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Opinion: California Must Stop Burying Its Head in Winter Snow

/in , , /by /The Mercury News

When it comes to water conservation, California is burying its head in the winter snow.

Future generations will not look kindly at our leaders’ complete failure to strategically address the state’s water shortages, which will only get worse with climate change.

Two years of some of the worst drought conditions in state history haven’t slowed Big Ag’s demands for more water. Meanwhile, urban users aren’t coming close to meeting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call to voluntarily cut their water use by 15% from 2020 levels.

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Newsom’s Budget Would Add Billions to Fight Drought, Fires and Boost California Farms

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Sophia Bollag

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday will propose spending billions of additional dollars on drought response, wildfire suppression and rural workforce development programs, according to budget documents reviewed by The Sacramento Bee. The governor’s plan includes $750 million in one-time money to help communities affected by the drought, including for water conservation, water efficiency, replenishing groundwater supplies and helping small farmers.

 

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The Western U.S. Might Be Seeing its Last Snowy Winters

/in , , /by /Fast Companyby Adele Peters

When a fire started spreading quickly in Boulder County, Colorado, on December 30, destroying nearly 1,000 homes as residents fled, the ground was dry. This was unusual: Boulder typically gets around 30 inches of snow between September and December. But last year, it had only a total of 1.7 inches over the same period before heavier snow finally started falling on December 31—too late to save the neighborhoods that burned.

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Snowpack Up 160% in ‘Good Start’ to 2022

/in , , /by /AgAlertby Christine Souza

After two consecutive years of drought, the state Department of Water Resources conducted the season’s first manual survey of the snowpack Dec. 30 and found a promising result—deep snow totaling 160% of average for the time of year.

State Climatologist Michael Anderson said storms in December that dumped several feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada and brought much-needed precipitation were “a great start to the water year.”

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‘Extraordinary is No Longer Extraordinary’: US Scientists on a Year of Climate Disasters

/in , , /by /The Guardian

The American west faced an unprecedented year of climate disasters in 2021.

A cold wave in February triggered temperatures 50F below average in Texas, killing at least 150 across the state and leaving millions without power and water. Heatwaves over the summer broke temperature records across different western states, killing hundreds in the northwestern US and Canada. Fires seared through large swathes of the west, razing the northern California town of Greenville and searing through groves of giant sequoia trees.

This summer, the Guardian interviewed a panel of climate scientists about their experiences living through the crises that climate research had long foretold. As the year ends, they share their reflections on what’s happened – and what gives them hope, even as climate catastrophe looms.

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LAFCO Finalizes Denial of Monterey Peninsula Water Management District’s Cal Am Takeover

/in , /by /Monterey Heraldby Tom Wright

The Monterey County Local Agency Formation Commission voted 5-2 Wednesday to finalize its denial of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District’s planned takeover of California American Water.

The 5-2 LAFCO vote followed its initial vote Dec. 6 to dismiss the water district’s application for the buyout, an acquisition mandated by a 2018 ballot measure.

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Can Cloud Seeding Squeeze More Rain out of Storms? How Much?

/in , /by /KCRWby Kathryn Barnes

Despite a rush of rain and snow heading into 2022, 85% of California remains in severely dry conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

That’s why water agencies in Southern California and beyond are trying to squeeze a bit more water out of the storms that come this winter using a method called cloud seeding.

It’s a weather modification technique that uses silver iodide to bond cloud droplets together to form ice crystals, which grow into snowflakes and fall as either snow or rain, depending on the elevation.

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Sen. Bill Dodd Introduces Remote Water Monitoring Bill

/in , /by /Woodland Daily Democratby Robyn Dobson

Sen. Bill Dodd introduced a new remote water monitoring bill this week aimed at encouraging more efficient use of water.

With California experiencing longer and more frequent droughts, the new legislation that was authorized on Wednesday will allow for the remote sensing of water diversions and create a more accurate measurement of available resources, according to a press release from Dodd’s office.

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No, California’s Drought Isn’t Over. Here’s Why.

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Rachel Becker

In a clear sign that the drought persists, California today adopted new emergency regulations aimed at stopping residents from wasting the state’s precious water.

The rules ban practices such as hosing down sidewalks and driveways with drinking water, washing cars without a shutoff nozzle on the hose and irrigating lawns and gardens too soon after rain.

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California Approves New Water-Wasting Rules as Conservation Falls Below Newsom’s Target

/in , , /by /Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Recent rains have eased California’s drought, but in the dry November before December’s deluge, many of the state’s residents still weren’t heeding calls to conserve water.

For the fifth month in a row since Gov. Gavin Newsom asked California residents to voluntarily cut water use, they missed the target — by a lot, largely due to lagging conservation by Southern Californians. Amid that news, and emphasizing that California’s drought still isn’t over, state water officials approved new rules Tuesday to prohibit wasteful water practices like washing cars without a hose shutoff nozzle.

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