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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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Colorado Hits a “Hard Pause” on Water Demand Management as It Waits for Other States to Catch Up

/in , , /by /The Colorado Sunby Chris Outcalt

Colorado is taking a “hard pause” on investigating the viability of demand management, a program that would allow the state to pay water users to temporarily and voluntarily conserve water and store what’s saved in Lake Powell for future use.

“No more energy spent on this right now,” Colorado Water Conservation Board chair Jaclyn Brown said this week. “Until the facts change; until someone brings us new information.”

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Newsom Broadens Drought Order – But Again Stops Short of Mandatory Urban Water Cutbacks

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

Gov. Gavin Newsom, acknowledging the severity of the drought, ordered California cities and other local water agencies Monday to reduce their water usage and tighten their conservation rules.

Newsom, however, continued to resist mandatory statewide cutbacks in urban water use, just as he did last year during the recall campaign. Instead, he ordered urban water agencies to implement the second stage of their water shortage contingency plans — protocols that are to take effect when water shortages approach 20%.

 

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Opinion: Pages From a Farmer: And Then the Rain Never Came

/in , /by /Napa Valley Registerby Carine Hines

Bombtober” some called it, when an incredible atmospheric river drenched the drought-stricken soils and mountains of California. We all danced and rejoiced, and much thought, and may still think, that we made it through the recent stretch of drought. Was it realistic to believe that a few days of heavy rain could undo the harm of months and years of drought? Only if it continued to rain, but it never did.

This winter we experienced the driest January and February in recorded history, which are typically our wettest. And we will not have a “Miracle March”.

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Newsom Calls for More Aggressive Water Conservation Amid Third Year of Drought

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hayley Smith and Jonah Valdez

On the heels of the driest ever start to the year in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday issued a sweeping executive order calling on local water suppliers to implement more aggressive conservation measures as reservoirs dwindle and residents backslide in their efforts to cut back.

Specifically, the order requires that urban water suppliers activate “Level 2″ of their locally customized contingency plans, meaning they must prepare for a shortage of up to 20%.

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California’s Snowpack Is ‘Roasting in the Dry and Sunny Conditions’

/in , , /by /SF GATEby Amy Graff

California’s winter snowpack is suffering after the state saw historically dry weather in January and February, and March is headed down the same track. An early spring heat wave this week brought record-breaking temperatures that accelerated snowmelt. On Friday, the snowpack — which historically has provided about a third of the state’s water supply — stood at 46% of its average for this time of year.

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Study Previews How Climate Change May Alter Rain-making Atmospheric Rivers by 2100

/in , , /by /NOAA Research News

The people, economy, and ecosystems of the Pacific coast states of California, Oregon and Washington are highly dependent on cool-season atmospheric rivers for their annual water supply. These long, narrow flows of saturated air can transport enormous amounts of water vapor – roughly equivalent to the flow at the mouth of the Mississippi River. They can unload  heavy precipitation on the Cascade and Sierra Nevada ranges, but their annual yield regularly swings between boom and bust.

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