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Storms To Steer Needed Rain, Mountain Snow Into California This Week

A pair of storms will swing into California this week, potentially unleashing the most significant precipitation to impact the state in over a month. As the state contends with a worsening drought, depleted snowpack and renewed fears for the water supply in the coming months, the unsettled pattern may slightly ease, but not fully wipe out, these concerns. Abnormally dry winter months have caused moderate to severe drought conditions to blossom in much of central and Southern California, according to the latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To EPA Water Regulation

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a challenge led by states and environmental groups to an Environmental Protection Agency regulation that lets government agencies transfer water between different bodies, such as rivers and lakes, without needing to protect against pollution. The nine justices left in place a lower court ruling upholding the EPA’s “water transfers rule,” issued in 2008 by Republican former President George W. Bush’s administration, that exempted such transfers from a national water discharge program aimed at curbing pollution.

Spiking Water Bills Anger Rancho Bernardo Residents

Crowds swarmed the Rancho Bernardo library Monday night to confront city officials about spiking water bills. NBC 7 Responds found that thousands of residents face sky-high water bills after rates began soaring in July 2017. Caryn Cooper was among the 100 people who packed the library to ask the Public Utilities Department about what they’re doing to remedy exorbitant bills. She helps a friend living on a fixed income whose bill increased by nearly $200.

Up To 18 Inches Of Snow To Fall In San Diego County Mountains

A storm out of the Gulf of Alaska will blow ashore in San Diego County late Monday, dropping up to 18 inches of snow on mountain peaks and up to three-quarters of an inch of rain in some areas at and near the coast. The system also will extend San Diego’s week-long cold spell. On Tuesday, the temperature won’t get above 57 degrees — which is almost 10 points below average. “It doesn’t look like the temperatures will get above 60 anywhere in San Diego County on Tuesday,” said Brandt Maxwell, a forecaster at the National Weather Service. “That’s including the desert.”

Hidden ‘Rock Moisture’ Possible Key To Forest Response To Drought

A little-studied, underground layer of rock may provide a vital reservoir for trees, especially in times of drought, report scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and affiliated with The University of Texas (UT) at Austin and the University of California, Berkeley. The study, published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), looked at the water stored inside the layer of weathered bedrock that lies under soils in mountain forest ecosystems.

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To EPA Water Regulation

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a challenge led by states and environmental groups to an Environmental Protection Agency regulation that lets government agencies transfer water between different bodies, such as rivers and lakes, without needing to protect against pollution. The nine justices left in place a lower court ruling upholding the EPA’s “water transfers rule,” issued in 2008 by Republican former President George W. Bush’s administration, that exempted such transfers from a national water discharge program aimed at curbing pollution.

‘Cloud Seeding’ May Make It Snow, But Will It Reduce Droughts In The West?

Machines that prod clouds to make snow may sound like something out of an old science fiction movie. But worsening water scarcity, combined with new evidence that “cloud seeding” can work, is spurring states, counties, water districts and power companies across the thirsty West to use the strategy. Last month, a study funded by the National Science Foundation tracked for the first time how the technology works in nature. The evidence for cloud seeding has been scarce, but recent research has encouraged officials and companies desperate to increase the amount of water in rivers and reservoirs.

Bill Beefing Up Dam Inspections Signed Into Law

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law Monday that will increase the frequency of inspections at the state’s most at-risk dams and require the Department of Water Resources to update dam safety protocols. Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, authored Assembly Bill 1270 following the Lake Oroville spillway crisis last February that saw more than 180,000 people evacuate.

Rain, Snow And Hail Pound Northern California At End Of Bone-Dry February

Finally, rain. And snow. Some hail, even. Plus there’s more to come. A storm doused Northern California on Monday, ending Sacramento’s month-plus dry spell and setting the table for a heavy pounding that could dump up to 4 feet of snow on the Sierra Nevada range later this week. After a pause in the weather at mid-day, Sacramento was pelted with hail during a freakish afternoon thunderstorm. Some residents thought the city was blanketed with snow; the Fire Department tweeted that a snow pile caused a traffic tie-up near West El Camino Avenue.

Rain And Low-Elevation Snow Expected With Cold Winter Storm

A cold winter storm is expected to bring light rain and low-elevation snowfall to Southern California beginning Monday evening, forecasters said. The system is expected to bring only about a quarter-inch of rain or less to the region, but driving conditions in mountainous areas could be precarious with snow levels potentially dropping as low as 1,700 feet in some areas, said Andrew Rorke, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.