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Changes in Snowmelt Threaten Farmers in Western U.S.

For decades, scientists have thought that changes in snowmelt due to climate change could negatively impact agriculture. Now, a new study reveals the risks to agriculture around the world from changes in snowmelt, finding that farmers in parts of the western United States who rely on snowmelt to help irrigate crops will be among the hardest hit in the world by climate change.

In a study published April 20 in Nature Climate Change, an interdisciplinary team of researchers analyzed monthly irrigation water demand with snowmelt runoff across global basins from 1985 to 2015. The goal was to determine where irrigated agriculture has depended on snowmelt runoff in the past and how that might change with a warming climate.

San Diego Regional Water Agencies Boost Efforts to Fight Hunger

An effort to bolster food bank supplies and fight hunger in San Diego County is getting a helping hand from the region’s public water agencies.

The San Diego County Water Authority and its member agencies are supporting a virtual food drive in partnership with the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank. The campaign allows donors to select and purchase items such as canned meats, vegetables, fruits, peanut butter and oatmeal for distribution to needy residents. To donate, go to www.bit.ly/SDWaterAgencyFoodDrive.

 

Slight Chance Of Rain Before Temperatures Start Rising On Wednesday

Temperatures will remain mild Tuesday in San Diego County, but the mercury is expected to rise quickly starting on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Opinion: California’s Drought Without End

Californians tend to regard our droughts in seasonal and annual terms: The winter storms fill reservoirs with rain and mountains with snow, or they don’t, or sometimes, like this year, they do so in the spring. But a new study proposes a broader perspective in which recent years’ shifts from dry to wet to weird are just minor variations within a longer and more extraordinary period of widespread parching.

150 Ag and Water Groups Call for Water Relief

A group of 150 agricultural and water organizations is calling on federal officials to provide water relief for the Western United States.  Two separate letters sent to President Donald Trump and members of Congress highlight the importance of providing support for enhancing water management, particularly in light of the tumultuous conditions created by COVID-19.

California Attorney General Urges EPA to Expand Review and Regulation of Toxic “Forever Chemicals” – PFAS Chemicals

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today, as part of a coalition of 18 attorneys general, urged the Environmental Protection Agency to broaden and strengthen the review and regulation of per-fluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, collectively known as PFAS.

Study: Snowpack Will Become a Less Reliable Predictor of Drought in Western U.S.

In the next 16-45 years, two-thirds of Western states may have to turn away from snowpack and find new tools to predict drought.

And by the late century, scientists estimate that area will grow to four-fifths of the western United States, according to a new paper in Nature Climate Change.

“When the temperature warms, the phase of the precipitation is likely to change from snow to rain. So less snowpack is something that’s pretty likely,” said lead author Ben Livneh, an assistant professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Changes in Snowmelt Threaten Farmers in Western U.S.

Farmers in parts of the western United States who rely on snowmelt to help irrigate their crops will be among the hardest hit in the world by climate change, a new study reveals.

Ag Groups Seek Help from Feds on Water

CFBF, Western Growers among 150 organizations asking Congress and the White House to address aging infrastructure.

California Dam Operators Can’t Dodge Fish-Endangerment Claims

Federal and regional operators of Southern California’s Twitchell Dam lost their bid to dismiss claims the dam causes unlawful killing of endangered steelhead trout, but they won’t face an emergency injunction restricting their operations, a federal judge ruled Friday.