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California Unveils $1.7 Billion Plan For Rivers, Fish. Will It Ward Off A Water War?

Hoping to head off one of the biggest California water wars in decades, state officials Wednesday proposed a sweeping, $1.7 billion plan to prop up struggling fish populations across many of the state’s most important rivers. Capping 30 days of feverish negotiations, the Department of Water Resources and the Department of Fish and Wildlife unveiled a dramatic plan that would reallocate more than 700,000 acre-feet of water from farms and cities throughout much of the Central Valley, leaving more water in the rivers and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to support ailing steelhead and Chinook salmon populations.

Climate Change will Bring More Strong El Niños. Here’s What That Means for California

California is no stranger to extreme weather. The last decade has brought crippling droughts and dam-busting deluges. And climate change is only making the situation worse by turning up the heat during the dry season and supercharging storms during the wet season. Now, a new study suggests rising temperatures also will increase the frequency of strong El Niño events, which often bring pummeling rains across the state. “This adds to the evidence that what we’ve experienced in California over the last several years is consistent with what we can expect from global warming,” said Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Stanford University who was not involved in the study.

From The Archives December 12, 1947: San Diego Aqueduct Dedicated

In 1947 the $14 million San Diego Aqueduct was dedicated and put into operation as the Navy officially turned over control to the County Water Authority. The 71-mile aqueduct brought Colorado River water from Riverside County to the San Vicente Reservoir near Lakeside. The Navy sponsored and supervised the construction in order to ensure a supply of water for the important naval and military establishments in and around San Diego. When Colorado River water finally flowed through the aqueduct into San Vicente Reservoir, San Diego had less than a month’s supply on hand.

San Diego Received More Rain In Three Months Than All Of Last Year

The recent fall storms that soaked San Diego set rainfall records across the county – putting a dent in the drought and making a difference at local lakes. Adam Roser is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “Some of the areas got over two or three inches. Usually, it’s confined to the mountains – kind of the higher precipitation totals. This time it was a lot of places on the coast.” The National Weather Service said San Diego Airport received over 2.5 inches of rain. In just three months, San Diego received 3.98-inches of rainfall – more than the 3.34-inches of rain San Diego received in all of last year.

Sewage Spill Continues To Pollute Tijuana River For Third Straight Day

A sewage spill that federal officials said started Monday night south of the border continues to flood the Tijuana River with millions of gallons of raw effluent. A ruptured collector pipe in southeast Tijuana is leaking roughly 7 million gallons a day of sewage into the river, according to the U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission. The IBWC said utility officials in Baja would attempt to divert the flows Wednesday from the Tijuana River back into CESPT’s wastewater treatment system.