A plan to build two huge tunnels to shunt fresh water around the Sacramento Delta is supposed to be funded entirely by the people who received the water. But taxpayers may end up paying a substantial amount of the tab.
That’s according to documents obtained by the Stockton-based environmental group Restore the Delta that discuss the cost of the California WaterFix project, which is projected to cost at least $16 billion to build.
Gov. Jerry Brown this week signed a bill by Assemblyman James Gallagher to expedite construction of water storage projects, such as the proposed Sites Reservoir in Colusa and Glenn counties.
The new law will allow water storage construction projects to utilize alternative delivery methods for procurement.
“It’s great. It’s something we worked with a lot of different stakeholders on, as well as worked across the aisle on,” Gallagher said. “It’s nice to see something that I think is going to be really helpful with building water storage.”
September 29, 2016 – For the USDM 7-day period ending on September 27, a low pressure system produced above-normal precipitation in the western High Plains southwestward into the much of the Mountain West. The frontal boundary that was associated with the low produced copious amounts of rainfall for the Southern Plains stretching northward into Upper Midwest. Parts of the Mid-Atlantic also saw above-normal precipitation for the period. Drier-than-normal conditions existed for much of the country east of the Mississippi, especially for the Ohio Valley.
One of my fondest memories growing up in Hawaii was Hurricane Nina, which wasn’t very significant in the history books, but it left an impression on me. Torrential rains and heavy winds knocked down banana trees and power lines, and took out water mains. We didn’t have running water for part of the time – my dad drove down the hill to fill buckets from a water truck. Mom taught us how to take baths in buckets: she boiled water on the stove and mixed in cold water until the temperature was just right.
What will the 2016-20127 winter deliver, weatherwise, for California and Arizona farmers?
AccuWeather says that northern California could have a stormy start to the season while points south of the San Francisco Bay Area and Lake Tahoe will remain warm and dry for the entire winter season.
Much the same is predicted for all of Arizona.
AccuWeather’s long-range forecaster, Paul Pastelok, thinks December could include snow pack in northern California before high pressure returns and makes an impenetrable goal-line stance on storms trying to move into the Pacific Northwest and California.
California’s 2016 water year ends Friday, marking the fourth year of insufficient precipitation with more rain than snow, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
The state experienced an early and below-average runoff that was in large part absorbed before reaching the state reservoirs, due to the warm temperatures.
A simple truth: Our homes, businesses and communities in western Los Angeles County served by the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District would not exist were it not for water from Northern California.
But the reliability of those supplies is at long-term risk.
This high quality Sierra Nevada supply flows through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. But, deteriorating environmental conditions have led to greater pumping restrictions. State and federal agencies are developing a plan to modernize this water system by building new intakes and a twin tunnel pipeline delivery system to reliably capture water and deliver it to millions of Californians.
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a measure by state Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, to help failing public water systems provide services in disadvantaged communities throughout California. Wolk’s Senate Bill 552 enables the state to contract with third-party administrators with the expertise to help provide customers of these failing water systems with safe and affordable drinking water. “All Californians have a right to safe, clean, affordable and accessible water suitable for human consumption, cooking and sanitation,” Wolk said.
Last year at this time, weather forecasters had a pretty good idea of what was in store as California headed into the rainy season. The Pacific Ocean surface was warming, and they were predicting one of the strongest El Niño weather patterns in recorded history. El Niño ended up making an appearance, but it wasn’t the series of gully washers for which some had hoped. This year, the forecast is even less certain. “It really is a crapshoot,” said Michelle Mead, a meteorologist with the Sacramento office of the National Weather Service.
Gulf states are among the most water-scarce in the world. With few freshwater resources and low rainfall, many countries have turned to desalination (where salt is removed from seawater) for their clean water needs. But Gulf states are heading for “peak salt”: the more they desalinate, the more concentrated wastewater, brine, is pumped back into the sea; and as the Gulf becomes saltier, desalination becomes more expensive. “In time, it’s going to become impossible to use desalination in a way that makes economic sense,” says Gökçe Günel, an anthropologist at the University of Arizona.
