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Scientists See a La Niña Coming. What Does That Mean for the Dry American Southwest?

/in , , /by /The Guardianby Gabrielle Canon

The wet winter the American south-west has hoped for as it battles extreme drought and heat is increasingly unlikely to materialize as scientists now predict that a phenomenon known as La Niña will develop for the second year in a row.

The weather system could intensify the worst effects of the drought that much of the region already finds itself in, including higher wildfire risks and water shortages through 2022.

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Opinion: Madera County’s Groundwater Situation Is Dire. New Efforts Are Underway to Address It

/in , /by /The Fresno Beeby Rob Poythress

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) made the County of Madera responsible for groundwater management for the more than 200,000 acres that are not part of an irrigation or water district (the “white areas”) in Madera County. Like many regions in the Central Valley, Madera County is heavily groundwater dependent. The average annual shortage in the Madera subbasin alone is approximately 165,000 acre-feet per year, a number calculated over a 50-year period to account for both wet and dry periods.

 

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Vice President Kamala Harris to Visit Lake Mead Monday, Address Climate Change

/in , /by /ABC13by Jordan Gartner

Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Southern Nevada on Monday and is scheduled to talk about climate change and investing in climate resilience.

White House communications report the vice president is planning to be at Lake Mead at around noon. Harris is scheduled to participate in a tour, receive a briefing, and deliver remarks making the case for the largest investment in climate resilience in U.S. history through passing the Build Back Better Agenda and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal.

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Lake Tahoe Waters Plummet as Drought, Climate Change Plague Resort

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Alex Wigglesworth

Lake Tahoe’s water level has dropped so low that water is no longer flowing into the Truckee River and salmon aren’t expected to spawn in a major tributary this year.

Some boat ramps and docks are hundreds of feet from the water line, and clumps of stringy algae have been washing up on beaches, said Geoffrey Schladow, director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.

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San Diego Has a Dependable Water Supply Thanks to Yearslong Investments

/in , , /by /Spectrum News 1by Sarah Pilla Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority
Quoted: Sandra L. Kerl

Drinking water from this tap makes San Diego County Water Authority’s General Manager Sandy Kerl smile — and for good reason. Back in the drought of the ’90s, 95% of San Diego’s water came from one source, and they faced 30% cuts for 13 months.

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Q&A: La Niña’s Back and It’s Not Good for Parts of Dry West

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Seth Borenstein

For the second straight year, the world heads into a new La Niña weather event. This would tend to dry out parts of an already parched and fiery American West and boost an already busy Atlantic hurricane season.

Just five months after the end of a La Niña that started in September 2020, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a new cooling of the Pacific is underway.

 

The Drought in California This Summer Was the Worst on Record

/in , , /by /CNNby Rachel Ramirez

The West’s historic, multi-year drought is threatening water supply, food production and electricity generation. It has drained reservoirs at incredible rates and fueled one of the most extreme wildfire seasons the region has ever experienced.

In California, drought conditions this summer were the most extreme in the entire 126-year record — a clear sign of the role climate change plays in the perilous decline of the state’s water resources. Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that drought months are becoming the new normal, with rainy months becoming fewer and farther between.
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Water Budgets and Drought Fees Coming to 1 Million Residents in San Jose and Neighboring Communities

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

In the latest fallout from the worsening drought, residents of San Jose — which received the lowest rainfall in its recorded history last year — and surrounding communities are about to be given tougher water conservation rules than any major city in California.

The San Jose Water Company, a private firm that provides drinking water to 1 million people in San Jose, Cupertino, Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga and Monte Sereno, has begun sending notices to residents informing them it is moving forward with mandatory rules to set monthly residential water budgets with financial penalties for homeowners who exceed them.

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Agencies Warn of Cyber Threats to Water, Wastewater Systems

/in , , /by /The Hillby Maggie Miller

A coalition of federal agencies on Thursday warned that hackers are targeting the water and wastewater treatment sectors, strongly recommending that organizations take steps to protect themselves.

In a joint advisory, the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) warned of “ongoing malicious cyber activity—by both known and unknown actors—targeting the information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) networks, systems, and devices of U.S. Water and Wastewater Systems (WWS) Sector facilities.”

“This activity — which includes attempts to compromise system integrity via unauthorized access — threatens the ability of WWS facilities to provide clean, potable water to, and effectively manage the wastewater of, their communities,” the agencies wrote in the advisory.

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Southern California, Arizona Water Suppliers Collaborate on Water Recycling Concept

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Daily Newsby City News Service

The Metropolitan Water District, which provides water to six counties in Southern California, announced a partnership on Wednesday, Oct. 13 with Arizona water agencies to collaborate on planning for what could become one of the nation’s largest water recycling plants, producing up to 150 million gallons daily to serve more than 500,000 homes.

Central Arizona Project will provide $5 million and the Arizona Department of Water Resources will provide $1 million for environmental planning of the Regional Recycled Water Program, which will purify treated wastewater to produce a new, drought-proof water supply for Southern California. If the full project is developed, it would cost $3.4 billion and improve sustainability of Colorado River water supplies.

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