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Potential for Multiple Atmospheric Rivers to Impact the US West Coast During the Next 7 Days

/in , , /by /Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes

Two atmospheric rivers (ARs) are forecast to make landfall along the US West Coast on 9 Dec and 12 Dec. The first AR is forecast to bring a short period of AR 1 conditions (based on the Ralph et al. 2019 AR Scale) to coastal Southern Oregon. The deterministic GFS and ECMWF have drastically different solutions for a developing area of low-pressure associated with the second AR, making it difficult to pinpoint the timing, IVT intensity, and landfall location.

 

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Historic Water Cuts Set to Hit Arizona on Jan. 1

/in , , /by /KOLDby Steven Sarabia and AZFamily Digital News Staff

Arizona is preparing to enter for the first time into a Tier 2A shortage for the lower Colorado River basin, with cuts beginning at the start of the new year. For the state, this means a reduction of 21% of Arizona’s Colorado river supply and about 9% of the state’s total water use, according to the Central Arizona Project. Cities that use the Colorado river will see a 3% reduction while tribal supplies will be reduced by 7%. And for the users of CAP water, there will no longer be excess water and agriculture pools from the Colorado River.

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Parts of the West Have Double the Normal Snowpack. Experts Say it’s Too Early to Get Excited

/in , , /by /CNNby Jennifer Gray

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas across the West, and for the parched mega-drought region, the December snow is a welcome gift. With back-to-back-to-back winter storms across the West, the snowpack is thriving. Parts of the Sierra and the Pacific Northwest are seeing above-average snowpack for this time of year. In Central California, the Sierra stands at 200% of normal for snowpack average to date.

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Opinion: A Rainy Season Starts to Chip Away at Drought, Locally and Throughout State

/in , , /by /Santa Cruz Sentinel

Rainy weather. A series of storms that have brought rainfall to Santa Cruz County and heavy snowfall to the Sierra Nevada over the past few days should taper off by today, although the forecast over the next week shows unsettled weather and possibly more rain gathering on the horizon. The past three years of drought and the wildfires sparked in its wake, along with heightened worries over water supply, mean that the recent rains are a blessing.

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Sierra Snowpack is Exceptional, but Last Year’s Memories Haunt California

/in , , /by /GV Wireby Bill McEwen

The Sierra snowpack vital to supplying water for California’s residents, businesses, and farms is off to a strong start. Recent storms bringing rain to the Valley and other parts of the state are also dumping snow on the Sierra Nevada. According to the state Department of Water Resources, the northern Sierra snowpack is 155% of normal through Monday. Meanwhile, the central Sierra and southern Sierra snowpacks are 166% and 216% of normal, respectively.

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Biogas: Not Letting Go to Waste, San Jose Wastewater Facilities Turn Methane Into Power

/in , /by /The Mercury Newsby Elissa Welle

At a sprawling sewage treatment plant in north San Jose, engineers are slowly perfecting the ideal temperature for a smelly mixture of bacteria and human waste as the stew churns inside four massive air-tight cauldrons. The plant, the largest wastewater treatment facility west of the Mississippi to produce water clean enough to be discharged into a sensitive ecosystem like San Francisco Bay, is experimenting with new heat-loving bacteria that excel at turning poop into compost and energy — harnessing the power of dangerous greenhouse gases

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More Rain to Hit the Bay Area While Fresh Powder Falls Over the Sierra Nevada

/in , /by /The Mercury Newsby Jakob Rodgers

A line of storms that ushered in a chilly, soggy start to December should continue to move across Northern California early this week, offering more chances for rain in the Bay Area and a fresh coat of powder over the Sierra Nevada. One-third to a half-inch of rain could still fall over lower-lying portions of the Bay Area from Sunday through Tuesday morning — further boosting already healthy rainfall totals over the past several days.

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Dried Up: In California, Desalination Offers Only Partial Solution to Growing Drought

/in , , /by /The Hillby Sharon Udasin

As water in the Western U.S. becomes an increasingly rare commodity, the driest states are grasping at solutions for an even drier future — investing heavily in technologies to maximize the conservation, and creation, of the region’s most precious resource. With more than a thousand miles of Pacific Ocean coastline, California appears to have access to a wellspring that other arid states lack.

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Feds Announce Plan for Massive Cuts in Colorado River Deliveries

/in , , /by /Arizona Daily Starby Tony Davis

The Bureau of Reclamation is for the first time legally signaling its intent to make major cutbacks in water deliveries from Lake Powell to Lake Mead and the Lower River Basin to protect the reservoirs that are on the edge of collapse. In online presentations last week, the bureau said it’s working through a formal process that could lead to cutting deliveries from Powell by 2 million to 3 more.

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Regulator Authorizes Cal AM to Purchase Future Water Supply

/in , , /by /The Monterey County Heraldby Dennis L. Taylor

A key state regulator on Thursday OK’d an agreement to have California American Water Co. buy future water from the planned Pure Water Monterey Expansion project. The agreement signals a major new water supply for the Monterey Peninsula. Mike McCullough, the director of external affairs for Monterey One Water (M1W), said the authorization defines the terms and conditions for the sale of water from the expansion project.

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