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US Unveils Options for Cutting California’s Colorado River Water

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Alastair Bland

The Biden administration today proposed alternatives for cutting Colorado River water allocations for Southwest states, including one that would substantially reduce the amount of water delivered to Southern California.

One of the three options would retain California’s historic, century-old senior water rights, while another would override them and split the cuts in water deliveries evenly between California, Nevada and Arizona. The even-split option would be a big blow to Imperial Valley farmers while benefiting the other states.

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US Floats Options to Reduce Water Pulled From Colorado River

/in , /by /AP Newsby Ken Ritter and Suman Naishadham

The Biden administration released an environmental analysis Tuesday that outlined two ways that seven Western states and tribes reliant on the overtapped Colorado River could cut their use, but declined to publicly take a side on the best option.

One option would be more beneficial to California and some tribes along the river that have high-priority rights to the river’s water.

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California’s Water Battles Continue Despite Record Rain and Snow

/in , , /by /KPVIby Dan Walters

On Monday, California water officials slogged through deep snow 7,000 feet above sea level, west of Lake Tahoe, to affirm what everyone already knew: A series of Pacific storms has generated record-level amounts of precipitation, filling reservoirs, inundating low-lying towns and fields and threatening more disastrous flooding as the Sierra snowpack melts.

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California Sees Record Snowpack Levels, Boost in Water Supply

/in , , /by /Fox Weather

Molly White, Water Operations Manager for the State Water Project at the California Department of Water Resources, said atmospheric river storms have to led to near-record snowpack in many parts of the Sierra Nevada and reservoir storage is above average for this time of year.

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Drought Restrictions Ending Across Bay Area

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

First came a dozen soaking atmospheric river storms. Then a huge Sierra Nevada snowpack, which on Monday was 248% of normal. Now comes drought relief.

Water agencies across the Bay Area are moving to roll back mandatory drought rules and surcharges as reservoirs have filled this winter and drought conditions have washed away.

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California Ag Chief’s Plan for Future Includes ‘With Innovation, Small Farms Can Be Viable’

/in , , /by /The Fresno Beeby Jim Guy

California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross is putting forward a five-fold plan intended to guide the direction of farming in the the state in the next decade.

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Drought-Ravaged Colorado River Gets Relief From Snow. But Long-Term Water Crisis Remains

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

Four months ago, the outlook for the Colorado River was so dire that federal projections showed imminent risks of reservoirs dropping to dangerously low levels.

But after this winter’s major storms, the river’s depleted reservoirs are set to rise substantially with runoff from the largest snowpack in the watershed since 1997.

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Record Snowpack Conditions in California, Parts of Southwest

/in , , /by /Natural Resources Conservation Serviceby NRCS/Water News Network

After a three-year drought in California and throughout the Southwest, many states throughout the West are measuring record snowpack conditions at NRCS SNOTEL stations and snow courses. Utah especially has seen a benchmark year for snowfall levels throughout the state.

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Wet Winter Improves Colorado River Forecast; Big Cuts Still Coming

/in , , /by /Las Vegas Review-Journal by Colton Lochhead

An already wet winter in the mountains that feed the Colorado River got even better in March, providing a significant boost to the amount of water that forecasters expect to flow downstream into Lake Powell this summer.

The latest prediction from the National Weather Service’s Colorado Basin River Forecast Center shows that the river will swell to 177 percent of its average volume during the all-important April-through-July period as the snow melts and flows into the river and its tributaries.

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Outflows Continue From Lake Oroville

/in , , , /by /Enterprise-Recordby Jake Hutchison

Since the beginning of December, Lake Oroville’s elevation has shot up by around 200 feet thanks to a constant stream of winter storms.

The lake reached a level that has prompted the California Department of Water Resources to let water out over the course of the past month in what the department claims is an effort to control flooding downstream.

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