. As of Tuesday, the rainfall for Northern California was just over 200 percent of average, according to the Department of Water Resources. And the water content of the snowpack statewide was 135 percent of average.

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Weeks Of Rain Are Rapidly Reviving California’s Drought-Ravaged Lakes

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Louis Sahagun, Matt Stevens and Paige St. John

Leaning against a wooden rail, environmental activist Geoffrey McQuilkin took stock of a parched geological wonderland that had been altered by a weekend deluge. The air was still thick with moisture, and this lake’s tributaries were cascading down from surrounding mountains, swollen by cargoes of fresh snowmelt and rain. Frothy whitecaps and wavelets lapped over grass meadows that had been dry ground only a week ago. The lake’s famous tufa formations — for so long a symbol of California’s lack of water — were capped with snow.

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Northern California Storms Taper – But Impact Lingers

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Phillip Reese, Dale Kasler, Bill Lindelof and Ed Fletcher

A tornado briefly touched down in South Natomas, a Rio Linda church was flooded and the Sacramento River reached its highest point in 20 years Wednesday as the effects of a multiday storm continued to ripple through the region. But the heavy rain and snow that had pounded Northern California since Saturday mostly stopped, several highways and local roads reopened and the region largely avoided major flooding or widespread property damage.

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Another Round Of Rain Moving Into San Diego County

/in /by /KPBS

Dense fog, rain and wind are expected in San Diego County starting Tuesday night as the second of three bouts of inclement weather this week hits the region. Only a slight chance of showers in the forecast for the beaches, valleys and mountains during the day, but rain will become more likely overnight into Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Rain may start falling in the deserts Wednesday.

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Combatting The Water Board’s Plan

/in /by /California AG Today (Sacramento)by Brian German

The State Water Resources Control Board recently held a public hearing to receive input on its Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan. The proposal would force the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts to dedicate 40 percent of unimpaired flows along the Tuolumne River to benefit fish and wildlife. David White is the CEO of Opportunity Stanislaus, a company that is all about improving the economic vitality of Stanislaus County.  He noted how the proposal will negatively impact the local economy.

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In California And Nevada, A Brief Respite Between Powerful Storms

/in /by /NPR (Washington, DC)by Camila Domonoske

Over the weekend and into Monday morning, a powerful storm in Nevada and Northern California resulted in mudslides and flooding, caused more than a thousand people to evacuate their homes, took out power lines and brought down a famous sequoia “tunnel tree.” That storm is over, but residents can’t relax yet: Starting on Tuesday, a second potent winter storm is expected to hit the region.

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OPINION: California’s Water Policy At Potential Tipping Point

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Jay Ziegler

Recent rain and snowfall conditions have us all hoping 2017 may be a wet year and offer a break in our six-year drought. But whether the drought is broken or not, Californians must act this year to achieve more sustainable long-term water management. California operates at a water deficit. Even in wet years, we use more surface and groundwater than is replenished by rainfall. It is not sustainable.

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