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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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Will Colorado River Shortages Limit Water Use? Arizona Cities Seek ‘Culture Change’ First

/in , , /by /AZ Centralby Brandon Loomis

Arizona’s cities should consider imposing unprecedented restrictions on outdoor water use if the Colorado River’s flow continues to decline as expected this year, the state’s water resources director says.

Scottsdale and Tucson already have declared themselves to be in the first stage of their respective drought plans, and are reducing government water uses. Phoenix plans to take payments from the state in lieu of some of its Colorado River deliveries next year, part of the state’s latest drought mitigation effort.

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Desalination: California’s Best Hope to Stave Off Water Restrictions in the Future

/in , , /by /California Globeby Evan Symon

During the last few years, California’s drought situation has become more and more dire. While a large chunk of it is self-inflicted by the state, as they release an incredible amount of water from dams each year for environmental purposes instead of, you know, agriculture and people, part of it is also that rain and snowpack build have been well below averages in the past. Northern California still has restrictions going on, with Southern California, facing another hot summer, may face a scenario in some areas where water may run out if usage stays as high as it is now.

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As Colorado River Shrinks, Pain of Drought to Spread

/in , , /by /E&E Newsby Jennifer Yachnin

Rolf Schmidt-Petersen knows what can happen when a water shortage hits: Reservoirs shrink and tempers flare.

“We had people literally throwing rocks, tomatoes when Elephant Butte went down,” recalled Schmidt-Petersen, director of the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission. He was talking about a 2003 deal to release water from a reservoir in southern New Mexico and drop the lake by about 33 feet to assist farmers in the state and neighboring Texas.

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Assessing Water Infrastructure Investments in California

/in , /by /Eosby Terri Cook

With water scarcity increasing around the globe, arid regions are striving to develop more flexible and diversified water supplies. For example, California’s 2020 Water Resilience Portfolio Initiative recommends improving and expanding the state’s conveyance and storage infrastructure as well as developing groundwater banking and other means of more flexibly sharing water. The success of such initiatives depends in large part upon the ability of water providers to collaboratively finance and build new infrastructure.

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AP Analysis Finds Growing Number of Poor, High-Hazard Dams

/in , /by /AP Newsby David A. Lieb, Michael Casey and Michelle Minkoff

Constructed four generations ago, the massive rock and clay dam at El Capitan Reservoir is capable of storing over 36 billion gallons of water, enough to supply every resident in San Diego for most of a year.

Today, it’s three-quarters empty, intentionally kept low because of concerns it could fail under the strain of too much water.

During “a big earthquake, you never know what’s going to happen, if this is going to hold,” said Samuel Santos, a longtime resident who frequently fishes near the dam.

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AccuWeather Long-Term Northern California Forecast Includes Potential for Dry Lightning, Continued Drought Next Fall

/in , /by /The Press Democratby Mary Callahan

With more than 1.1 million acres across the drought-afflicted West already charred, 2022 is shaping up to be another year of extremely intense fire activity.

But with the release Wednesday of its official 2022 Wildfire Season Forecast, AccuWeather forecasting company has added a couple of gut punches to this year’s outlook for flame-battered Northern California and the North Bay region.

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