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Yet More Rain Expected to Hit California in March. But Warmer Storms Could Cause Problems

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hayley Smith

Soggy, snow-capped California faces the likelihood of yet another month of wet weather, but what remains uncertain is whether this late winter precipitation will augment weeks of record-setting snowpack, or cause it to vanish should warmer rains arrive.

Last week, a frigid storm transformed portions of the state into a white landscape while toppling trees, prompting power outages, spurring water rescues and leaving some residents trapped by heavy snow.

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Opinion: Holding Firm on Colorado River Water is Right Move

/in , , /by /Ag Alertby Craig William Morgan

There is an old saying in the water world that it is better to be upstream with a shovel than downstream with a law book, which is the position California finds itself in as it stands apart from its neighbors on the Colorado River in negotiations over the use of the river’s water.

On Jan. 31, representatives for the six other basin states submitted a proposal to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, describing the measures by which the supply deficit on the Colorado River should be closed in the near term.

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Heavy Rainfall Quenches California but Won’t Replenish Water Supplies

/in , , /by /Spectrum News 1by William D'Urso

Recent rains have distinguished this winter as one of the wettest to hit California in years. But experts say it won’t erase the damage of the many years of drought the state has suffered.

Rains in the state have caused floods, forced road closures and initiated evacuation warnings. And the state has reached about 95% of its average water storage for February compared to the 70% range for the same month in each of the past two years.

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A California Tunnel Could Save Stormwater for Millions. Why is It So Divisive?

/in , /by /The Washington Postby Scott Dance

As drought-weary Californians watched trillions of gallons of runoff wash into the Pacific Ocean during recent storms, it underscored a nagging question: Why can’t we save more of that water for not-so-rainy days to come?

But even the rare opportunity to stock up on the precious resource isn’t proving enough to unite a state divided on a contentious idea to siphon water from the north and tunnel it southward, an attempt to combat the Southwest’s worst drought in more than a millennium.

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‘Weather Chaos’ Brings Enough Snow to Fill Verde River Reservoirs, Ease Drought Conditions

/in , /by /AZ Centralby Brandon Loomis

Meteorologist Bo Svoma hopped down into the 4-foot-deep pit he had shoveled and grinned like a school kid on a snow day.

“Bo is happy!” shouted one of his Salt River Project colleagues working snow survey duty on Tuesday.

There’s a lot for the metro Phoenix water supplier to be happy about this winter. What was supposed to be an unusually dry winter because of the return of the ocean and atmospheric phenomenon known as La Nińa has instead shaped up as the Arizona rim country’s second-snowiest season in 30 years.

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Metropolitan Hires Brown and Caldwell for Drought Study

/in , /by /Water Finance and Management

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan or MWD) has hired Brown and Caldwell to study alternative water conveyance options to provide supply diversity to the region during severe droughts.

MWD’s mission is to ensure a safe and reliable water supply for the 19 million people in Southern California in the face of climate change and extended drought.

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Is California’s Drought Finally Over? Here’s the Impact of the Latest Storms

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

If there’s concern about California’s wet winter turning dry, consider it shushed.

The heaps of snow over the past week on top of the parade of deluges in early January have been extraordinary and left much of the state with well-above-average precipitation for the season. The winter storms, which account for the bulk of the state’s rain and snow, are forecast to continue into next month, virtually ensuring a good water year for California.

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‘A Nice Sign’: Big Rockies Snowpack May Boost Lake Mead

/in , , /by /Las Vegas Review-Journalby Colton Lochhead

It’s not even March yet, but the mountains that feed the Colorado River already have seen more snow this winter than they normally would through an entire snow season.

And with some snow in the forecast, there’s still more time for that snowpack to grow.

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Will Colorado River Return to Health This Year? Snowpack Remains a Third Above Normal

/in , , /by /8 News Nowby Greg Haas

February snowfall might have fallen behind January’s brisk pace, but the Upper Colorado River Basin will go into March still well above average snowpack levels.

With all the headlines about snow in California and Utah, the area that matters most to the Las Vegas valley and Lake Mead is the region around the Colorado River’s headwaters — where the river is born among the peaks in and around Rocky Mountain National Park.

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Calif. Reservoir Levels Show Signs of Improvement After Recent Winter Storms

/in , , /by /ABC 7 by Zach Fuentes

All of this rain in California has had positive impacts on some of the state’s main reservoirs. Though officials say reservoir levels have seen major improvements, we’re not out of the drought yet.

“California, statewide is at 131% of average precipitation,” said Jeanine Jones, interstate resources manager for the California Department of Water Resources, “What that means is that a lot of our reservoirs have had the opportunity to improve significantly, compared to last year or the year before. Most of our reservoirs are fairly close to full.”

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