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Regulators Clear Path for Largest Dam Demolition in History

/in , /by /AP Newsby Gillian Flaccus

US regulators approved a major milestone Thursday in a plan to demolish four dams on a California river and open up hundreds of miles of salmon habitat that would be the largest dam removal and river restoration project in the world when it goes forward. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission vote on the lower Klamath River dams is the last major regulatory hurdle and the biggest milestone for a $500 million demolition proposal championed by Native American tribes and environmentalists for years.

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Four Things to Know About the Lower Colorado River Basin

/in , , /by /Aspen Journalismby Heather Sackett

Staff and board members from the Glenwood Springs-based Colorado River Water Conservation District, along with other water managers from across western Colorado, this month visited the lower basin states — Nevada, Arizona and California — on what they called a fact-finding trip. The tour took participants by bus from Las Vegas though the green alfalfa fields of the Fort Mohave Indian Reservation, past the big diversions serving the Central Arizona Project and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and to the hot, below-sea-level agricultural expanse of the biggest water user on the river: the Imperial Irrigation District.

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Opinion: Drought Impacts an Entire Agricultural Ecosystem

/in , , /by /Ag Alertby Tim Johnson

This third year of extreme drought is taking a devastating toll on agriculture in California. We see pictures of orchards being removed, dry canals and fields that should be a verdant green now a sunburned brown. The impacts on the farm are easy to see. The effects on our communities and on the wildlife that depend on agricultural lands in production are no less real, even if they are harder to observe.

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Opinion: Another Step Toward Agreement on California’s Water

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Dan Walters

For at least a decade, off and on, state water managers and local water agencies have pursued the holy grail of a master agreement to improve the environmental health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by increasing its water flows.

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Why California Wildfires Burned Far Less This Year

/in , , /by /Scientific Americanby Anne C. Mulkern

California is enjoying fewer extreme wildfires than it has in years, which experts attribute to a combination of summer rain, calm weather and increased forest management.

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These Are the Driest Reservoirs in California

/in , , /by /KTLAby Travis Schlepp

Despite recent rain storms across the state, California’s historic drought shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.

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UC Expert Helps Save Water, Increase Supply

/in , , /by /Western Farm Pressby Saoimanu Sope

Earlier this year, officials in Southern California declared a water shortage emergency resulting in restrictions such as limiting outdoor water use to one day of the week.

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Water Rules Add to Challenges for Farmers

/in , /by /AgAlertby Christine Souza

Already grappling with drought, lower commodity prices and higher production costs, more farmers are feeling the added pinch of groundwater regulations as local agencies implement plans that include pumping limits and new fees to balance long-term groundwater resources as required by the state.

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California Tries to Harness Megastorm Floods to Ease Crippling Droughts

/in , , /by /Reutersby Sharon Bernstein

The land along the Arroyo Pasajero Creek, halfway between Sacramento and Los Angeles, is too dry to farm some years and dangerously flooded in others. Amid the cycles of wet and dry — both phenomena exacerbated by climate change — a coalition of local farmers and the nearby city of Huron are trying to turn former hemp and tomato fields into massive receptacles that can hold water as it percolates into the ground during wet years.

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New Film Highlights Water Struggle Between Rural High Desert and L.A.

/in , , /by /Public News Serviceby Suzanne Potter

A new film about the transfer of water from the high desert to Los Angeles – called “Without Water” – has just been released on the internet. The film highlights the struggle between the community around Long Valley, which is between Mammoth and Bishop California – and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LA DWP).

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