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Opinion: Senator Kelly is Wrong on All Counts Concerning California and the Colorado River

/in , , /by /The Desert Reviewby Betty Miller

Arizona Senator Mark Kelley wrote a letter October 25 to Deb Haaland, U.S. Department of Interior Secretary, asking her to punish the people and communities surrounding the Salton Sea, to punish the migratory birds and fish that depend on the sea for subsistence because he is in a fight for his political seat against a contender that could beat him. The tens of thousands of people living around the Salton Sea experience the highest rates of asthma in the State of California from the drying sea that leaves behind toxic waste which become airborne as winds kick up.

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Hoopa Valley Tribe Sues US Over California Water Contracts

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Kathleen Ronayne

he Hoopa Valley Tribe alleged in a lawsuit Monday that the federal government is violating its sovereignty and failing to collect money from California farms that rely on federally supplied water to pay for damages to tribal fisheries. The tribe, which has a reservation in northwest California, says in its lawsuit against the Biden administration that the Trinity River that it relies on for food and cultural purposes has been decimated by decades of the federal government diverting water

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Opinion: Desalination Will Be Key to California’s Water Future. It Needs to Improve First

/in , /by /CalMattersby Grayson Zulauf

If the climate crisis is coming, the water crisis is already here. As rice fields were fallowed in California, Lake Mead water levels almost sunk so low that Hoover Dam could no longer generate power, and life-threatening toxic dust blew off the dried-up Salton Sea. Thirty percent of the world population will face water shortages of some kind by 2025. Things are only going to get worse.

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New US Plan Could Lead to Federal Action on Colorado River

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Felicia Fonseca and Kathleen Ronayne

The Interior Department announced Friday that it will consider revising a set of guidelines for operating two major dams on the Colorado River in the first sign of what could lead to federal action to protect the once-massive but shrinking reservoirs behind them. The public has until Dec. 20 to weigh in on three options that seek to keep Lake Mead and Lake Powell from dropping so low they couldn’t produce power or provide the water that seven Western states, Mexico and tribes have relied on for decades.

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Bay Area Rain, and the First Significant Sierra Nevada Snow is on the Way. Here’s When It Arrives.

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

Tire chains. Winter coats. Gloves. Remember them? Snow is expected to fall across the Sierra Nevada early next week as a storm from the Gulf of Alaska pushes into California and the rest of the West Coast, bringing a likelihood of light rain to the Bay Area. Although details will become clearer in the next few days, forecasters said Friday that at least a foot of snow is expected to fall at higher elevations on Tuesday in the Sierra, potentially causing visibility issues and the need for motorists to carry tire chains if they are heading over mountain passes Tuesday and Wednesday as temperatures fall.

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How Decades of Hard-Earned Protections and Restoration Reversed the Collapse of California’s Treasured Mono Lake

/in , , /by /Inside Climate Newsby Bob Berwyn

When Rose Nelson camped along lower Rush Creek in the summer of 2017, the water was flowing as high and fast as anyone could remember. The rumble and roar of the creek, she said, was the joyful sound of nature healing. “It was the first high runoff after a long drought,” said Nelson, now the education director for the Mono Lake Committee, a nonprofit based in Lee Vining, California.

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As Climate Change Erodes Western Snowpacks, One Watershed Tries a ‘Supershed Approach’ to Shield its Water Supply

/in , , /by /Western Water (Water Education Foundation)by Nick Cahill

The foundation of California’s water supply and the catalyst for the state’s 20th century population and economic growth is cracking. More exactly, it’s disappearing.

Climate change is eroding the mountain snowpack that has traditionally melted in the spring and summer to fill rivers and reservoirs across the West.

Now, with less precipitation falling as snow and that snow melting faster and earlier in parts of major mountain ranges like California’s Sierra Nevada and the Rockies in the West, managers of a major Sierra Nevada watershed east of Sacramento are replumbing their water systems to better handle bursts of rain instead of trickling snowmelt. Their “Supershed Approach” to replace the loss of the once-reliable snowmelt is being touted as a possible model for other Western watersheds that are expected to experience stronger, more frequent snow droughts.

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New Push to Shore up Shrinking Colorado River Could Reduce Water Flow to California

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

With the nation’s two largest reservoirs continuing to decline, federal officials announced plans Friday to revise their current rules for dealing with Colorado River shortages and pursue a new agreement to achieve larger reductions in water use throughout the Southwest.

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U.S. Warns Western States It May Impose Colorado River Water Cuts

/in , , /by /Reutersby Daniel Trotta

The U.S. government warned on Friday that it may impose water supply cuts on California, Arizona and Nevada to protect the Colorado River and its two main reservoirs from overuse, drought and climate change.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation unveiled three possible action plans: one to impose cutbacks, another to allow western states to work out a reduction plan on their own, or a third and least likely option of taking no action.

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San Diego County Aims to Provide More Homes with Power by Storing Energy in reservoir

/in , , /by /Fox Weather Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Neena Kuzmich, Deputy Director of Engineering at San Diego County Water Authority, with more on the San Vicente Energy Storage Facility Project.

 

San Diego County aims to provide more homes with power by storing energy in reservoir

 

 

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