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Photos Shows Lake Mead’s Water Levels as Senator Issues Dire Warning

/in , , /by /Newsweekby Anna Skinner

Senator Mark Kelly recently shared two photos of Lake Mead, Arizona, and the stark contrast between the two fueled concerns about the reservoir’s ability to recover from severe drought.

Torrential rain on the West Coast has filled some California reservoirs to the point of overflow, and nearby states such as Utah also saw their reservoirs benefit from the excess rain. However, Lake Mead water levels remain relatively unchanged and still at nearly their lowest in the reservoir’s history.

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Senator Anna M. Caballero Announces Statewide Legislative Strategy to Ensure Water for All Californians

/in , /by /Senator Anna M. Caballero News Releaseby Senator Anna M. Caballero

A reliable and sustainable water supply is critical to every aspect of California’s economy and the quality of life for all Californians. That is why Senator Anna M. Caballero (D-Merced) is authoring Senate Bill 366, The California Water for All initiative, as an important step in creating adequate statewide water supplies for future generations.

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California Extreme Weather is the New Normal

/in , , /by /Newsweekby Robyn White

California’s bout of extreme wet weather could become the new normal as climate change worsens, a researcher has warned.

A bomb cyclone battered the state on Tuesday, bringing down trees and power lines. At least one person was killed after a tree fell onto a vehicle, the Los Angeles Times reported. Early on Wednesday, more than 130,000 customers were still without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

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Powerful Pacific Tempest Clobbers Storm-Battered California

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Martha Mendoza

A strong late-season Pacific storm that brought damaging winds and more rain and snow to saturated California has been blamed for two deaths and forecasters said additional flooding was possible Wednesday in parts of the state.

Tuesday’s storm blasted the San Francisco Bay Area with powerful gusts and downpours, pounded Sacramento — the state capital — with intense hail and set rainfall records in Southern California.

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What is El Niño and How Does It Affect the Weather?

/in , , /by /AccuWeatherby Thomas Leffler

A major key to shaping weather patterns worldwide is found in the tropical Pacific Ocean, far from any mainland. Known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, this climate phenomenon is the pattern that can create significant differences in average ocean temperatures and often plays a pivotal role in how global weather patterns unfold.

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Solutions for Building Water Resilience in California

/in , , /by /Maven's Notebookby Heather Cooley

With the ever-changing climate and increasingly dry summers, California faces water challenges, despite this year’s bountiful snowpack. At the February meeting of the California Water Commission, Heather Cooley, Director of Research at the Pacific Institute, explained how increasing water efficiency, water reuse, and stormwater capture is essential to building and enhancing California’s water resilience.

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Fewer Than 10% of Levees in the Greater Bay Area Have a Federal Flood Risk Rating

/in , /by /KQEDby Ezra David Romero

Atmospheric river-fueled storms have hammered the network of hundreds of levees in coastal counties near the San Francisco Bay — from the agricultural fields of Monterey County to urban places like San Leandro, Walnut Creek and Richmond to more rural parts of the North Bay. At least two major levees, in Salinas and Pajaro, have failed since New Year’s Eve.

The levee breach along the Pajaro River, which divides Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, left the entire town of Pajaro in a deluge of water.

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Wall Street is Thirsty for Its Next Big Investment Opportunity: The West’s Vanishing Water

/in , /by /CNNby Lucy Kafanov

Situated in the Sonoran Desert near the Arizona-California border is the tiny rural town of Cibola – home to roughly 300 people, depending on the season.

Life here depends almost entirely on the Colorado River, which nourishes thirsty crops like cotton and alfalfa, sustains a nearby wildlife refuge and allows visitors to enjoy boating and other recreation.

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California’s Wild Storm: the Fujiwhara Effect, a Bomb Cyclone, Even Landspout, Tornado Warnings

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Christian Martinez, Hayley Smith, Susanne Rust, and Luke Money

Even on the heels of an unusual winter of intense rain, wind and snow, the storm that slammed California on Tuesday came with some surprising conditions.

The storm was marked by powerful winds in the Bay Area and other parts of Central and Northern California that downed trees, created treacherous commuting conditions, broke windows in downtown San Francisco and caused power outages.

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California’s Drought is Not Over

/in , , /by /Capital & Mainby Mark Schapiro

More than a dozen atmospheric rivers in succession prompted people to think: The California drought is over! The levees are breaking, hundreds of people are being displaced by the raging waters, rainfall is breaking records, and story after story suggest we are headed out of the decade-long drought that has devastated agriculture and wiped out the state’s water reserves. Whew. Dodged a bullet.

One part of that story is true. By mid-March, two-thirds of the state was officially out of drought.

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