Lake Mead’s surface Wednesday evening hit its lowest level since the man-made reservoir was created by the building of the Hoover Dam in 1935.
The surface of the lake — a critical source of water for Nevada, California, Arizona and Mexico — is expected to drop lower in the coming weeks, but rebound before the beginning of next year, when jurisdictions would be asked to accept shortages in supply.
The risk of wildfires is nothing new to Californians and Auburn residents. Drought or no drought;the truth is California’s Mediterranean climate lends itself perfectly to wildfires. They are a natural part of our ecosystem. There is no doubt that the rain this winter has been great, but don’t let it fool you, the risk for wildfires is still high.
While the fire-prone American River Canyon this summer will be filled with fuel for a major wildfire, almost all of Placer County, and especially the Auburn area, is at risk for wildfires.
Before throngs of TV news cameras in April last year, Gov. Jerry Brown stood on a patch of bare Sierra dirt that should have been covered in snow and told Californians they had to be unified in conserving water.
Noting that his call for voluntary conservation had not resulted in a significant change in habits among urban and suburban residents the previous summer, Brown said that he had no choice but to order urban water providers to collectively reduce water use by 25 percent compared with 2013. “We’re in an historic drought,” Brown said. “And that demands unprecedented action.”
A judge says Southern California’s largest water supplier can move ahead with plans to buy sprawling farmland that could be used to help build twin tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
A superior court judge sided Thursday with Metropolitan Water District. It’s buying 20,000 acres in the delta islands east of San Francisco for $175 million. San Joaquin and Contra Costa counties argued that Metropolitan didn’t adequately study how the deal may harm the fragile delta before striking the deal.
Eric Graham has fake grass. Across the street, Louie Torres has dead grass. The Irvine neighbors, like most Californians, know lush, green lawns are a distant dream even as the state’s long drought eases.
But California’s decision Wednesday to return conservation goals to local control has them hoping their bills will get a little more manageable, and their yards a little less ugly.
“It looks terrible,” said Torres, 49, as he looked at his brown yard. “I’ve been trying to save water. They said, ‘brown is the new green.'”
The end of the historic California drought appears increasingly unlikely, at least anytime soon, with new long-range forecasts hinting at a warm, dry winter for much of the state.
The monthly outlook released Thursday by the U.S. Climate Prediction Center cites a 33 percent chance that significantly below-average precipitation will arrive in San Francisco and points south between December and February. The outlook also identifies a higher probability of above-average temperatures in California south of Monterey Bay over the same period.
California’s decision to let local entities regulate how much water people use has residents hoping their bills will get a little more manageable and their yards a little less ugly. Lee Nguyen, a 64-year-old retiree in Irvine, believes she has done her part to help in the five-year drought. She has swapped out the grass on her front lawn with local native plants and cactus to cut down on water use. She’s also started catching rainwater for her garden to stretch the savings even further.
A state water agency on Tuesday proposed a Northern California man pay $4.6 million in fines and restore wetlands he allegedly damaged while trying to build a kite-surfing hub and revive a duck hunting club in a small island northeast of San Francisco.
The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board said John Sweeney and his Point Buckler Club filled and degraded more than 29 acres of tidal wetlands on the 51-acre Point Buckler Island located in Solano County’s Suisun Marsh.
A two-year Delta fight came to a head Tuesday as a state water agency proposed a $4.6 million fine — its largest ever — and cleanup order against a Pittsburg resident who owns a small island in the Suisun Marsh.
Agricultural demand for recycled water is increasing along with the ability to supply it. But water experts say competition for access to the resource is rising—and say they’re unsure what the growing demand may mean for prices.
State water officials plan a survey of recycled water use in coming months—the first since 2009, when they estimated use of recycled water at 700,000 acre-feet. Results from the new survey could come early next year.
