You are now in California and the U.S. Media Coverage category.

Opinion: ‘All Hands on Deck’ for the Energy Storage Industry

/in , /by /Utility Diveby Kelly Sarber

Energy storage technology may be the singular, most important component in our nation’s transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, since utility-scale, battery systems provide the flexibility to absorb, store and deploy energy at locations where and when the power is most needed. Energy storage is crucial to replacing America’s fleet of polluting, fossil fuel plants because they integrate the increasing amounts of wind, solar and hydropower being transmitted hundreds of miles without jeopardizing grid reliability — sometimes the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining where and when the power is most needed.

Full Story

Kern County Officials, Growers Concerned About Lake Isabella Water Levels

/in , /by /23ABCby Mike Hart

Bakersfield and Kern County have been in drought mode since the end of last year with restrictions and cutbacks in place to try and save as much water as possible as we head into the hot summer months.

But water officials and growers are concerned as the flow from the Upper Kern into Lake Isabella now reduces to a trickle in the coming weeks and months.

Full Story

Opinion: The Colorado River Compact Hasn’t Aged Well | Writers on the Range

/in , /by /The Tribuneby George Sibley

The Colorado River Compact turns 100 this year, but any celebration is damped down by the drying-up of the big reservoirs it enabled. The Bureau of Reclamation’s “first-ever” shortage declaration on the river acknowledges officially what we’ve known for years: the Compact and all the measures augmenting it, collectively known as The Law of the River, have not prevented the river’s over-development.

Nearly every pronouncement from the water establishment about the centennial of the Colorado River Compact calls it the “foundation,” “the cornerstone” of the Law of the River — as though before the Compact was adopted, the river was lawless.

Full Story

As Colorado River Reservoirs Drop, Western States Urged to ‘Act Now’

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

With the Colorado River’s depleted reservoirs continuing to drop to new lows, the federal government has taken the unprecedented step of telling the seven Western states that rely on the river to find ways of drastically cutting the amount of water they take in the next two months.

The Interior Department is seeking the emergency cuts to reduce the risks of Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the country’s two largest reservoirs, declining to dangerously low levels next year.

Full Story

Colorado River States Need to Drastically Cut Down Their Water Usage ASAP, or the Federal Government Will Step in

/in , /by /CPR Newsby Michael Elizabeth Sakas

During a U.S. Senate hearing on Western drought earlier this week, the commissioner for the Bureau of Reclamation told the states in the Colorado River Basin that they have 60 days to create an emergency plan to stop using between 2 and 4 million acre-feet of water in the next year or the agency will use its emergency authority to make the cuts itself.

For context, the entire state of Arizona is allowed to use 2.8 million acre-feet of Colorado River water each year.

Full Story

California’s Continued Drought

/in , , /by /California Water Blogby Andrew L. Rypel

As California’s drought deepens, it is worth checking in on the status of water supplies and what might be in store for the rest of the summer, and beyond.

What started with the promise of a wet water year, ended up dry, again. In January, the 8-Station Index showed precipitation totals keeping pace with the wettest year on record. Then it got dry and accumulated totals flat-lined. The final result is a below average water year, although not one of the driest years on record.

Full Story

Under Federal Pressure, Colorado River Water Managers Face Unprecedented Call for Conservation

/in , , /by /KUNCby Alex Hager and Luke Runyon

Colorado River water managers are facing a monumental task. Federal officials have given leaders in seven Western states a new charge — to commit to an unprecedented amount of conservation and do it before an August deadline.

Without major cutbacks in water use, the nation’s two largest reservoirs — Lake Powell and Lake Mead — are in danger of reaching critically low levels.

On June 14, Bureau of Reclamation commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton came to a Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing with a prognosis, a goal and a threat.

Full Story

Ukiah Enrolls in First-of-Its-Kind California Water Sharing Program Following Landmark Drought, Curtailments

/in , /by /The Mendocino Voiceby Kate Fishman

A historic new program in California will allow water right holders in the Russian River watershed to share water allocations among one another this year as they face near-inevitable curtailments on water use. Ukiah played a leading role in developing the new initiative, and its city council voted unanimously to participate in the program on Wednesday night.

In presenting the program before councilmembers, Ukiah Water Resources Director Sean White suggested that it arose as an alternative to possible litigation against the State Water Resources Control Board.

Full Story

‘The Moment of Reckoning Is Near’: Feds Warn Huge Cuts Needed to Shore Up Lake Mead, Colorado River

/in , , /by /USA Todayby Janet Wilson

A top federal water official told Congress on Tuesday that shortages on the Colorado River system have taken an even grimmer turn, with a whopping 2 million to 4 million acre-feet of reduction in water use needed by 2023 just to keep Lake Mead functioning and physically capable of delivering drinking water, irrigation and power to millions of people.

Levels at the reservoir have dropped to an all-time low of 28% of capacity, with no relief in sight, said Camille Touton, Bureau of Reclamation commissioner who testified early Tuesday to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Full Story

Gavin Newsom’s Drought Strategy Is a Major Departure From Jerry Brown’s Mandatory Water Cuts. It’s Not Working

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Dustin Gardiner

If Gov. Jerry Brown’s drought strategy was defined by the “we’re-all-in-this-together” mantra of collective sacrifice, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approach has been guided by the more individualistic notion of “it’s not one size fits all.”

Newsom, despite the state facing a third year of exceptional drought conditions, has refused to follow in Brown’s footsteps by mandating that all residents cut their water use.

Full Story