Winter is off to a dry start across the West, raising the specter of ongoing drought in many locations. The culprit could be La Niña – a periodic cooling of Pacific Ocean waters near the equator that often brings drought. And not just any La Niña, but a “double whammy” effect, which latest research concludes may cause even worse water shortages.
The California Department of Water Resources has released a technical memorandum laying out its detailed explanation for widespread cracking that has appeared in concrete placed this year during the Oroville Dam spillway rebuilding project. The report, embedded below recounts measures taken to prevent cracking in the massive slabs intended to serve as the final, finished concrete surface in two large sections of the spillway. The document was compiled after an Oct. 2 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission letter asked DWR to explain the cracks and document their extent.
California’s dam inspectors appear to be doing their jobs well. Unfortunately, too many dam operators are falling down on the job, and could be placing the public at risk. That’s the message of a report by The Sacramento Bee’s Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler. It’s also a part of life in California. As vast swaths of Southern California smolder from the unusual late-season fires this dry December, people naturally are focusing less on rain, potential flooding or dam safety.
States, federal and Mexican officials hailed a binational agreement this fall that they said could lead to a radical shift in how the region prepares for and responds to drought. But three months later, they appear no closer to a drought contingency plan, as negotiations have pitted states and water districts against one another, as the U.S. tries to hammer out details of the plan.
Even as charred hillsides smoldered from a series of wildfires that tore through Los Angeles County, state and local officials were planning last week to head into burn areas to assess slopes and culverts, in an effort to prevent flash floods and mudslides that can occur after a massive blaze.
Gov. Jerry Brown hopped around Europe for two weeks last month, telling the world that to avoid a climate change Armageddon, it should emulate what California is doing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As Brown was crusading in Europe, his Air Resources Board issued a report hailing California’s nearly 5 percent reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases in 2016 by companies governed by the state’s cap-and-trade system.
When Assemblyman Jim Frazier, D-Oakley, state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, and other legislative colleagues came to Walnut Grove for their first Delta Caucus investigating the finances of Gov. Edmund Brown Jr.’s twin tunnels plan, they were well prepared. They brought four state auditors and an economist, Jeffrey Michael, director of the Center for Business and Policy Research at the University of the Pacific in Stockton.
A week of destructive fires in Southern California is ending but danger still looms. Well into what’s considered the wet season, there’s been nary a drop of rain. That’s good for sun-seeking tourists, but could spell more disaster for a region that emerged this spring from a yearslong drought and now has firefighters on edge because of parched conditions and no end in sight to the typical fire season.
After more than a decade of studying wildfires, San Diego County took its final exams last week. Did we pass? Authorities say the region is far better equipped to handle swift, wind-whipped flames than it was during the firestorms of 2007 and ’03. “We’re about $460 million more prepared,” Supervisor Dianne Jacob said Friday, “both on the ground and in the air.”Officials cited better communication between fire agencies; more fire engines and air tankers on the front lines, day and night; and better tracking of the flames.
In January and February, no less than 125 million gallons of rain fell upon my 200-acre farm, located off Highway 80 between Dixon and Davis. Our soil, blanketed with an annual winter cover crop of mixed grass and legumes, absorbed all of those 24 inches of rain. Not one single gallon left our property. Where did all that water go? Some was used by the cover crop and a small amount evaporated. But most sank down to be stored in the soil and to recharge groundwater. On conventionally managed fields nearby, copious and disheartening amounts of rainwater ran off.
