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California Snowlines On Track To Be 1,600 Feet Higher by Century’s End

/in , , /by /Water News Networkby Robert Monroe Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

This winter produced record snowfall in California, but a new study suggests the state should expect gradually declining snowpacks, even if punctuated with occasional epic snowfalls, in the future.

An analysis by Tamara Shulgina, Alexander Gershunov, and other climate scientists at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography suggest that in the face of unabated global warming, the snowlines marking where rainfall turns to snow have been rising significantly over the past 70 years. Projections by the researchers suggest the trend will continue with snowlines rising hundreds of meters higher by the second half of this century.

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Western States Finally Strike Colorado River Deal. But The Hard Work Has Only Just Begun

/in , , /by /TIME by Alejandro De La Garza

At one of Los Angeles’s main water treatment plants a few miles north of the Port of Los Angeles, a small-scale facility is demonstrating what might be part of the solution to the region’s water woes. The Pure Water Southern California Demonstration Plant facility uses membrane bioreactors, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet radiation to process about 500,000 gallons of treated wastewater a day, further purifying it into something clean enough to use in industry, replenish the region’s groundwater, and potentially put back into the city’s drinking water system.

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Opinion: El Niño is Back. What Does That Mean for an Already Overheated California?

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Justin S. Mankin and Christopher W. Callahan

During the El Niño of 1983, Californians counted their blessings. The warm Pacific waters sloshing eastward certainly brought heavy spring rains and record snow. But the state largely escaped the flood risks being frantically managed farther east.

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EPA Authority to Regulate Wetlands Clobbered by Supreme Court

/in , /by /Courthouse News Service by Kelsey Reichmann

Limiting the government’s authority to regulate wetlands under the Clean Water Act, the Supreme Court ended a nearly two-decade-old dispute Thursday.

The ruling from the court was unanimous, with the justices affirming summary judgment in the suit by Chantell and Michael Sackett against the Environmental Protection Agency.

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Snowpack Predicted to Retreat in California’s Mountains Due to Climate Change

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

This winter’s major storms laid down one of the largest snowpacks recorded in California’s Sierra Nevada, along with an unusual amount of snow at low mountain elevations.

But such prolific snowfall at lower elevations is set to become increasingly rare in coming years as climate change drives temperatures higher, according to new research.

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California Snowlines on Track to Be 1,600 Feet Higher by Century’s End

/in , /by /UC San Diego Today by Robert Monroe

This winter produced record snowfall in California, but a new study suggests the state should expect gradually declining snowpacks, even if punctuated with occasional epic snowfalls, in the future.

An analysis by Tamara Shulgina, Alexander Gershunov, and other climate scientists at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography suggest that in the face of unabated global warming, the snowlines marking where rainfall turns to snow have been rising significantly over the past 70 years.

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Despite Deal, Colorado River’s Long-Term Water Crisis Remains Unsolved

/in , , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James and Hayley Smith

A proposed deal for California, Arizona and Nevada to take less water from the over-tapped Colorado River depends heavily on $1.2 billion in federal funds, which will pay farmers and others who agree to give up some of their supply over the next three years.

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Newsom Seeks to Streamline Infrastructure Projects

/in , , /by /AgNet West by Brian German

Governor Gavin Newsom recently introduced a series of proposals to expedite infrastructure projects. The legislative package seeks to speed up the construction process while also streamlining permitting and court review.

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How California Averted Painful Water Cuts and Made a Colorado River Deal

/in , , /by /Politico by Camille Von Kaenel

 For months, California officials led by Gov. Gavin Newsom felt like they were at the bottom of a multistate dogpile in the closely-watched staredown over water rights across the American West.

Newsom and his top environmental aides viewed century-old laws as favoring them. And they tried to convince other states that California had already sacrificed by slashing its use.

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Colorado River Water Sharing Agreement Likely Dodges Legal Fight

/in , , /by /Bloombergby Bobby Magill

A messy Colorado River legal fight is much less likely in the near term now that the seven river basin states have reached consensus on how to conserve water amid a historic 23-year drought, legal observers say.

The consensus proposal respects water rights by relying mainly on voluntary conservation and “goes a very long way to avoiding what would have been costly and divisive litigation,” said Jay Weiner, of counsel at Rosette LLP, who represents the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe.

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