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If the Supreme Court Rolls Back the Clean Water Act, California Will Be Ready — Thanks to Trump

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Bob Egelko

The Supreme Court appears ready to narrow the scope of the Clean Water Act, eliminating protections for many inland streams and wetlands that feed rivers, lakes and bays. But California is also ready, thanks to former President Donald Trump.

When Trump tried to roll back federal regulation of inland waterways toward the end of his term, California stepped in with new pollution controls designed to protect those waters within the state’s borders — regulations that would largely fill the gap the Supreme Court seems poised to create by mid-2023.

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Is California Entering a Megadrought? Water Experts Weigh In

/in , , /by /ABC 10by Luke Cleary

Despite the rain and snow that closed out 2021, California could be entering a third drought year as weeks of dry winter weather open the new year.

The state has experienced drought in 15 of the last 20 years, according to UC Davis. Experts say California is in the grip of a “megadrought.”

“It looks like, with a warming climate and climate change, it’s going to become more like this,” said Jay Lund, professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis and director of the Center for Watershed Sciences.

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White House Expands Digital Regulations for U.S. Water Supply

/in , , /by /NBC Newsby Kevin Collier

The White House launched a new cybersecurity initiative for the U.S. water supply Thursday after a handful of worrisome hacks against the sector last year.

The new initiative is designed to create a system that shares information about cyberthreats with the water sector and industry-wide basic security practices, though water facilities will not be forced to adopt any new practices.

Bryson Bort, a cybersecurity consultant for industrial systems, said it was an important first step toward more secure water infrastructure.

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Proposed Ballot Measure to Build More California Dams, Desalination Projects Likely to Be Withdrawn Due to Lack of Money and Signatures

/in , , /by /Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

Despite California’s drought, a proposed statewide November ballot measure to speed up the construction of new dams and other large water projects — and provide billions of dollars to fund them — has fallen short in its fundraising goals and is likely to be withdrawn by early next week.

The initiative would require that 2% of California’s general fund, or about $4 billion, be set aside every year to expand water supplies. Those could include new dams and reservoirs, desalination plants, recycled water plants and other projects such as upgrading canals and pipes. The measure also would streamline permitting for those projects.

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Megadrought Fuels Debate Over Whether a Flooded Canyon Should Reemerge

/in , , /by /NPRby Dan Charles and Nathan Rott

In the 1960s, the Bureau of Reclamation built a dam that flooded a celebrated canyon on the Utah-Arizona border. Today, it’s known as Lake Powell — the second-largest reservoir in the U.S.

A half billion dollar tourism industry has grown in the desert around the reservoir but a decades-long megadrought is putting its future in question.

With what some call America’s ‘lost national park’ reemerging, an old debate is also resurfacing: should we restore a beloved canyon or refill a popular and critical reservoir?

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Q&A: David Arend Talks Colorado River Basin Challenges

/in , /by /KUNCby Alex Hager

As the Colorado River shrinks at the hands of a two-decades-long drought, there’s a lot on the line. The water supply for 40 million people, agriculture, wildlife and hydropower generation are all hanging in the balance as the region grapples with a dwindling river.

The federal agency most involved with the Colorado River and water in the West is the Bureau of Reclamation. The agency’s measurements and actions can lead headlines throughout the region — including the shortage declaration that raised national alarm last August.

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February Could Be the Make-Or-Break Month for California’s Drought

/in , , /by /ABC 10by Monica Woods

California is nearing that make-or-break point to pick up some rain and snow totals. January has turned out to be a total bust for big storms, continuing that winter whiplash of wet to dry weather.

Almost all the gains we’ve made reducing the severity of our two-year drought came from storms in October and December. In October, those gains were from one big atmospheric river sitting over the state for days. December saw multiple storms ending in a record setting snowiest month for the Sierra.

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Federal, Local Officials Kick Off Millions in Repairs to Friant-Kern Canal

/in , , /by /The Sunby Daniel Gligich

Local and Federal water officials and lawmakers celebrated the groundbreaking of a massive project on the Friant-Kern Canal on Tuesday, marking the start of the canal’s restoration.

Coming in at $187 million, the first portion of the massive effort will restore capacity within the canal in a 10-mile portion that has been affected by subsidence: the sinking of the canal’s bottom from groundwater removal.

With 33 miles of the Friant-Kern Canal in total that have sunk due to subsidence, Tuesday’s groundbreaking kicks off the first phase of the Friant-Kern Canal Middle Reach Capacity Correction restoration project.

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Opinion: Here Is the First Step to a Sustainable Water Policy

/in , , /by /Cal Mattersby Carolee Krieger

Water that is promised in a contract but can’t be delivered is called “paper water” – shorthand for water that does not exist except in legal documents.

During its mid-20th century frenzy of dam and canal construction, California allocated much more water than it actually had. These paper water commitments far exceed the amount of water than is available in our reservoirs and rivers. According to a study from the University of California, Davis, “appropriative water rights filed for consumptive uses are approximately five times greater than estimated surface water withdrawals.”

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California’s Climate Whiplash Has Gotten Worse Over 50 Years

/in , , /by /Futurityby Mikayla Mace-Arizona

While dry events in California are not getting drier, extreme wet weather events have steadily increased in magnitude since the middle of the last century, new research shows.

These increased extreme wet events can result in more dangerous flooding and also fuel wildfires.

“Most research after 2015 has been very focused on this climate variability and how it’s going to get worse in the future,” says Diana Zamora-Reyes, a graduate student in the department of hydrology and atmospheric sciences at the University of Arizona and lead author of the paper in the International Journal of Climatology.

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