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House Lawmakers Join Senators in Rallying Around Colorado River

/in , /by /The Hillby Sharon Udasin

A bipartisan coalition of House lawmakers are forming a “Congressional Colorado River Caucus,” with the goal of collaborating on ways to best address worsening drought conditions across the seven-state basin.

“Together, and working with our colleagues in the Senate, we will collaborate with each other and state and local leaders, putting the interests of our communities above all else,” Rep. Joe Neguse said in a statement on Wednesday.

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PFAs Rule Sets Up Sprawling Legal War

/in , /by /E&E Newsby Pamela King and E.A. Crunden

EPA’s historic move to regulate “forever chemicals” in drinking water has set the stage for a multi-pronged courtroom slugfest among the agency, water utilities that must comply with the rule and multinational conglomerates that have flooded the environment with the toxicants linked to a long list of health problems, including cancer.

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How Rising Temperatures Are Intensifying California’s Atmospheric Rivers

/in , , /by /Gristby Jake Bittle

California is no stranger to big swings between wet and dry weather. The “atmospheric river” storms that have battered the state this winter are part of a system that has long interrupted periods of drought with huge bursts of rain — indeed, they provide somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of all precipitation on the West Coast.

The parade of storms that has struck California in recent months has dropped more than 30 trillion gallons of water on the state, refilling reservoirs that had sat empty for years and burying mountain towns in snow.

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Opinion: Why Rain-On-Snow Floods From Atmospheric Rivers Could Get Much Worse

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Keith Musselman

California’s latest atmospheric rivers are sending rainfall higher into the mountains and onto the state’s crucial snowpack. The rain alone is a problem for low-lying areas already dealing with destructive flooding, but the prospect of rain on the deep mountain snow has triggered widespread flood warnings.

When rain falls on snow, it creates complex flood risks that are hard to forecast. Those risks are also rising with climate change.

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Soggy California Drenched Anew as Nor’easter Buries New England, New York

/in , , /by /Reutersby Steve Gorman and Julia Harte

The latest in a series of atmospheric river storms soaked California on Tuesday, bringing another deluge of rain to the already-saturated state, while a Nor’easter swirling over New York and New England prompted emergency orders and closed roads.

Several inches of rain was forecast in some areas of California, while as much as 3 feet (0.9 m) of fresh snow was expected in high-mountain elevations where snowdrifts already reach rooftops, according to the National Weather Service.

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Photos: Ski Resorts So Buried in Snow They Have to Dig Out Frozen Chairlifts

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Annie Vainshetein

Glacial temperatures, battering rainfall and historic levels of snow are complicating conditions at ski resorts around Lake Tahoe, leaving crews to work around the clock to dig out chairlifts — usually suspended high above the slopes — that are now buried in snow.

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California, Battered by Atmospheric Rivers, Faces a Big Melt This Spring

/in , , /by /Inside Climate Newsby Bob Berwyn

The latest atmospheric river surging into California probably won’t result in worst-case flooding, state water officials and scientists said Monday. But as global warming shifts the range of possibilities, this winter’s often record levels of snow and rain could set the stage for deluges in spring if there are more strong storms or an early heatwave, they warned.

The series of intense storms started on the last day of 2022, resulting in early January floods that killed 22 people and a federal emergency declaration in 17 counties.

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San Diego County Water Authority Hosts Colorado River Board of California

/in , , /by /Water News Network Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority will host water leaders from throughout Southern California March 15 for the monthly meeting of the Colorado River Board of California. On Tuesday, March 14, before the formal meeting, CRB board members will tour projects in the region that promote water resiliency.

The CRB will consider the complex water supply issues facing the Southwest U.S. during its meeting. San Diego Congressman Scott Peters is also scheduled to address the CRB.

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Relay Race: How ‘Zanjeros’ Get Colorado River Water to California Farms

/in , , /by /Christian Science Monitorby Sarah Matusek

In the right light, Jeff Dollente seems to make the sun rise. Standing over a canal, he cranks a wheel as the sun ascends and the sky yawns off the dark.

Mr. Dollente doesn’t deliver the morning, but in southeastern California’s Imperial Valley, his job is just as big. He delivers Colorado River water – a vital resource at risk – to farms that feed the rest of the United States.

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Another Atmospheric River is Coming, Ranked 2 to 3 … But What Does That Scale Mean?

/in , , /by /LAistby Erin Stone

Another atmospheric river approaches this Tuesday. It is ranked on a scale of 2 to 3 … but what does that ranking mean and why do we have it?

And, as the climate crisis drives increasingly extreme weather, communicating just how extreme that weather actually is can also be challenging. From extreme heat to atmospheric rivers, weather hazard scales are no longer just for hurricanes and tornadoes.

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