As California grapples with drought, a record heat wave and persistent wildfires, one state agency is turning to the beaver in its battle against climate change.
The large rodents, according to researchers, are resourceful engineers capable of increasing water storage and creating natural firebreaks with their dams.
With California about to experience perhaps the hottest and driest start to September in its modern history, 16 of the state’s 17 major reservoirs entered the month below their historic average levels — several of them well below average, in another daunting reminder of California’s extraordinary ongoing drought and water concerns.
California lawmakers punted on a proposal to rein in agricultural groundwater pumping as drought continues to grip California and more than a thousand domestic wells have run dry.
A bill by Assemblymember Steve Bennett, a Democrat from Santa Barbara, would have added hurdles to obtain a permit to drill an agricultural well. Though the bill cleared the Senate on Monday, Bennett elected to not bring it up for a final vote in the Assembly before the Legislative session timed out Wednesday night. He said California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office told him the bill was no longer viable because of changes made.
More than 30 years ago, if you were to visit San Diego County, you would be struck by the lush green lawns, beautiful gardens, and many folks washing their cars.
The county alongside the Pacific Coast appeared to be flush with water. But in all actuality, a major water catastrophe was already in the works.
From 1987-1992, California was hit with a megadrought, and San Diego, which was at the end of the fresh water pipeline, was in deep trouble.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the National Center for Atmospheric Research — the campus in Boulder that’s a hub for scientists studying climate change and water — on Wednesday. Speaking on a plaza with a sweeping view toward the plains, she and Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse promoted Democrats’ recent climate and tax package.
As the current drought stretches into its third year, demands to desalinate ocean water rise, especially in such places as Sonoma County and its more than 55 miles of coastline. But putting a desalination plant on the Sonoma County coast seems unlikely, especially after the California Coastal Commission in May rejected construction of a desalination plant in Huntington Beach that had been studied for more than 15 years, said entrepreneur John Webley.
Drought, heat, and wildfires all threaten Wine Country grape harvests, but growers are getting creative to defend their crops.
Climate change is endangering California’s wine industry. Just ask some of the industry’s titans.
The allure of California has long been its almost unbelievably good weather: predictably dry summers and pleasant, if occasionally rainy, winters. Who wouldn’t want to escape swampy heat for this temperate paradise? Our typically agreeable weather (current heat wave notwithstanding) is officially called a Mediterranean-type climate, defined as having cool, wet winters and dry, warm summers.
An innovative plan to conserve water by covering aqueducts with solar panels is about to undergo testing in drought-stricken California.
Why it matters: Water is becoming more precious by the day in the Golden State and the Western U.S. more broadly, in part due to climate change.
