You are now in California and the U.S. category.

Dry Spell Raises Fears of Drought’s Return in California

/in /by /The Associated Press (As published by ABC News)

It’s been almost a year since Los Angeles residents felt any real rain, and precious little snow is in the Sierras, but water managers say it’s too early for fears that California is sliding back into drought as abruptly as the state fell out of it. Water officials carry out the first of their regular ritual winter snow measurements before news cameras on Wednesday. Plunging rods into snowpacks to measure the snow depth, water managers use the event to acquaint Californians with the state of the water supply.

Full Story

It’s Too Soon To Worry About Drought, Despite Dry Winter

/in /by /89.3 KPCC (Pasadena)by Emily Guerin

California water officials on Wednesday confirmed with manual measurements what electronic sensors have been saying for weeks: the state’s largest drinking water reservoir – the Sierra Nevada snowpack – is well below its average water content for this time of year. But water managers say it’s too early for worries that California is sliding back into drought.

Full Story

Critical California Snowpack At 21% Of Normal As 2018 Begins

/in /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The new year begins with a minimal snowpack in the Sierra Nevada as measuring stations across the state report an average Wednesday of 2.3 inches — just 21 percent of normal. “The survey is a disappointing start of the year, but it’s far too early to draw conclusions about what kind of a wet season we’ll have this year,” said Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program. “There’s plenty of time left in the traditional wet season to reverse the dry trend we’ve been experiencing.”

 

Full Story

San Diego Water Managers Say Thin Mountain Snowpack No Reason For Concern

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority
Quoted: Tim Bombardier

Water managers in San Diego County said residents shouldn’t worry too much about Southern California’s bone dry weather and the Sierra Nevada mountains’ conspicuous lack of snow — the frozen reservoir that routinely holds more than half of the state’s freshwater. “What we’re seeing right now is that San Diego has sufficient supplies for 2018, regardless of conditions,” said Tim Bombardier, principle water resources specialist at the San Diego County Water Authority, the region’s water wholesaler.

Full Story

California’s New Water Boss: States Must Set Own Course on Resources

/in /by /Water Deeply (New York)

Until California’s latest drought really took hold in around 2012, few residents of the Golden State had ever heard of the State Water Resources Control Board. But it very quickly became a major force in their lives. As the five-year drought worsened, the board would go on to order water use limits on every water agency in the state, which led to rationing requirements in households across California. It also imposed severe water-right curtailments, requiring rural residents who draw water from streams to immediately stop doing so.

Full Story

Dozens Come Forward With High Water Bills

/in /by /ABC 10 (Sacramento)by Jonathan Horn

More San Diegans are coming forward with outrageously high water bills that in some cases are more than $1,000. But they say the city is brushing off their concerns. Now, they have a new strategy to get different answers to their expensive questions. “It’s too hard, sometimes, to fight it,” said Joyce Abrams, a La Jolla resident whose last three water bills doubled to nearly $500 each. “You can’t not pay because then they turn your water off.”

Full Story

SoCal Facing One of Driest Rain Seasons on Record

/in /by /ABC 7 News

This season is shaping up to be one of the driest years the Los Angeles area has ever seen. Since the start of the water year on Oct. 1, the downtown area has received less than an eighth of an inch of rain. This puts it in a tie for the fourth driest start to a water year. The last time it was this dry was in the early 1960s. So far, the rainfall is nearly four inches below normal for October through December.

Full Story

Impacts, Lessons from Oroville Spillway Crisis

/in /by /Appeal-Democrat (Marysville)

The Lake Oroville spillway crisis and evacuation last February might have only lasted a few days for Yuba-Sutter residents, but the ordeal left many with unanswered questions and a newfound fear of the unknowns of living downstream from an aging water storage facility and system. Questions about who is to blame for the spillway’s failure, how it happened and what can be done to prevent it from happening again continue to resonate with local residents close to a year after the event occurred.

Full Story

Rainbow, FPUD, Camp Pendleton Shares of CWA Vote Entitlement to Decline

/in /by /Fallbrook and Bonsall Village News Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The weighted vote entitlements for San Diego County Water Authority agencies at 2018 San Diego County Water Authority meetings were approved by the CWA board Dec. 7, and the shares for the Rainbow Municipal Water District, the Fallbrook Public Utility District, and Camp Pendleton will all be less than those agencies’ 2017 weighted vote. Rainbow’s share will decrease from 4.04 percent to 4.00 percent. The FPUD weighted vote was 2.35 percent for 2017 meetings and will be 2.32 percent during 2018. Camp Pendleton had a share of 0.10 percent of the weighted vote in both 2016 and 2017 and will account for 0.09 percent of the 2018 vote total.

Full Story

Oceanside Raises Water, Wastewater Rates, Again

/in /by /The Coast News Group (Encinitas) Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

City Council unanimously approved increased water and wastewater rates Dec. 20. There was no discussion prior to the vote of approval. Two weeks earlier numerous speakers addressed City Council about rate increases, and the city received more than a dozen letters of protest. Most Dec. 6 speakers shared their frustration over decreasing their water use and still seeing a rise in rates. Residents also criticized the high cost of fixed rates, and not having adjustable rates for low-income households.

Full Story