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Climate Change Creating More Devastating Rainfall Events in Wildfire Burn Scars

/in , , /by /Courthouse News Service by Matthew Renda

Devastatingly large wildfires followed by intense precipitation events will grow in frequency as the effects of climate change become more widespread and entrenched, a study published Friday has found.

The American West has long been susceptible to landslides and flooding that afflict areas recently scorched by wildfires. The fire destroys vegetation that stabilizes slopes and prevents large-scale erosion while exposing more of hillsides and riverbanks to the ravaging effects of intense rain.

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Opinion: California Water War Peace Treaty? Not Quite

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Dan Walters

The holy grail of those involved in California’s decades-long political and legal battle over how the state’s water supply should be allocated has been some sort of master agreement.

There have been countless efforts at negotiating such a peace treaty and some premature declarations of success. However, California’s water wars have continued with skirmishes in the water bureaucracy, in the Legislature, in Congress, in the courts and even in the White House.

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Friant Dam Water Releases Increasing. Why There’s Concern on San Joaquin River

/in , /by /Merced Sun-Starby Robert Kuwada

With a major warming trend in the forecast and temperatures in Fresno reaching the 80s on Sunday, the Bureau of Reclamation is alerting the public to monitor flow conditions and to exercise caution when on the San Joaquin River due to increased releases from Friant Dam.

The bureau started releases into the river on Friday to help meet contractual obligations to deliver Central Valley Project water to the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors on the west side of the Valley

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Here’s How Much the Latest Rainstorms Affected Water Levels in California’s Reservoirs

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Danielle Echeverria

The storms that rolled across the Bay Area and much of California on Sunday and Monday delivered some of the highest rainfall totals of the calendar year so far, as meteorologists predicted — but that still isn’t much, they said Tuesday.

“On a bigger picture, this is one of the biggest storms we’ve had of 2022,” said Matt Mehle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “But we’ve only had a handful of systems actually bring any precipitation to the Bay Area in January and February.”

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Arizona Will Endure Another Hot, Dry Spring as Drought Persists

/in , /by /AZ Big Mediaby Emily Sacia

People in Arizona hoping for a break this spring from the drought gripping the state will be disappointed, with climatologists calling for minor to exceptional drought conditions, what one calls the state’s “new normal.”

The spring outlook released this month by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted the largest drought coverage seen in the U.S. since 2013, with as much as 60% of the continental U.S. facing drought conditions.

“This outlook that NOAA is saying, that we’re going to develop or have worsening drought, it’s not surprising, it’s not unexpected,” said Erinanne Saffel, Arizona’s state climatologist.

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Gov. Newsom Outlines a Peace Agreement on California Water. Will the Fighting Finally End?

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration unveiled a $2.6 billion environmental peace treaty on the Central Valley’s overtaxed rivers Tuesday. The deal calls for farms and cities to surrender billions of gallons of water while contributing funds to help restore troubled fish habitats.

Newsom’s top aides called the 34-page memorandum of understanding a compromise measure that will leave more water in the rivers — but not as much as many environmentalists believe is needed to prop up ailing populations of salmon, steelhead and other fish. And some key water users, such as the city of San Francisco, haven’t yet signed onto the plan.

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California Plan Would Pay Farmers to Grow Less to Save Water

/in , /by /AP Newsby Adam Beam

California would pay farmers not to plant thousands of acres of land as part of a $2.9 billion plan announced Tuesday aimed at letting more water flow through the state’s major rivers and streams to help restore the unique habitat in one of North America’s largest estuaries.

The agreement, signed Tuesday between state and federal officials and some of California’s biggest water agencies, would result in about 35,000 acres of rice fields left unused — or about 6% of the state’s normal crop each year, according to the California Rice Commission.

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Newsom Imposes New California Water Restrictions — Leaves Details to Locals

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Rachel Becker

As a dry summer looms, California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered water suppliers across California to step up their local drought responses, but fell short of requiring water rationing or setting a statewide conservation target.

Despite pressure from experts urging a strong mandate, the order leaves the exact conservation measures up to the urban water providers and major water wholesalers that supply the vast majority of Californians. It does not affect agricultural water providers, or the small water systems that are especially vulnerable to drought.

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Gavin Newsom Proposes Ban on Watering Decorative Grass in California: What That Means

/in , , /by /SF GATEby Amy Graff

Amid California’s worsening drought conditions, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday called on local water agencies to introduce new water-use restrictions and for state regulators to ban watering decorative grass at businesses and institutions, the governor’s office said in a statement.

In the executive order, the governor asks the California State Water Resources Control Board to consider making it illegal to water non-functional grass at commercial, industrial and institutional buildings. The restriction would not include residential lawns or grass used for recreation such as sports fields and parks, the governor’s office said.

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Lake Powell Continues to Disappear as Colorado Hits Pause on Plan to Prop Up Levels

/in , , /by /The Salt Lake Tribuneby Zak Podmore

The Glen Canyon Dam may be one step closer to losing its ability to generate hydropower after water managers in Colorado announced last week that they will stop exploring one proposal to prop up the rapidly depleting levels in Lake Powell.

The plan — known as demand management — would compensate farmers and ranchers for voluntarily stopping irrigation on a temporary basis, sending water that would have been used for agriculture to the reservoir.

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