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Rains Helped, But Drought is Part of ‘New Normal’

/in , , /by /The Orange County Register by Martin Wisckol

Far from being rescued from drought by recent storms, the state needs to prepare for a “new normal” of restricted water supplies, California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said Tuesday, Oct. 26.

To do that, Crowfoot said California must accelerate conservation efforts to deal with current drought conditions and continue to build on long-term water-management strategies, such as the $5.2 billion Water and Drought Resilience Package announced in September by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Crowfoot made his case to the executive committee of the Metropolitan Water District, which manages Southern California’s water imports from the Colorado River and Northern California.

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How Improved Atmospheric River Forecasting Can Help Keep Water Flowing in California

/in , , /by /ABC10by Monica Woods

Atmospheric rivers can bring dangerous flooding, but, without them, California can head into drought. Improving forecasts for these huge storms is a focus for the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes to keep water flowing in the state.

Marty Ralph remembers living in Los Angeles in the 1980s when a huge rainstorm dropped nearly half the rainfall for the whole year in 12 hours. It was at that moment he realized he wanted to study these kind of storms

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Sacramento Went From Record Drought to Record Rain. Climate Change May Make That More Common.

/in , , /by /Cap Radioby Manola Secaira

Residents of the Sacramento area have been on a meteorological seesaw this past week: After 212 days without rain, the area saw precipitation again — which, this weekend, turned into an all-out rainstorm.

Already, the rainfall this weekend broke records: The area got more than half of the rain it had all of the last wet season, which was particularly dry, in a single storm.

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Los Angeles Receives $224 Million Loan From EPA For Water Recycling Project

/in , , /by /CBS Los Angeles

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has granted a $224 million loan to the City of Los Angeles. The loan will be used to fund a project that aims to purify wastewater and replenish the depleted San Fernando Basin.

The project, called The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA), aims to purify 15.5 million gallons of the city’s wastewater every day, a move that would replenish both the basin and its aquifers – a body of rock that can contain or transmit groundwater.

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Charts Show Where California Reservoir Totals Stand After the Atmospheric River

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Danielle Echeverria

This weekend’s atmospheric river brought record-breaking amounts of rain to drought-plagued California. But they didn’t give the state’s water supply much of a boost, data shows.

The state Department of Water Resources compared the amount of water in select reservoirs across the state as of midnight Oct. 25 to the capacity of each reservoir and to historic levels for the same date. The data shows that, even after all of Sunday and Monday’s rainfall, many of California’s largest reservoirs are still holding less water than the historic level for this time of year.

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Marin Desalination Prospects Fade in Favor of Imports

/in , /by /Marin Independent Journalby Will Houston

The Marin Municipal Water District is moving away from plans to acquire temporary desalination plants and instead is exploring purchasing more water from Sonoma County during the winter months.

“We are determining that this is really not a feasible approach for the current drought where winter water does seem promising,” Paul Sellier, the district operations director, told the board on Oct. 19.

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As Need to Test Water for Microplastics Increases, California Finds a Way

/in , /by /Spectrum News 1by Parker Collins

Wherever you get your drinking water, there’s a good chance it contains some amount of tiny plastic pieces.

There aren’t a lot of rules or regulations around this particular pollutant because it is considered an emerging contaminant, but that is changing.

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Recent Northern California Storms Made a Dent in the Drought. But Will It Be Enough?

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

The parade of storms that blasted California over the past week marked a strong start to the rainy season. Some parts of the state, including Napa, Santa Rosa and Sacramento, received half the rain in 24 hours that they got in all of the past year.

But with California locked in one of its worst droughts in modern history, and some areas short two years’ worth of water, a lot more wet weather is needed to mend the state’s water woes.

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Helix Water District Adds New Assistant General Manager Position

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Karen Pearlman
Helix Water District has added a new tier of management to help oversee its more than 277,000 East County customers.

The district’s five-person board last week approved the creation of an assistant general manager position, bringing the number of employees to 151 in the district, which has an $80 million budget.

District spokesperson Mike Uhrhammer said Helix created the new position as part of its succession plan following the anticipated retirement of current general manager Carlos Lugo.

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Water News Network is Best Public Website for 4th Consecutive Year

/in , , /by /Water News Network Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The Water News Network was awarded first place as the Best Public Service or Consumer Advocacy Website in the 48th annual San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. It’s the fourth consecutive year the WNN website has won first place in that category. The award was announced during a virtual ceremony on October 25. Last year the California Public Information Officers Organization, or CAPIO, named the WNN the “Best Website” among California public agencies.

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