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Congress Approves Measure to Toss Biden’s Water Protections

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Michael Phillis and Mary Clare Jalonick

Congress on Wednesday approved a resolution to overturn the Biden administration’s protections for the nation’s waterways that Republicans have criticized as a burden on business, advancing a measure that President Joe Biden has promised to veto.

Republicans have targeted the Biden administration’s protections for thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways, labeling it an environmental overreach that harms businesses, developers and farmers.

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Reclamation Increases Central Valley Project 2023 Water Supply Allocations

/in , , /by /Bureau of Reclamation by Reclamation California-Great Basin Region

The Bureau of Reclamation March 28, announced an increase in Central Valley Project 2023 water supply allocations. After below average precipitation in February, Reclamation announced a conservative initial water supply allocation for the CVP on Feb. 22. Additional atmospheric river systems have since boosted hydrological conditions and storage volumes, allowing for a more robust water supply allocation.

Since making initial allocations last month, Shasta Reservoir, the cornerstone of the Central Valley Project, has increased from 59% to 81%, and San Luis Reservoir, the largest reservoir south-of-Delta, from 64% to 97%. Record-breaking snowpack conditions currently exist in the Southern Sierra coupled with significant snowpack in the Central Sierra and Northern Sierra/Trinity.

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Trillions of Gallons Have Soaked California. Is This the State’s Wettest Winter Ever?

/in , , /by /USA Todayby Doyle Rice

A colossal amount of rain and snow has fallen on California over the past few months from a dozen atmospheric rivers: more than 78 trillion gallons of water and counting.

It’s not the wettest year the Golden State has ever seen, but it is a massive amount of water in a state that has been beset by drought for several years. The number of gallons is according to data from the National Weather Service that was compiled by meteorologist Ryan Maue.

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As Floods Endanger the San Joaquin Valley, Newsom Cuts Funding for Floodplains

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Alastair Bland

Last fall, when the state Legislature authorized $40 million for floodplain restoration, Julie Rentner knew just what she would do with it. Her group, River Partners, would spend more than a quarter of the funds buying a 500-acre dairy farm abutting the San Joaquin River in Stanislaus County.

Then millions more would be spent on removing debris, sheds, manure heaps and levees. They would plant native vegetation, and eventually restore the parcel to its natural state as a woodland and floodplain.

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Opinion: Delta Tunnel Project Won’t Provide Reliable Water Supply California Needs

/in , /by /CalMattersby Oscar Villegas and Patrick Kennedy

The California Department of Water Resources is using the winter storms to claim that the proposed Delta Conveyance project would help ensure a more reliable water supply for the State Water Project in light of how climate change will alter seasonal patterns of rain and drought.

In reality, the benefits of the conveyance project are speculative at best.

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More Rain Means More Money for East Bay MUD Customers

/in , , /by /KRON 4by Will Tran and Miabelle Salzano

If you’re an East Bay Municipal Utilities District (MUD) customer, you will be saving money. Thanks to the very wet winter and spring, the agency said it will not be charging its 1.4 million customers in Alameda and Contra Costa counties an eight percent penalty for excessive water use because the reservoirs are full.

These changes go into effect on March 29 following an executive order signed by Governor Gavin Newsom that rolls back some of California’s drought restrictions.

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California Farmers Flood Fields to Boost Groundwater Basin

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Amy Taxin

A field that has long grown tomatoes, peppers and onions now looks like a wind-whipped ocean as farmer Don Cameron seeks to capture the runoff from a freakishly wet year in California to replenish the groundwater basin that is his only source to water his crops.

Taking some tomatoes out of production for a year is an easy choice if it means boosting future water supplies for his farm about 35 miles (56 kilometers) southwest of Fresno.

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With Drought Relieved, California Casts Wary Eye on Snowmelt

/in , , /by /Courthouse News Serviceby Bob Leal

With record and near-record snowpack up and down California, much of its multiyear drought has abated — but it’s never time to break out the balloons and party favors when it comes to water in the West.

During a California-Nevada U.S. Drought Monitoring Group seminar Monday, water experts were upbeat when talking about the massive snowpack, reservoirs spilling and more storms on the horizon.

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Why is California’s Snowpack So High?

/in , , /by /Newsweekby Robyn White

In California, the snowpack is at some of the highest levels in recorded history.

The state’s snowpack accumulates in the Sierra Nevada—a mountain range that stretches for 400 miles from Northern California southward to the Great Basin. The snowpack, which melts into the state’s reservoirs, provides about a third of California’s total water supply.

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Farmers Look Forward to Full Water Delivery

/in , /by /Enterprise-Recordby Michael Weber

As the rain year continues to look promising, rice farmers are happy to expect most if not all of their water allocations will be delivered.

This week the Department of Water Resources announced a 75% water allocation to the irrigation districts served by the State Water Project.

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