After years of extreme drought and dismal snowpack, California has had a remarkably wet winter and is now veering into record-setting territory for snowfall.
As of Friday, the snowpack in the southern Sierra Nevada was at 286% of normal — the highest figure ever, easily eclipsing the region’s benchmark of 263% set in 1969.
The Marin Municipal Water District’s directors are on a political hot seat.
They are considering a four-year plan of raising rates, possibly as much as 20% for most customers, to right MMWD’s fiscal ship and pay for expanding the district’s storage capacity and make needed repairs.
San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Sandra Kerl is the keynote speaker at the 2023 Women in Water Conference at Cuyamaca College Wednesday, March 29. This year’s theme is “Building Resilience In Post-Pandemic Times.” Kerl’s remarks will focus on the conference theme of building career resilience in a new post-pandemic work environment.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom ended some of the state’s water restrictions on Friday because a winter of relentless rain and snow has replenished the state’s reservoirs and eased fears of a shortage after three years of severe drought.
He also announced local agencies that supply water to 27 million people and many farmers would get much more from state supplies than originally planned. But Newsom did not declare an end to the drought, warning much of the state is still suffering from its lingering effects.
“Are we out of a drought? Mostly — but not completely,” Newsom said Friday from a farm northwest of Sacramento that has flooded its fields to help replenish groundwater.
Newsom said he would stop asking people to voluntarily cut their water use by 15%, a request he first made nearly two years ago while standing at the edge of a nearly dry Lopez Lake in the state’s Central Coast region — a lake that today is so full from recent storms it is almost spilling over. Californians never met Newsom’s call for that level of conservation — as of January the cumulative savings were just 6.2%.
“It’s snowing!” is how Imperial Irrigation District Water Manager Tina Shields began her hydrology report at the March 21 regular meeting. The water manager’s monthly reports have taken a turn to the positive after years of dire Lake Mead elevation readings.
Although Central California irrigates with water from different sources other than the Colorado River, the Valley’s sole source of water, Shields reported the continuous atmospheric rivers have been devastating to the Central Valley farmland with reports of flooding and washing out of ground.
“Every drought is followed by a flood,” she said. “They have had 250% above average of rain, the photos of two-story houses buried in snow and ski lifts unusable because they are covered in snow are crazy. They are actually talking about Fourth of July skiing and that fields will stay flooded for months. It is all time record breaking.”
A modest proposal for western water: Turn off the spigot to the Imperial Valley and let the farms go fallow. In return, provide a water future for Arizona, Nevada and Southern California.
Sure, there would be a price to pay. California’s Imperial Valley, which sits in the southeastern corner of the state, bordered by Arizona and Mexico, produces alfalfa, lettuce, corn and sugar beets, among other crops. It’s home to more than 300,000 head of cattle. Cutting off the water would end all of that, along with the livelihoods of the farmers and ranchers who produce it and the communities that depend on it.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has loaned $170 million intended to reduce financing costs for environmental upgrades at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant, it was announced Friday.
Rep. Mike Levin, D-Dana Point, helped secure the funds, which he said will save ratepayers up to $54 million compared to alternate financing strategies.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday relaxed drought rules in California amid a winter season filled with atmospheric river storms, flooding and a massive Sierra Nevada snowpack — soaking conditions that followed three dry, grueling years that had been marked by water shortages, extreme wildfires and heat waves.
Members of Congress from six of the seven states that use Colorado River water are convening a new caucus. The group aims to help rally federal funding for water projects along a river that supplies 40 million people and is shrinking due to climate change.
The desalination plant in Carlsbad will receive $170 million in federal financing to upgrade its facility and meet environmental requirements, officials announced this week.
The low-interest loan is intended to help the plant’s owner, Poseidon Resources, satisfy state regulations for protecting fish and other marine life at the Claude “Bud” Lewis plant. The money, awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is estimated to save ratepayers about $54 million.
