Facing a dry future, Westlands and westside towns like Avenal need each other.
Small western Fresno and Kings County towns like Coalinga, Huron and Avenal are in the same boat as Westlands Water District. They have no potable local water supply but depend on imports from Northern California.
More money is coming down the pipeline for Nevada’s efforts to conserve water amid a historic megadrought that has put the pinch on supplies in the Southwest.
Drought and wildfire risks will remain elevated in the western states while warmer than average temperatures will greet the Southwest, Gulf Coast and East Coast this winter, federal weather officials said Thursday.
With several billion dollars in federal money secured for drought-stricken western states, managers and officials on the Rio Grande are hopeful some will reach their communities and bring attention to the challenges facing one of North America’s longest rivers.
Chula Vista, Calif. – Sweetwater Authority received a grant from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for $275,000. The grant money is for the preparation of a draft Habitat Conservation Plan Natural Community Conservation Plan (HCP / NCCP). The Authority will provide a 25% match to these funds to complete the draft plan.
As California endures its worst drought in 1,200 years, San Diego County’s water industry has developed diversified sources and accelerated conservation practices to secure its water supply for the future. The City of Escondido’s innovative water treatment and saving methods offers a model for other drought-stricken cities.
As the Colorado River water crisis deepens amid withering drought in the West, Imperial Valley growers with historic rights to water from the river are making calculations on whether to farm or fallow.
This month, the Imperial Irrigation District, which supplies Colorado River water to farmers in America’s largest growing region for winter vegetables, joined other California water agencies in offering to take a dramatic cut in the amount of water they pull from the river.
Bodies of water all over North America are drying up as a result of drought and a decrease in precipitation, experts told ABC News.
Earlier this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted that the 22-year megadrought affecting the West would not only intensify but also move eastward.
New Melones Reservoir — critical to Escalon farmland, as well as Manteca, Lathrop, and Tracy water supplies — was at 616,704 acre feet on Oct. 6.
That’s less than half the average 1,326,146 acre feet of water storage for the date of Oct. 5.
To put that in perspective, it is 47 percent of the average in storage for the start of a new California water year that officially started on Oct. 1.
All eyes are on Arizona and the six other Colorado River basin states that recently missed the federal government’s deadline to adopt a plan that substantially cuts water usage in just one year.
The 23rd consecutive year of drought, fueled by climate change, has accelerated the basin’s water crisis. Quite simply, demand for water within basin states exceeds what the river can sustainably provide.
Sweetwater Authority Logo 2019