You are now in San Diego County category.

California Is Mostly Drought-Free For The First Time In Years

/in /by /Los Angeles Patchby Paige Austin Quoted: Mark Muir

After years of brown lawns and millions of dead trees, California has finally reached a point where most of the state is officially drought-free. The state’s snowpack is now at 193 percent the average for this time of year compared to two years ago when the snowpack was well under 10 percent come spring — the most diminished snowpack in centuries. The apparent end of the drought across much of the state has officials debating whether to halt the mandatory conservation measures Californians have grown accustomed to.

 

Full Story

What All Those Dead Trees Mean For The Sierra Nevada

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Bettina Boxall

The ponderosa pine had taken root decades before the Revolutionary War, making a stately stand on this western Sierra Nevada slope for some 300 years, Nate Stephenson figures. Then came the beetle blitzkrieg. Now the tree is a dab in the gray and rusty death stain smeared across the mountain range. At the base of its massive trunk, a piece of bark has been cut off, revealing an etched swirl of insect trails. Higher up, naked branches reach out, as if from a many-armed scarecrow. “This was alive until the drought killed it,” Stephenson says mournfully.

Full Story

Don’t Let The Rain Dampen Our Conservation Efforts

/in /by /The Orange County Registerby Joone Lopez

The arrival of rains with the new year have tempered one of California’s most severe ongoing drought periods on record, which officially entered its sixth year in October 2016. The question remains whether California, and Orange County specifically, can see light at the end of the dry tunnel. The historic drought has caused local, regional and state agencies to take unprecedented action to address extraordinary conditions. However, drought or no drought, Californians must reevaluate their relationship with water.

Full Story

California, Oregon Farmers Lost Water In 2001; Now They Want To Be Paid

/in /by /The Daily Herald (Washington)by Michael Doyle

Northern California and Oregon farmers who lost irrigation water in 2001 for the sake of fish are plunging into a climactic courtroom battle for tens of millions of dollars in compensation. Years in the making, the trial set to start Monday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims near the White House involves a lot of money, but that’s not all. For other Westerners, too, it can have broader implications, clarifying what the government may owe for water steered away from crops toward environmental protection.

Full Story

Drought Over in San Diego County

/in /by /KOGO (San Diego)

The drought in San Diego County is over.  The San Diego County Water Authority passed a resolution Thursday declaring an end to the drought in in the county and calling on the Governor to lift water use restrictions. “Many areas of the state including San Diego County are not experiencing drought conditions,” Water Resources Manger Dana Friehauf told the authority’s board of directors.

Full Story

VIDEO: Watch Five Years Of Sierra Snow From Space

/in /by /The Sacramento Bee

Entering February 2017, the Sierra snowpack is 177 percent of normal. That’s a big difference from a few years ago – the snowpack was 25 percent of normal in 2015. This series of satellite images shows the snow accumulation from space at roughly the same time of year for the past five years.

Full Story

January Storms Erase Part Of California’s Snowpack Deficit

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Bettina Boxall

The recent storms that have buried the Sierra Nevada in snow have taken a big bite out of the state’s five-year snowpack deficit, according to researchers. Using satellite data, computer models and snowpack measurements, University of Colorado at Boulder scientists estimated the water content of the snow that has fallen since late December. They then compared it with the total snowpack shortfall of the five-year drought.

Full Story

Water Authority: Drought Over For San Diego Region

/in /by /CBS8 News Quoted: Mark Muir and Maureen Stapleton

The San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors Thursday declared an end to drought conditions in the region, citing heavy local rainfall and snow in western mountain areas. According to the Water Authority, precipitation at San Diego’s official reporting station at Lindbergh Field is 172 percent of average at this time. Statewide snow-water content is 193 percent of average, while the snowpack in the Colorado River Basin — where San Diego obtains some of its water — is also well above normal, the SDCWA reported.

 

Full Story

When Will Soggy California Drop Water Restrictions?

/in /by /New Delhi Times (India)

Much of California has gone from withered to water-logged this winter, but the state’s top water regulator is not ready to lift emergency conservation measures enacted during the height of the drought. “It makes the most sense to continue steady as she goes,” State Water Resources Control Board chairwoman Felicia Marcus told The Associated Press after the latest in a series of storms brought more snow to the mountains and record-breaking rainfall to parts of Southern California.

 

Full Story

BLOG: Executive Summary for January 27th

/in /by /Water Deeply (New York) Quoted: Mark Muir

California’s drought continues to ease, with more wet weather helping to fill reservoirs and contributing to a mounting snowpack in the Sierra Nevada – but it has also led to emergency declarations in some areas. As of Jan. 26, the snow water equivalent statewide for the Sierra snowpack is 189 percent of average for this time of year and already over 100 percent of the April 1 average. The U.S. Drought Monitor for this week reports that the northern half of California is now out of drought and no parts of the state were designated as experiencing “exceptional drought” – the most severe designation.

 

Full Story