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Areas Of San Joaquin Valley Sink Further In 2016, Officials Blame Groundwater Pumping

/in /by /CBS Sacramento

Radar satellite maps created by NASA show land continues to sink rapidly in certain areas of the San Joaquin Valley, putting state and federal aqueducts and flood control structures at risk of damage. An August 2015 NASA report documented record rates of subsidence or sinking in the San Joaquin Valley, particularly near Chowchilla and Corcoran, as farmers pumped groundwater in the midst of the historic drought.

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Oroville Dam Officials Find New Damage After Water Releases, As Reservoir Level Climbs

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler, Ryan Sabalow, and Phillip Reese

State engineers have found new damage to the Oroville Dam spillway, although not as much as they’d feared, after conducting two test releases to see how much water the scarred facility could handle, the state said Thursday. Meanwhile, reservoir levels continued to climb behind the critical flood-control structure. The gash that was discovered Tuesday grew by another 50 feet after engineers released water for a combined six hours Wednesday and early Thursday, according to Department of Water Resources spokesman Doug Carlson. “They found additional damage to the spillway, which was predicted,” Carlson said.

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State Water Board Votes To Keep Water Restrictions In Place

/in /by /The CW6by John Carroll Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

San Diego County’s Water Authority criticized action taken Wednesday by the State Water Board. On Wednesday afternoon, the Board voted to continue water conservation regulations on a statewide basis. It was late last month that the San Diego County Water Authority declared the drought over in San Diego County. On that day, they called for the State Board to do likewise. But on Wednesday, that call was rebuffed.

 

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State Regulators Vote To Continue Drought Rules

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith Quoted: Dana Friehauf

Despite blankets of snow and rain that have covered California this winter, the state’s top water cops voted Wednesday to maintain emergency drought rules that have been in place in one form or another during the past 19 months. Regional water managers, including those in San Diego County, traveled to Sacramento to plead with the State Water Resources Control Board to end the emergency regulations. They repeatedly told the board that not doing so would erode credibility with residents and make it harder to convince people to adopt strict conservation efforts in the future.

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California Retains Drought Measures, Despite Wet Weather

/in /by /CBS8 News Quoted: Dana Friehauf

Water regulators in California on Wednesday extended what are now largely symbolic conservation measures lingering from the drought after the state has seen one of the wettest winters in years. Regulators decided to retain the measures at least until spring as a precaution against the possible return of dry weather — even as another major storm bears down on the state. “I don’t think there’s just one way to go,” Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board, said after several local water districts urged members to lift the regulations.

 

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Despite Epic Rain and Snow, California Keeps Emergency Drought Restrictions In Place

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Joseph Serna and Bettina Boxall

California’s snowpack is at 184% of average for this time of year. Cities from San Francisco to Los Angeles have recorded their highest rain levels in years. Rockslides and flooding hit Northern California. And the spillway of the state’s massive dam at Lake Oroville, once a symbol of the state’s brutal drought when it sat near empty, is actually eroding due to so much runoff from fall and winter rains.

 

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Deal Reached to Move Some Stored Reservoir Water Supplies for Santa Barbara County Agencies

/in /by /Noozhawk (Santa Barbara)by Giana Magnoli

Faced with the threat of losing carryover and purchased water stored in San Luis Reservoir, Santa Barbara County agencies have signed onto a deal with the Metropolitan Water District to move some of that supply. If the Merced County reservoir spills, a scenario predicted to happen this winter, any carryover water in San Luis Reservoir will be wiped from the records and labeled part of the state aqueduct supply for 2017. Local agencies have millions of gallons stored in San Luis Reservoir, and have been scrambling to find a way to save as much of that water as possible.

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