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Project Plans for the Sites Reservoir in Northern California Finalized

/in , , /by /ABC 10by Brody Adams

The future of California water storage reached a major milestone Thursday with the finalization for plans of the Sites Reservoir in Northern California. The reservoir would be the second largest off-stream reservoir in the nation and would increase Northern California’s water storage capacity by up to 15%, according to a press release from the Bureau of Reclamation. It will deliver water to beneficiaries primarily during dry periods or drought. The project area is about an hour north of Sacramento, situated between the Sacramento Valley to the east and the mountainous portion of the Coast Range on the west. It’s currently being used for livestock and cattle grazing.

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First Major Water Storage Project in Over a Decade Moving Forward

/in , , /by /AgNet Westby Brian German

The recent approval of the B.F. Sisk Dam Raise and Reservoir Expansion Project marks a significant improvement to California’s water storage capacity. This major project, greenlit as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, represents the first substantial water storage approval in California since 2011. The Department of the Interior, in collaboration with the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, has granted the nod to this crucial initiative, signaling a new era for water storage in the state.

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Here’s How Arizona Plans to Make Wastewater Into Purified Water

/in , , /by /12 Newsby Haley Williams

As Arizona faces historical water consumption and continued drought, being able to treat wastewater to be reused has become an attractive option to maintain water security.

Thursday, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) released proposed plans on how to safely turn wastewater into reliable, purified water.

The plan introduces the Advanced Water Purification (AWP) Program, which ADEQ hopes will allow stakeholders and the public to better understand and establish clear communication throughout the process.

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MPWMD Prevails in Lawsuit Against LAFCO

/in , /by /Monterey County Weeklyby David Schmalz

In the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District’s pursuit of buying out California American Water’s system on the Monterey Peninsula, a small but notable victory was meted out Oct. 25 with a ruling from Monterey County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wills.

The ruling came out of a lawsuit the district filed against the Local Agency Formation Commission of Monterey County in April 2022, centered around a decision LAFCO’s board made in December 2021 in which the board voted 5-2 to deny granting the district the “latent powers” to be a retail water provider.

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Snowpack at 114% After Weekend Storms Hit Rockies; Will We See a Repeat of Wet Winter?

/in , , /by /8 News Nowby Greg Haas

It’s still more than seven weeks before the official start of winter (Dec. 21), but weekend storms in Colorado’s high country are reason enough to look in on snowpack levels that will eventually provide the water that flows to Lake Mead.

A month into the 2023 “water year,” snowpack levels are slightly above normal in the Upper Colorado River Basin: 114% as of Nov. 1, according to data on the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s website. The water year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 each year.

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How Snowfall Will Change Lake Mead’s Water Levels

/in , , /by /Newsweek by Anna Skinner

An El Niño winter snowfall map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted more good news for Lake Mead.

After years of drought the lake, located in Nevada and Arizona, reached drastically low levels in the summer of 2022. However, water levels have since started to recover because of above-average precipitation and snowpack that melted throughout this year. As of Wednesday afternoon, its levels were at 1,065 feet, 20 feet higher than this time last year.

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Troubled Waters: Colorado River Crisis – Into the Wild West

/in , , /by /KESQby Angela Chen

In the sun-split desert of the Coachella Valley, life here is only possible with water from elsewhere. The water that grows our food, the water we drink and the water we exist around come from the special aquifers below the valley and the Colorado River.

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A Tangle of Rules to Protect America’s Water Is Falling Short

/in , , /by /The New York Times by Dionne Searcey and Delger Erdenesanaa

America’s stewardship of one of its most precious resources, groundwater, relies on a patchwork of state and local rules so lax and outdated that in many places oversight is all but nonexistent, a New York Times analysis has found.

The majority of states don’t know how many wells they have, the analysis revealed. Many have incomplete records of older wells, including some that pump large volumes of water, and many states don’t register the millions of household wells that dot the country.

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Expanded Drought.gov Tool Visualizes Historical Drought Conditions by County, State

/in , , /by /Drought.gov

The “Dust Bowl” drought of the 1930s brought nearly a decade of dry conditions to the Great Plains, causing many farmers to flee their lands and livelihoods. Looking further back, tree-ring and lake-sediment records indicate that “megadroughts” have occurred in North America over the last thousand years. By looking back at historical data, communities can get a better understanding of how current droughts compare to past events and drought and extreme weather threats to be prepared for.

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Opinion: Lake Mead Has a 1-in-4 Chance of Going Low Again by 2026, if We Don’t Do More Now

/in , /by /AZ Central by Joanna Allhands

Now that we’re knee-deep in the long-term process to save the Colorado River, almost no one is asking whether we’ve done enough to stabilize it for the next few years.

A wet winter and billions of dollars in funding already solved that problem, right?

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