El Niño is back, and it might be bigger than ever.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared in June that the threshold for an El Niño had been met in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and that it was likely to strengthen significantly through the end of the year — potentially becoming the strongest on record by a wide margin.
The North American monsoon could bring welcome rain to parts of the drought-hit Southwest this summer but forecasters and water specialists warn it is unlikely to meaningfully reverse the crisis gripping Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
The two reservoirs—the largest in the United States and critical storage points for the Colorado River—remain at severely depleted levels after years of drought, climate change-driven aridification and heavy demand from cities, farms and tribal communities across the West.
Near seasonal temperatures are expected through the first half of the week in San Diego County, with an increase in both high and low temperatures for the middle to end of the week, the National Weather Service said Sunday.
An isolated shower or two may develop over the highest mountain peaks Sunday and Monday afternoon, with no impacts expected and drier conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday, the NWS said. There is an increased chance for afternoon or evening showers and thunderstorms over the mountains Thursday and Friday.
San Diegans who use less water could see their monthly water bills increase in 2027 due to a proposed rate change that could eliminate the City’s tiered pricing system.
The proposal, prompted by a court ruling in Patz, et al. v. City of San Diego, 113 Cal. App. 5th 225 (2025), would replace the current tiered system, where customers who use less water pay a lower rate, and those who use more water pay more.
When I was a budding water reporter at Voice, I knew – if I was confused, which I often was – I could call Gary Arant and he’d set me straight.
The former general manager of the Valley Center Municipal Water District stood out among the San Diego County Water Authority’s 34 board members because he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind – in a loveable, grouchy grandfather kind of way.
Southern California will face a double threat this week of a dangerous heat wave and, along the coast, hazardous high waves.
The conditions are brought on by high pressure moving in from the east as well as the unusual path of Tropical Storm Elida, which is traveling northward in the Pacific Ocean and is expected to bring hazardous surf and strong rip currents to Southern California beaches.
A section of Sunset Boulevard remained closed on Sunday because of last week’s destructive water main break, with officials saying they didn’t know when repairs to the 110-year-old pipe would be completed or the street reopened.
“While there is no set completion date yet, our crews remain dedicated to finishing the repairs as quickly and safely as possible,” the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said in a Sunday news release.
The U.S. is providing emergency assistance to Tijuana after a pump failure reduced the city’s drinking water supply during peak summer temperatures.
Officials approved the delivery of about 368 acre-feet of Mexico’s share of Colorado River water through the U.S. conveyance system to help meet demand.
In spite of a dry spring and a June heat wave, Lake Shasta waters are right where they should be, historically speaking, thanks in part to powerful wet winter storms and their runoff that filled the reservoir.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reported the rain-dependent reservoir, which is California’s largest, was 73% full as of midnight on Thursday. That’s the lake’s historic average for that date over the past 30 years.
In a bid to prop up a rapidly shrinking Lake Mead and protect the Southwest’s electricity grid, Southern California’s primary water wholesaler approved a deal Tuesday to leave up to 200,000 acre-feet of its Colorado River supply in the reservoir this year.
Under the agreement, the federal government will pay the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) $325 per acre-foot–up to $65 million total–to keep the water in the reservoir rather than delivering it to Southern California cities. The funding is backed by the federal Inflation Reduction Act’s Lower Colorado River Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program.
