What Might Cuts to Dwindling Colorado River Mean for States?
The Biden administration floated two ideas this week to reduce water usage from the dwindling Colorado River, which supplies 40 million people.
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What Colorado Water Officials Think of the Federal Government’s Proposed Colorado River Cuts
The federal government has laid out its ideas for water cuts in the Colorado River Basin, which means time is running out for basin states to agree on a plan of their own.
In Colorado, water officials say the onus is on California and Arizona to make it work.
Opinion: Drought and Flood, California’s Double Whammy
Just as federal officials were laying out alternative scenarios last week for steep water supply cuts from the Colorado River due to the drying Southwest, California officials were warning that this year’s historic Sierra snowpack could flood much of the state later this year.
San Joaquin Valley Farmers Dig in for the Next Battle: An Epic Sierra Snowmelt
Tom Barcellos has farmed the reclaimed soil of the Tulare Lake Basin for nearly five decades, and he’s rarely witnessed a winter like 2023.
A slew of drenching storms, funneled across the Pacific Ocean as atmospheric rivers, have prompted prolonged flooding in large swaths of the San Joaquin Valley.
Phoenix to Recycle Wastewater Into Drinking Water
The city of Phoenix announced its plans Wednesday to recycle wastewater for drinking purposes in the near future as Arizona is on the heels of even more cuts due to the shrinking Colorado River.
The plan is set to be implemented within the Valley by 2030.
Water Rights: Feds Could Place Burden on Las Vegas to Protect California Farms
The federal government laid out a pair of options Tuesday to drastically cut water use along the Colorado River and keep Lake Mead and Lake Powell from crashing any further in the coming years.
One of the proposals would impose hefty cuts following a strict priority system, which would protect the California agricultural sector’s water rights while placing the heaviest burden on cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix, while the other proposal would share those reductions more proportionally across Nevada, Arizona and California.
NOAA Issues El Niño Watch: What This Could Mean for California
Move aside La Niña – it’s almost time for El Niño to take over.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center issued an “El Niño watch” Thursday morning, saying the climate pattern is expected to form sooner than previously anticipated.
Opinion: Increasing Temperatures Increase California Flood Risk
California was experiencing a series of major rain and snow storms in January when Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a 2023-24 state budget.
Tucked into one of the budget’s hundreds of pages of detail was this paragraph:
“San Joaquin Valley Flood Plain Restoration – A reduction of $40 million General Fund in 2023-24, which eliminates funding for this purpose.”
California to Squander Record Rains, Snowpack in Deluge of Regulations, GOP Lawmakers Say
California’s Central Valley constitutes 1 percent of the agricultural land in the United States yet it harvests nearly a quarter of the nation’s farmed products.
The 50-mile wide, 450-mile-long breadbasket is irrigated by an intricate series of river impoundments and canals that are regulated by federal and state agencies.
Water Authority Supports Talks on Fed Draft Colorado River Proposal
The San Diego County Water Authority supports a consensus-based approach for long-term solutions to water supply issues in the Colorado River Basin. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on April 11 released a draft environmental document that considers changes to near-term operations on the Colorado River, including potential reductions in water supplies for California and across the Lower Colorado River Basin.
