As the temperatures warm up across the West, all eyes remain on the water levels at lakes Powell and Mead. Experts say there is still plenty of snowpack to add to the Colorado River as well. Even on a windy Monday, people still want to visit Lake Mead.
A year after Lake Mead dropped to a historic low, the U.S. government’s Department of Interior and Bureau of Reclamation have announced the beginning of the process to develop a new plan to deal with the changing water levels in reservoirs along the Colorado River. To do this it is setting up three public input meetings online where people can voice ideas and concerns.
Water is a precious resource, essential to life and requires our utmost care. As drought, climate change, wildfires and other natural disasters become more impactful, it is more important than ever that we are meeting our everyday and emergency water needs.
You can blame California’s wild winter for all sorts of havoc this spring and summer: moldy, leaking roofs, plagues of mosquitoes, cabin fever.
Giant, less-flavorful strawberries also deserve a spot on that list.
California produces 90% of the nation’s strawberries, which typically enjoy a growing season that starts as early as January and lasts until July. Peak season usually begins in March.
Heal the Bay released its 33rd annual beach report card this week, including a list of the dirtiest shorelines in California.
Glaringly absent were the ocean waters off San Diego’s southern coast, from Coronado down to Imperial Beach. Residents there have endured a record number of swimming restrictions over the last 18 months as massive amounts of sewage continue to spill over the border from Tijuana.
The 2022–2023 snow season started off relatively active across the West, with a few modest storms bringing snow accumulations to the mountains in early November. By the start of December, snow water equivalent across much of the region was above normal.
A public process started Thursday to reshape the way Colorado River water is distributed, with federal officials promising to collect comments about updating and enacting rules in 2027 to continue providing hydropower, drinking water and irrigation to farms, cities and tribes in seven Western U.S. states and Mexico.
The U.S. Interior Department said it will publish in the Federal Register on Friday a call for replacing guidelines that expire in 2026, including pacts enacted in 2007 for states to share cutbacks in water drawn from a river diminished by drought and climate change, as well as operating plans for the key Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs. An agreement between the United States and Mexico on use of Colorado River water also is set to expire at that time.
The department’s U.S. Bureau of Reclamation promised a “robust and transparent public process” beginning with online virtual public meetings July 17, July 18 and July 24. It set an Aug. 15 deadline for receipt of public comments on “specific operational guidelines, strategies and any other issues that should be considered.”
The California Department of Water Resources has opened the process to apply for its apprenticeship program that can lead to a career with the state agency.
DWR’s Operations and Maintenance Apprenticeship Program has released four exams that are the first step in applying for a career with DWR as an electrician, operator, mechanic, or utility craftsworker. The exams are available from June 15 to July 17.
As the federal government starts negotiations on long-term plans for the overtapped Colorado River, leaders of tribes are pushing for more involvement in the talks, saying they want to be at the table in high-level discussions among the seven states that rely on the river.
Water is rushing from Colorado’s Western Slope and into the tributaries of the Colorado River, restoring reservoirs across the American West to perhaps a semblance of their former glory. Cities, farmers, ranchers and water managers are breathing a sigh of relief at the crisis avoided this summer thanks to the robust snowfall this winter.
