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Sites Reservoir Backers Prepare To Seek Bond Money

Backers of the proposed Sites Reservoir west of here believe they have plenty of momentum going into next year’s application period for Proposition 1 water bond funds. The number of agencies signed on to participate in the project has grown from 14 to 34, including from the San Francisco Bay area and San Joaquin Valley, said Jim Watson, general manager of the Sites Authority. And the Legislature recently passed Assembly Bill 2553, a bipartisan measure that will give flexibility in construction methods to help speed the project.

Late-Week Storm To Deliver Critical Rainfall To California

Rain will douse California late this week, with the potential for some rain to reach southern portions of the state. While the rain will be beneficial in terms of the drought, enough rain can fall to cause travel disruptions and localized flash flooding from Thursday to Friday. More than 40 percent of California is dealing with extreme to exceptional drought, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor released on Oct. 20. Prior to the late-week dousing, showers will affect portions of northern and Southern California into Tuesday before dry weather returns for a time.

Weak La Nina May Help Ease Drought

Federal climatologists predict that dry conditions will generally recede over the winter in Oregon, Idaho, Washington and parts of Northern California, providing an early and upbeat outlook on next year’s water supply. The Climate Prediction Center forecast a 70 percent chance of a weak La Nina, a cooling of the ocean around the equator. La Nina generally tilts the odds in favor of wetter and cooler winters in the northern U.S., according to the center. It’s not a sure bet, though. La Nina’s influence will vary by region. The odds it stays through the winter are 55 percent.

Avocado Shortage Affecting Restaurants, Grocery Stores Across Central Coast

Some bad news for avocado lovers — some local restaurants have taken the fruit off their menus due to a shortage. Several things play into this shortage, including California’s drought and an early harvest. Plus, according to local avocado farmers, growers in Mexico went on strike because they weren’t happy about the prices they were getting. “And that’s what you have now, is a created shortage by them because they did a shutdown,” said Alan Cavaletto, Morro Creek Ranch General Manager.

A Solution To California’s Drought?

New research may have found a solution to address California’s prolonged period of drought. A study conducted by researchers at Stanford University suggests that California’s aquifers, underground areas where water collects, may have up to three times the amount of useable groundwater as previously estimated. The research estimates that the previously untapped deep groundwater source could hold up to 2,700 billion tons of freshwater under the state’s Central Valley.  Historically, deep groundwater aquifers have been developed for gas and oil extraction, rather than used as a viable water source.

Fears Of Flooding Rise As Rain Returns To Bay Area

Back-to-back bouts of rain that began Monday will make for an unusually wet week leading up to Halloween, said forecasters who are beginning to grow concerned about potential flooding this winter in fire-scorched areas. Sprinkles began falling Monday morning and spread throughout the afternoon, with downpours expected to last through the night. The stormy weather will continue until Tuesday evening, with as much as 2 inches of rain expected in the hardest-hit areas of the North Bay, National Weather Service meteorologists said.

Sites Reservoir Has A New Website, Logo and More Than Enough Investors

Last week, folks who are in the inner circle of the plans for Sites Reservoir held a get-together in Maxwell to show off the group’s new office and new logo. Also new is a website, that talks about all things Sites Reservoir — a construction schedule, facts sheets and a list of interested participants (see sidebar). The next big step is money, particularly through a proposal to get a chunk of the $2.7 billion of bond funds available from California’s Proposition 1. The Sites Reservoir committee won’t be able to apply for that funding until around the middle of next year.

California’s San Joaquin River — Agriculture vs. A Healthy River

The San Joaquin River is the longest river in Central California, and the second most endangered river in the country. But because of dams, levees, and water diversion, over 100 miles of the river has been dry for 50 years. Sacramento – The San Joaquin River is second only to the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint rivers basin in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida as a seriously endangered river in this country.

 

State Releases Report For Delta, Sacramento River Basin Water Flows

The state’s Bay-Delta water quality and species protection efforts added another piece Friday with the release of the draft report on water flow in and out of the Sacramento River Basin. California’s Water Quality Control Board is seeking comment on the Scientific Basis Report, from which it will determine the necessary flows to “protect fish and wildlife beneficial uses.” “The report also acknowledges that non-flow measures should be integrated with flows to protect fish and wildlife,” the board staff said in a statement released with the report.

After El Niño, What Weird Weather Could La Niña Bring?

This time last year the world’s weather was being dominated by one of the strongest El Niño events on record. As surface waters in the equatorial Eastern Pacific warmed by more than 2°C, a chain reaction of extreme weather events was set in motion. From torrential rains in Peru and huge storms pounding the coast of California, to drought and bushfire in Australia and Indonesia and catastrophic floods in south-east India (submerging parts of Chennai under eight metres of water), this El Niño really packed some punch.