With no rain in the forecast for the rest of 2020 — thanks to a La Niña weather pattern pushing storms north of the state — the probability of California entering a multi-year drought is increasing.
Concerns are growing over the fate of a sprawling water infrastructure package, even as staffers in both chambers insist negotiations are fruitful and moving forward.
Santa Ana winds will return amid dry conditions this week, significantly raising the risk of wildfires in the San Diego County mountains and western valleys, according to the National Weather Service.
Moderate strength winds were expected Tuesday in the mountains, forecasters said. Winds out of the east were expected to be around 15 mph, with gusts potentially reaching 30 mph Tuesday afternoon.
The ancient people of Danger Cave lived well. They ate freshwater fish, ducks and other small game, according to detritus they left behind. They had a lush lakeside view, with cattails, bulrush and water-loving willows adorning the marshlands.
But then, the good life became history. As heat and drought set in, the freshwater dried up and forced the ancients to survive by plucking tiny seeds from desert shrubs called pickleweed. Archaeologists know this from a thick layer of dusty chaff buried in the cave’s floor.
The Colorado River Indian Tribes on the western edge of Arizona have the largest share of first-priority Colorado River water rights in the state. Now, the tribal council is proposing to lease some of its water for non-tribal use. Colorado River Indian Tribes chairman Dennis Patch thinks tribal water can be a valuable tool in Arizona drought mitigation.
Matthew Costa stepped gingerly into a little pocket wetland near the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The squishy salt marsh is more than just a patch of habitat in the intertidal zone. “Just watch out,” said Costa, a postdoctoral researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, as he warned a helper. “Watch out for birds.” Endangered ridgeway rails like hiding in the pickleweed that covers the soft, moist ground nestled between train tracks and a busy Del Mar street.
Changes are coming to the powerful Imperial Irrigation District.
The dust is still settling on the 2020 election, with some votes still to be counted, but after one incumbent on the board of directors fell in the primary, a second is losing in the general. The board likely will see two new directors seated, reshaping the direction of an agency that delivers both water and electricity to a wide swathe of Southern California.
A record-breaking season of fire across the West has shown the limits of the century-old strategy of suppression. Many agree the need now is for better land management – built around values of collaboration and shared responsibility.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
