Washington’s Yakima River basin has been thirsty for rain, but it’s finally getting a drink.
Drought conditions have not let up in the region for three years. But in the first full week of last December, its mountain reservoirs racked up a combined 36 inches of rain.
Water use in California was lower than officials estimated it would be between 2000 and 2020, according to a new report.
The findings raise questions about the accuracy of long-term water-demand projections, which could have knock-on effects on costs borne by consumers, but overall the news that water demand is lower than projected is positive for the state and its regular battles against drought, experts told Live Science.
Los Angeles and Ventura county officials Wednesday broke ground on a $280 million pump station project designed to ensure water is available in Southland communities that were hard hit during recent California droughts.
The Sepulveda Feeder Pump Stations Project will allow the region’s water wholesaler — the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — to divert water from the Colorado River and Diamond Valley Lake to communities that normally rely on State Water Project supplies. The project will ensure that when water supplies are limited, SWP-reliant communities will have access to water from other sources.
Southern California’s largest reservoir, Diamond Valley Lake, is nearly full due in large part to two powerful sets of storms that drenched the region over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
It’s at 94% capacity. Many of the reservoirs in Los Angeles County, just as critical, are also in good shape. It’s been a long time since the region has seen this much rain this early in the season.
After years of unpredictable water resources, California officials are taking steps to make sure precious rainwater doesn’t just wash away when storms hit.
State leaders announced this week that California is expanding efforts to capture and store stormwater during the wet season. According to the governor’s office, per KRCR, agencies across the state are working together to collect runoff, direct it into reservoirs, and recharge groundwater for use during drier months.
More than two-thirds of the country is facing unusual dryness or full-blown drought conditions, despite winter being known for heavier precipitation, according to a Washington Post analysis of recent U.S. Drought Monitor data.
The conditions touch every state except for the usually drought-prone California, which has had a wet winter.
The Department of Water and Power is developing plans for Pure Water Los Angeles (“PWLA”) a facility that will convert wastewater to drinking water. This project will be located at Hyperion, just south of LAX, and will produce an estimated 200,000-acre feet of potable water a year, an amount equal to more than 40% of the City’s annual consumption.
This project is designed to increase the supply of water from local sources (10-15%), reducing our dependence on non-local sources (85-90%). Today, the City relies on water delivered by the Metropolitan Water District (“MWD”) through the California Aqueduct from Northern California and the Colorado River Aqueduct. We also receive water via the Los Angeles Aqueduct from sources in the Eastern Sierras and Owens Valley that are controlled by DWP, although this source has been constrained because of environmental issues.
As we start the second full week of the new year, Imperial Valley continues to receive unwelcome news. While our elected IID Board members and key staff have been busy celebrating the growth in the Coachella Valley in ribbon cuttings IID celebrates and filing litigation against the County of Imperial (IID Files Lawsuit), the most important aspect of their responsibility seems to be slipping away from them and without any notice to the public.
For all things following the Colorado River, be aware that the interim Guidelines which established criteria for water use, expire in August 2026. The 2025 deadlines set for the seven-state negotiating team for new 2026 guidelines were missed. With that failure, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has released a report with five options for managing the Colorado River after 2026. The significance of that 1600-page report can be summarized below:
Record-setting rain this season has pushed California completely out of the “abnormally dry” category on the U.S. Drought Monitor for the first time in 25 years, as a series of storms delivered one of the wettest starts to the water year across the state.
Southern California saw a notably soggy holiday period, with rain on Christmas Eve and Christmas marking the fourth-wettest two-day holiday stretch on record.
California has been declared drought-free for the first time in a quarter-century.
However, Central Valley water experts warn that the state needs to take immediate action to boost water supplies in preparation for future dry conditions. The U.S. Drought Monitor declared that California does not have any drought conditions last week. That is the first time that California has not experienced drought conditions since December 2000.
