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Newsom Calls for Boosting Water Supply Projects to Curb California Drought, Climate Change

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

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday said California must do more to expand its water supplies by building new reservoirs, desalination plants and recycled water facilities to address worsening droughts and water shortages from climate change.

Newsom released a 19-page plan that directs state agencies to accelerate permitting and offer increased financial assistance to local water projects as the state struggles with its eighth year of drought in the past 11 years.

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More Evidence That California Weather is Trending Toward Extremes

/in , , /by /UC San Diegoby Robert Monroe

A team led by Kristen Guirguis, a climate researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, found evidence that the risk of hazardous weather is increasing in the Southwest.

The researchers investigated the daily relationships among four major modes of weather affecting California. How they interact governs the formation of weather events such as atmospheric rivers capable of bringing torrential rains and Santa Ana winds that can spread devastating wildfires.

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Seven Stats That Explain the West’s Epic Drought

/in , , /by /The Hillby Zack Budryk

It’s difficult to capture the scale of the drought facing the western U.S., the worst the region has seen in 1,200 years.

The dry period began around 2000 and shows no signs of slowing down, with tens of millions Americans facing shrinking reservoirs and potential power outages amid extreme heat. The most-affected area stretches from Texas to Oregon.

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Bill Would Provide Relief to Farmworkers in Drought-Stricken California

/in , /by /Yale Climate Connections

About a quarter of the nation’s food is produced in California’s Central Valley. And for decades, people have come to the region to find jobs in agriculture.

State senator Melissa Hurtado says her parents immigrated there from Mexico.

“They came to the Central Valley in search of the American dream. What they had heard is that the Central Valley was the place where you can make that happen,” she says. “And this region provided that to them.”

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Amid Drought, Some California Communities Are Forced to Rely on Hauled-in or Bottled Water. This Map Shows Where

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Yoohyun Jung

Many small and rural communities across California are vulnerable to drought and water shortages as they lack the diverse water sources and infrastructure of big cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles. In some cases, these communities are forced to rely on bottled water or water hauled in from elsewhere, which experts say is costly and unsustainable.

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Water Usage in Bakersfield Drops 5.5%

/in , /by /KGETby Jacqueline Gutierrez

The California Waterboards showed a state-wide drop in water usage and some regions of the state exhibited a drop of up to 17%.

The waterboard said at a statewide level in June of 2014 California residents used 131 gallons per capita daily (GPCD) compared to June of 2022 residents used 101 GPCD. In June of 2021 California residents used 112 GPCD.

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Urban Water Suppliers Report Water Savings Progress Statewide

/in , , /by /Water News Network Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Following Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent executive order and a State Water Board emergency regulation, members of the California Urban Water Agencies, or CUWA, including the San Diego County Water Authority continue to advance water-saving efforts, yielding measurable results. These efforts come on the back of the driest first quarter in California’s history, which prompted the Governor to call for local water conservation steps rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

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Californians See Drought as Top Priority, Demand More Action: Survey

/in , , /by /The Hillby Sharon Udasin

Californians in a new statewide survey cite drought and water supply issues as their chief environmental concern for the third year in a row.

Thirty percent of respondents ranked water as the most pressing issue — topping wildfires and climate change, which garnered 13 percent and 11 percent, respectively, in the poll, released by the Public Policy Institute of California.

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Desalination Plant Construction Underway in Antioch as Drought Worsens

/in , , /by /CBS Bay Areaby John Ramos

The city of Antioch sits right next to the largest source of fresh water in Northern California. But it’s facing a water supply crisis because of changes to the Delta, both natural and man-made.

As a result, the city is taking extraordinary measures to increase supply in a way that has the rest of the state watching.

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‘Towns Built on Agriculture’ Plead for Federal Drought Relief

/in , , /by /Agri Pulseby Brad Hooker
California agriculture is eyeing a massive spending package in Congress and pressing for emergency relief funding to ensure local economies survive the drought.
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