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California Prepares for Energy Shortfalls in Hot, Dry Summer

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Kathleen Ronayne

California likely will have an energy shortfall equivalent to what it takes to power about 1.3 million homes when use is at its peak during the hot and dry summer months, state officials said Friday.

Threats from drought, extreme heat and wildfires, plus supply chain and regulatory issues hampering the solar industry will create challenges for energy reliability this summer, the officials said. They represented the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Energy Commission, and the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state’s energy grid.

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Facing a New Climate Reality, Southern California Lawns Could Wither

/in , , /by /The Washington Postby Joshua Partlow

From behind the wheel of his work van, Fernando Gonzalez took in the immaculate front yard amid the arid and affluent hills north of Los Angeles. The red and white rosebushes. The loquat and pear trees. The expanse of lush green grass and the two peacocks lounging beneath the portico.

The stately residence had been consuming about 40,000 gallons of water a month, and had already received a warning and a fine for overuse. Amid the historic drought now entering its third painful summer, Gonzalez’s employer, the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, has demanded this home and millions of others cut irrigation by 35 percent as of June 1.

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It’s Not Even Summer, and California’s Two Largest Reservoirs Are at ‘Critically Low’ Levels

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Rosanna Xia

At a point in the year when California’s water storage should be at its highest, the state’s two largest reservoirs have already dropped to critically low levels — a sobering outlook for the hotter and drier months ahead.

Shasta Lake, which rises more than 1,000 feet above sea level when filled to the brim, is at less than half of where it usually should be in early May — the driest it has been at this time of year since record-keeping first began in 1976. Lake Oroville, the largest reservoir in the State Water Project, a roughly 700-mile lifeline that pumps and ferries water all the way to Southern California, is currently at 55% of total capacity.

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Opinion: Huntington Beach Desalination Plant is a Crucial Tool in California’s Climate Change Arsenal

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Mark Donovan

On May 12, the California Coastal Commission is expected to consider final approval of the Huntington Beach desalination plant. Poseidon Water has weaved through the state’s complex and evolving regulatory landscape for nearly two decades in pursuit of that development permit.

Signing off on this project would demonstrate that seawater desalination — a proven water resource technology relied upon around the world to combat the effects of climate change and drought — has a future in California.

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Marin Water Board Rescinds Emergency Declaration for New Watering Rules

/in , , /by /CBS Bay Area

The Marin Water Board of Directors rescinded the county’s water shortage emergency declaration and updated its water use rules this week, adopting new requirements for outdoor irrigation and swimming pools.

A water emergency in Marin County was declared in the fall of 2021 after reserves reached critically low levels. According to the water board, the county’s reservoirs are way up and are currently at 90 percent capacity due to record rainfall that arrived in October and December of last year.

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Water Districts Targeting Wasteful Residents as Historically Bad Drought Continues

/in , , /by /CBSLA

Californians continue to get hit with water conservation restrictions while in the midst of one of the worst droughts in state history. Now, some water districts are taking another step towards limiting waste from residents who have incurred multiple violations in recent months.

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At California’s Second Biggest Lake, the Latest Fallout of Drought Is Gruesome

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

At California’s second biggest freshwater lake, the latest fallout of drought is gruesome: dead fish in nearby stream beds that have run dry.

Some of the foot-long, silvery Clear Lake hitch have been decapitated by raccoons and other varmints, which have had easy pickings of the beached minnow.

The grim sightings by Lake County and tribal crews surveying the lake have prompted a rescue effort over the past week to save hitch, a threatened species found only in this region. Many are still stranded in what little water remains in the channels amid larger questions about the fate of the fish and the state of drought-diminished Clear Lake.

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Watershed Moment

/in , , /by /Stanford Magazineby Tracie White

Dave Steindorf knows California’s North Fork Feather River like his backyard. He’s driven along its banks so many times, people wave to him as he goes by. As he passes, he takes mental notes about any day-to-day changes—silt backup in reservoirs that could muck up habitat, or river levels low enough to threaten frog and trout spawning grounds. His personal slogan is “Couch potatoes make poor river advocates,” so he gets out in the river whenever he can, on his kayak or with a fly-fishing rod in his hands.

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Dozens of Water Agencies Meet to Discuss Drought

/in , , /by /FOX 40by Zach Boetto and Jose Fabian Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Dry heat is already being felt at the beginning of May, and without rain, the drought continues across all of California.

Experts said California is in its third consecutive year of drought.

This week, some of the top water experts in the state were in Sacramento to think of solutions. Experts talked about the ongoing dry hydrology – the idea that this dry climate will be consistent up and down the state for the foreseeable future.

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Opinion: Newsom Gets It Right On Desalination

/in , , /by /The Orange County Register

Kudos to Gov. Gavin Newsom for increasing his support for the $1.4 billion Poseidon Water desalination in Huntington Beach. “We need more tools in the damn tool kit. We are as dumb as we want to be,” he said Friday in a meeting with the Bay Area News Group editorial board. “What more evidence do you need that you need to have more tools in the tool kit than what we’ve experienced? Seven out of the last 10 years have been severe drought.”

California is thirsty. And another drought is making us thirstier.

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