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As the Colorado River Shrinks, Can the Basin Find an Equitable Solution in Sharing the River’s Waters?

/in , , /by /Western Water (Water Education Foundation)by Douglas E. Beeman

Impacts from climate change and two decades of drought on the Colorado River are fueling fears that states in the Upper Basin – Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming – could be forced to curtail their own water use to fulfill obligations under the century-old Colorado River Compact to send a certain amount of water downstream to the Lower Basin states of California, Arizona and Nevada.

There has never been a so-called “Compact call” on the river. But as evidence grows that the river isn’t yielding the water assumed by the 1922 Colorado River Compact, questions arise about whether a Compact call may be coming, or whether the states and water interests, drawing on decades of sometimes difficult collaboration, can avert a river war that ends up in court.

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Spaceship-sized Detection System Could Help Determine Future of Ca Water Supply, Where to Store It

/in , , /by /abc 7 Newsby Spencer Christian and Tim Didion

If it looks like something that could transport you into the future, in a sense it is. A spaceship-sized hoop suspended from a helicopter is actually part of an advanced water detection system. The information it’s gathering, could help determine the future of California’s water supply – and where we store it.

“I’ve seen similar studies that say, ‘Hey, let’s not even think of building more above ground reservoirs. Let’s use all the empty space below,'” says Rosemary Knight, Ph.D., a professor of Geophysics and senior fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University.

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Desert Groundwater Plan OK’d by State

/in , , /by /SJV Waterby Lois Henry

The Indian Wells Valley groundwater plan got a thumbs up from the state on Thursday but with a swarm of lawsuits surrounding the plan, it’s unclear what that approval will mean going forward.

One of those lawsuits seeks a “comprehensive adjudication” of water rights of the Indian Wells Valley basin, which could reconfigure who has rights to how much groundwater, a fundamental underpinning of the groundwater sustainability plan that was just approved.

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Dam Providing Power to Millions Nears Critically Low Water Level

/in , , /by /Roll Callby Benjamin J. Hulac

A federal dam in Arizona that provides electricity to millions of Americans is at risk this year of running out of the minimum level of water required to generate that power.

Glen Canyon Dam, completed in 1963 and brought online two years later, is at 27 percent capacity, the lowest since it was filled, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday.

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Colorado Had Hottest Six Months in History, New Data Shows

/in , , /by /The Denver Postby Conrad Swanson

The average temperature for the last six months is the hottest recorded in Colorado and the country as a whole, according to data released this week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The next-highest six-month average temperature peak in Colorado came during the 1930s Dust Bowl era, the data shows.

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Satellite Images Show Mount Shasta’s Transformation After an Exceptionally Dry Summer

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

After one of its driest summers in years, satellite images show that Mount Shasta is blanketed in its signature snow once again after December storms swept across Northern California.

The images show the mountain nearly entirely devoid of snow in early September, after a very hot summer for the region compounded the lack of snowpack after two severely dry winters, dissipating the snowpack earlier than normal. Just four months later, the mountain appeared transformed, covered in snow once again.

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Glenn County Residents Continue to Feel the Impacts of the Drought

/in , , /by /KRCR-TVby Kelly DeLeon

The recent rains were much needed, but they were not enough to get the state out of the drought.

One of the first counties in the Northstate to declare a local drought emergency, Glenn County, is still experiencing water supply issues.

“The rain is always good and the snow is even better because snow will last for a while and melt and come down and refill what has been depleted when people are using. It had a positive impact. Dramatic? I wouldn’t say so,” said the director of Glenn County Planning & Community Development Services, Don Rust.

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California Drought: Santa Clara County Residents Exceed Water Conservation Targets

/in , , /by /The Mercury Timesby Paul Rogers

After months of falling short, Santa Clara County residents have finally begun to hit the target when it comes to water conservation — and the threat of higher water bills may have played a role.

Following two record-dry years, the Santa Clara Valley Water District declared a drought emergency in June and asked the county’s 2 million residents to cut water use by 15% from 2019 levels.

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UC Study Finds Safe Drinking Water Remains Out of Reach for Many Californians

/in , /by /NBC Bay Areaby Bay City News

An estimated 371,000 Californians — about 1% of the state’s residents — rely on drinking water that may contain high levels of toxic chemicals such as arsenic, nitrate or hexavalent chromium, according to a study from the University of California campuses in Berkeley and Los Angeles.

In a news release issued Tuesday by UC Berkeley, researchers said the results of the study likely understate the number of people impacted by unsafe drinking water, as the study included just the three chemicals.

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California’s Drought Reckoning Could Offer Lessons for the West

/in , , /by /Tucson Sentinelby Matt Vasilogambros

The golden hills of California have turned green in recent weeks after a series of storms delivered much-needed rain and snow to a state suffering from two years of drought.

But state officials and water policy experts are still urging caution even in these wet conditions, pushing for water-saving measures as the drought is expected to continue throughout much of the West.

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