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Senate Passes Sen. Dodd’s Water Access and Equity Bill

/in , /by /Lake County News

“Rising water rates coupled with pandemic job losses threaten to cut off many California families from an essential service — water,” Sen. Dodd said Tuesday. “No one should be denied access, regardless of their income level or economic status. Today’s vote is a step toward ensuring low-income customers get the help they need to keep the tap open. I thank my Senate colleagues for supporting this measure.”

Sen. Dodd’s legislation comes as the State Water Resources Control Board heard results of a survey that found water debt in California climbed to about $1 billion.

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The West’s Extreme Drought: Colorado River Plans Explained

/in , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Tripp Baltz

The West is locked in the grip of a 20-year megadrought, with the Colorado River approaching record-low flows.

The seven states in the Colorado River basin—Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in the upper basin and Arizona, California and Nevada in the lower—established drought contingency plans in 2019 for managing and operating the river in the ongoing crisis. They’re the latest piece of the “Law of the River,” which allocates water to the seven states.

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Farmers Facing California Drought Impacts Feel Strain of Low Water Supply

/in , /by /KCRA3by Emily Maher

California farmers and ranchers are preparing for a difficult growing season as the state faces drought conditions. The California Board of Food and Agriculture met on Tuesday to discuss ways to help farmers and ranchers, as well as to discuss the proposed $5.1 billion included in the governor’s budget to address drought challenges and water infrastructure. After back-to-back dry years, the state’s water supply is strained, forcing farmers like Joe Martinez in Solano County to figure out ways to get the most out of their water.

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California’s Snowpack is 0% of June 1 Average. Here’s What That Means.

/in , /by /SF Gateby Amy Graff

It’s another sign that California is in a drought with a historic crisis looming. The state’s snowpack, a crucial source of water for the state, is at 0% of average for June 1 after a historically dry winter, according to the California Department of Water Resources. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t any snow across the Sierra Nevada range. Rather it indicates that snow has entirely melted at the majority of the electronic survey stations used to monitor snow water equivalent.

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IID Files Response to Abatti’s Supreme Court Case

/in , /by /Holtville Tribuneby Elizabeth Varin

The Imperial Irrigation District has filed its initial response to Imperial Valley grower, landowner and former elected official Michael Abatti’s U.S. Supreme Court case.

Abatti filed a petition for “writ of certiorari” with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District’s decision in Abatti v. Imperial Irrigation District.

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2021 Could Be One of the Driest Years in a Millennium, and There’s No Relief in Sight

/in , /by /PBSby William Brangham and Courtney Norris

Nearly half of the country — from the Pacific coast to the Great Plains and upper Midwest — is experiencing moderate to exceptional drought conditions. That’s expected to get worse throughout the summer. As William Brangham reports, it’s the western states in particular that are taking the hardest hit, and the possibilities for devastating wildfires are at an all-time high.

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Stormwater Could Be a Large Source of Microplastics and Rubber Fragments to Waterways

/in , /by /PHYS.ORG

In cities, heavy rains wash away the gunk collecting on sidewalks and roads, picking up all kinds of debris. However, the amount of microplastic pollution swept away by this runoff is currently unknown. Now, researchers in ACS ES&T Water report that stormwater can be a large source of microplastics and rubber fragments to water bodies and, with a proof-of-concept experiment, show that a rain garden could keep these microscopic pieces out of a storm drain.

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The Colorado River is Facing an Alarming Water Shortage for the First Time Ever

/in , , /by /The Hillby Christian Spencer

Between Las Vegas and Arizona, Lake Mead, the body of water that is fed by the Colorado River, dropped below 1,075 feet on Tuesday. The low water marks are signaling what could be the first-ever water shortage on the Colorado River, CNN reports.

The lake’s levels show a continuing decline, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), and any hope of recovery won’t happen until at least the end of 2022.

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San Diego Launches $10-Million Assessment of Aging City Dams, Including Three Rated ‘Poor’

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby David Garrick

San Diego is launching a $10-million effort to complete risk assessments of all nine of the city’s aging dams — only three of which are considered in satisfactory condition. City officials say the assessments are expected to reveal problems that will require an estimated $1 billion in repairs and upgrades in coming decades — and possibly some replacement dams in extreme cases. San Diego’s dams are among the oldest in the state and the nation. State officials said three dams are in “poor” condition — Hodges, El Capitan and Lower Otay — and three have been rated “fair”: Morena, Barrett and Lake Murray.

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‘Big Risk’: California Farmers Hit by Drought Change Planting Plans

/in , , /by /Reutersby Christopher Walljasper

Joe Del Bosque is leaving a third of his 2,000-acre farm near Firebaugh, California, unseeded this year due to extreme drought. Yet, he hopes to access enough water to produce a marketable melon crop.

Farmers across California say they expect to receive little water from state and federal agencies that regulate the state’s reservoirs and canals, leading many to leave fields barren, plant more drought-tolerant crops or seek new income sources all-together.

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