This year, winter storms could be on the way for California, thanks to a Pacific marine heatwave that could trigger storms along the West Coast.
California’s wet season started with a bang, or at least a drizzle, as rain pitter-pattered on the Bay Area last week.
But the state’s water experts say at this time of year, they still have to prepare for floods, drought or even both. Oct. 1 officially began the rainy season in California, and with this seasonal shift, they sealed their record of annual rain and snow and started a fresh tally.
The Environmental Protection Agency was already reeling from massive staff cuts and dramatic shifts in priority and policy. A government shutdown raises new questions about how it can carry out its founding mission of protecting America’s health and environment with little more than skeletal staff and funding.
In President Donald Trump’s second term, the EPA has leaned hard into an agenda of deregulation and facilitating Trump’s boosting of fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal to meet what he has called an energy emergency.
California water officials are warning that the state “must be prepared for extreme weather events of all kinds,” even as water levels for the state’s reservoirs remain near or above average as the new water year began Wednesday.
California is entering a new water year with the largest reservoir in the State Water Project (SWP), Lake Oroville, at 109 percent of average capacity. Despite this promising start, officials stress the ongoing threat posed by climate extremes driven by a warming atmosphere. The state faces the dual challenges of preparing for both drought and floods, as climate variability increases the frequency and severity of weather swings. Recent scientific outlooks warn of a likely La Niña event in the fall, which could deliver increased dryness but also the risk of intense storms and flooding. These dynamics underscore the importance of water management and emergency preparedness for communities across California.
A La Niña pattern for the first few months of this water year (Oct. 1 to Sept. 30) means there is potential for extreme weather events, both flooding and drought, depending on where you are located in California.
Despite Sacramento receiving 76% of its normal rainfall for this past water year, Lake Oroville, the State Water Project’s largest reservoir, is currently sitting at 109% of average.
For as long as there have been people in what is now California, the granite peaks of the Sierra Nevada have held masses of ice, according to new research that shows the glaciers have probably existed since the last Ice Age more than 11,000 years ago.
The remnants of these glaciers, which have already shrunk dramatically since the late 1800s, are retreating year after year, and are projected to melt completely this century as global temperatures continue to rise.
Environmental leaders across California prepared on Monday to ring in the new water year. This means it’s time to collect new precipitation data ahead of the state’s “wet season.”
We’re told this water year, California is starting things off with more groundwater data than ever before. According to water management professionals, this promotes sustainability and helps protect drinking water supplies.
California lawmakers started the year signaling they were ready to get tough on data centers, aiming to protect the environment and electricity ratepayers. Nine months later, they have little to show for it.
Of four data center bills in play, two never made it out of the Legislature, including one that would have required data centers to publicize their power use and another that would have provided incentives for them to use more clean energy.
The mighty Colorado River, which supplies water to cities and farms across Southern California, could again dwindle to dangerously low levels next year.
That’s the finding of a new analysis published earlier this month by a group of prominent scholars. They claim the river is closer than previously thought to running into serious infrastructure complications that could stop water from flowing.
California lawmakers started the year signaling they were ready to get tough on data centers, aiming to protect the environment and electricity ratepayers. Nine months later, they have little to show for it.
Of four data center bills in play, two never made it out of the Legislature, including one that would have required data centers to publicize their power use and another that would have provided incentives for them to use more clean energy.
