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Lack of Rain Could Produce Rare Spring Wildfire Season in Greater San Diego

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins

San Diego County is in the midst of the sixth driest rainy season on record, conditions that could lead to rare and sizable spring wildfires if things stay dry, the National Weather Service said on Tuesday.

San Diego International Airport has recorded only 4.36 inches of rain since the official water year began on Oct. 1. That’s more than 4 inches below normal. The airport averages 10.33 inches of rain from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.

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After Court Ruling, Water Board Updates California’s Version of WOTUS

/in , , /by /Agri-Pulseby Brad Hooker

The State Water Board on Tuesday approved an update to dredge and fill procedures for wetlands considered waters of the state. According to staff, the new resolution simply reflects a recent court decision that the board cannot centralize all of its water plans and policies under one regulatory umbrella. For water interests, however, the resolution raised significant concerns and could create conflicts with regulations that directly impact agriculture. Valerie Kincaid, an attorney representing a coalition of valley water agencies, contended the new resolution fails to comply with the judgement and threatens to compromise the board’s integrity.

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Opinion: Governor Newsom Needs To Protect the Human Right to Water Not Water Privatizers

/in , , /by /Voice of OCby Alejandro Sobrera

Governor Gavin Newsom frequently says California is a leader in sustainability and the transition away from fossil fuels. The governor has also issued an executive order to fight climate change in response to the deadly wildfires that ravaged our state last year. Despite these public statements and official efforts, it’s puzzling that his administration has been promoting the climate-wrecking Poseidon desalination plant in Huntington Beach as an infrastructure to source additional water for California.

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Watershed Survey Helps Maintain San Diego Regional Water Quality

/in , , /by /Water News Network

The City of San Diego Public Utilities Department conducts regular surveys of its watersheds to monitor and maintain high water quality within those watersheds. The City recently released its 2020 Watershed Sanitary Survey. Conducted and issued every five years since 1996 as required by California law, the report identifies actual or potential causes of local source water contamination that might adversely affect the quality and treatability of City of San Diego water.

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Southwest Braces for Water Cutbacks as Drought Deepens Along the Colorado River

/in , , /by /Arizona Republicby Ian James

Unrelenting drought and years of rising temperatures due to climate change are pushing the long-overallocated Colorado River into new territory, setting the stage for the largest mandatory water cutbacks to date.

Lake Mead, the biggest reservoir on the river, has declined dramatically over the past two decades and now stands at just 40% of its full capacity. This summer, it’s projected to fall to the lowest levels since it was filled in the 1930s following the construction of Hoover Dam.

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California is on the Brink of Drought – Again. Is it Ready?

/in , , /by /The Guardian by Maanvi Singh

California is at the edge of another protracted drought, just a few years after one of the worst dry spells in state history left poor and rural communities without well water, triggered major water restrictions in cities, forced farmers to idle their fields, killed millions of trees, and fueled devastating megafires.

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Nevada Farmers and Conservationists Balk at ‘Water Banking’

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Sam Metz

Rural water users are panicking over a proposal to create a market for the sale and purchase of water rights in Nevada, unconvinced by arguments that the concept would encourage conservation. Lawmakers on Monday weighed whether so-called “water banking” would be preferable to prevailing water law doctrines that govern surface and groundwater rights disputes in the driest state in the U.S.

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Western Rivers Face Pinch as Another Dry Year Takes Shape

/in , /by /AP Newsby Susan Montoya Bryan

As several states in the American West face intense drought, it’s shaping up to be a very difficult year for New Mexico farmers because of limited irrigation supplies, with some saying conditions haven’t been this dire since the 1950s. Snowpack and precipitation are below average, spring runoff is trailing, and New Mexico comes in last among nearly a dozen Western states for dismal reservoir storage levels.

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Megadrought: ‘Climate Change Starting to Hammer Home’

/in , /by /E&E Newsby Jeremy P. Jacobs

California is heading for a “critically dry year” as drought spreads across the American West, creating a slow-moving crisis for the Biden administration and state officials.

The Golden State’s annual survey of Sierra Nevada snowpack, upon which it relies for as much as a third of its water, was only 59% of normal, officials warned last week, underscoring that the state didn’t get the “March miracle” of rain and snow it had hoped for.

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More Water Spending Sought for West in Infrastructure Bill

/in , /by /Western Farm Press

As drought worsens in the West, a coalition of more than 200 farm and water organizations from 15 states that has been pushing to fix the region’s crumbling canals and reservoirs is complaining that President Joe Biden’s new infrastructure proposal doesn’t provide enough funding for above- or below-ground storage.

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