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Why a Triple-Dip La Niña Could Be Bad News for California

/in , , /by /KTLAby Alix Martichoux

A rare triple-dip La Niña is looking increasingly likely for the Northern Hemisphere. The latest outlook by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, released Thursday, indicates there’s a 62% to 66% chance the current La Niña climate condition will persist through fall and early winter.

If that happens, it’ll be the third La Niña winter in a row – a rare phenomenon we’ve only seen twice since 1950. A third consecutive La Niña year would likely have a major impact on California.

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California’s Idle Crop Land May Double as Water Crisis Deepens

/in , , /by /Bloombergby Kim Chipman

California’s historic drought may leave the state with the largest amount of empty farmland in recent memory as farmers face unprecedented cuts to crucial water supplies.

The size of fields intended for almonds, rice, wine grapes and other crops left unworked could be around 800,000 acres, double the size of last year and the most in at least several decades, said Josue Medellin-Azuara, an associate professor at University of California Merced.

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Is the Salton Sea Hiding Enough Lithium to Power America?

/in , /by /Big Thinkby Teresa Carey

As the world transitions away from fossil fuels, electric vehicles are becoming more ubiquitous. But despite their environmental benefits, they still have a price. The batteries that power them rely on a limited resource: lithium.

But some say California’s so-called “Lithium Valley” could be a vast powerhouse for the next century’s battery needs. A team of scientists is planning to map out deep-earth lithium to see if it can sustainably supply America’s insatiable demand for the element.

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Marin Water District Vets Desalination, Recycled Water Cost

/in , /by /Marin Independent Journalby Will Houston

The Marin Municipal Water District took a deeper look at some of the more complex and expensive options on the table for new supply: desalination plants and recycled water.

The district board and consultants with the Jacobs Engineering firm held discussion Tuesday on the preliminary cost estimates, water yields and challenges of building desalination plants and expanding the district’s recycled water system.

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Opinion: Every Californian Holds the Key to Drought Response

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Sandy Kerl and Steve Welch Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

All Californians play a role in preserving and enhancing our water supplies for a drought-resilient future. California again is in a familiar state of drought, although not all communities are affected equally. Some regions are in extreme water shortage; others are not. We must address these differences. That starts with all Californians understanding where their water comes from and what they can do to use it wisely.

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Third Year of La Niña Could Deepen California Drought

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Michael Cabanatuan

Climate scientists with the National Weather Service delivered disappointing news Thursday for anyone hoping for drought relief this fall or early winter.

According to the weather service’s Climate Prediction Center, there’s a 62% to 66% chance that La Niña conditions will prevail in the Northern hemisphere until at least the end of 2022, marking the third straight year of the weather pattern.

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Climate Change Means Some Coastal Groundwater May Soon Be Too Salty to Drink. What Can Cities Do?

/in , , /by /WHYYby Alan Yu

Cape May, New Jersey has a long history as a resort town with seafood, ballrooms, and Victorian-era mansions, dating back to the 18th century. The idyllic, seaside town is surrounded by ocean on three sides.

But in the 1950s, the city started to have a problem with its water supply, which comes from groundwater. Saltwater was seeping into wells, making the water undrinkable. The city had to abandon its old wells and drill new ones, over and over again.

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How Much Rainfall Has Sacramento Actually Got This Year?

/in , /by /ABC 10by Carley Gomez

California as a whole continues to be in its third year of drought, but earlier in the water year, it had a strong chance to see a normal water year. After a strong atmospheric river arrived in October, the first month of the 2021-2022 water year. Forecast models from the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, showed the Sacramento region as having about an 80% chance of meeting an average water year.

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Agriculture Industry Rushes to Adapt to Oncoming Climate Challenges

/in , , /by /Sacramento Business Journalby Emily Hamann

In California’s fields, farmers are already facing the impacts of climate change every day. They are heading into yet another potentially devastating fire year, and the third year in a row of drought.

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Farmers in Lower Basin Unite to Solve Drought Crises

/in , , /by /The Desert Review

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) issued a call last June to the public for assistance in developing long-term operations on the Colorado River. This announcement came within days of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton’s message to a Senate Committee that the seven states of the Colorado River Basin must come up with an emergency deal by mid-August to conserve between 2 and 4 million acre-feet of water in the next year to protect the entire Colorado River system, according to the Family Farm Alliance (FFA) newsletter.

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