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Lake Mead’s Source: How’s the Snowpack in the Rockies?

/in , , /by /3 News Las Vegasby Jeff Gillan

Most of Lake Mead’s water has been on quite the journey. Much of it was born on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains.

How much snow hits the Rockies tells us how much water will come to Lake Mead.

“After a pretty good start to the season, we were looking pretty close to normal, or even slightly above normal, in a lot of areas at the beginning of January,” says Paul Miller with the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center, which watches the snow and the river.

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Water Board Digs Into Data for Climate Planning

/in , , /by /Agri Pulseby Brad Hooker

The State Water Resources Control Board has come a long way since consolidating offices for pollution control and water rights 50 years ago, according to board chair Joaquin Esquivel. Reinvesting in that water rights system through a data-based approach will be key in the era of climate change, he explained during a presentation for the Northern California Water Association’s annual meeting on Friday.

“Frankly, it feels like we’re in a bit of climate catchup,” added board member Sean Maguire. “We do have a lot of work to do. And it’s really going to take everyone rolling up their sleeves to get this done.”

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Opinion: Wildfires, Climate Change Put California Forests at Tipping Point

/in , /by /The Mercury Timesby Matt Dias and Julee Malinowski-Ball

The last two years have been California’s most destructive fire seasons. Thirty-six people lost their lives, and more than 14,000 structures were destroyed or damaged. In addition, more than 7.3 million acres burned in California, which is larger than all of Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties combined. To put it simply, California’s forest lands are in crisis.

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Solar Panel Water Systems Could Be Headed to Central California

/in , , /by /ABC 30by Kassandra Gutierrez

Since 2014, SOURCE Global has been aiming to provide clean drinking water to thousands of people across the world.

 

The company has reached 53 countries. Now, they are looking to help the Central Valley.

 

“I think it is very important to avoid ingesting contaminants like uranium, arsenic and nitrates that are very common in the Central Valley,” says Clara McBane, Senior VP or SOURCE Global.

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Opinion: Liz Writes Life: California’s Drought Is an Alarming Problem

/in , , /by /The Siskiyou Daily Newsby Liz Bowen

No rain or snow in January and February certainly added to the drought in California. L.A. Times reporter Ian James reported on Feb. 24 that many farmers in the federal Central Valley Project will not receive water from the federal system this year. In mid-February, the federal Bureau of Reclamation announced a zero-water allocation for many irrigation districts that supply farmers throughout the Central Valley. Makes one wonder: Where our food will be grown?

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Record Growth, Record Heat, Record Drought: How Will Las Vegas Weather the Climate Crisis?

/in , , /by /The Guardianby Gabrielle Canon

Away from the lights and fountains of the Las Vegas Strip, bulldozers are working overtime as the suburbs of Sin City are bursting out of their seams.

Las Vegas is growing at a staggering rate. Clark county, where the city is located, is home to roughly 2.3 million people, but forecasts predict the population could go beyond 4 million by 2055.

Attracted by the lure of cheaper costs of living, lower taxes, and newly built homes, more than half a million people are expected to flock to southern Nevada in just the next 15 years.

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Pinal County Farmers Are the First to Feel the Pain of Colorado River Cuts

/in , , /by /Fronterasby Anthony J. Wallace

Farming is in 30-year-old Jace Miller’s blood.

“I love my job, it’s the greatest way of life,” Miller said. “It’s the best profession in the world, in my opinion.”

His great great grandfather came to Arizona in 1917 and started a farm in Gilbert. Four generations later, Jace is still doing it. But that 100-year run is at risk of ending — Triple M Farms, named for the three Miller generations that work there today — is losing access to its most important resource: water.

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Spring Is Starting Sooner and Growing Warmer, Analysis Shows

/in , , /by /Yale Environment 360

Spring is beginning sooner in the United States, with 97 percent of 242 locations across the country experiencing temperature increases since 1970, according to a new analysis from Climate Central.

The analysis showed that close to half of the 242 locations have warmed by at least 2 degrees F. Reno, Nevada saw the greatest increase of any city, warming by 6.8 degrees F, followed by Las Vegas, Nevada and El Paso, Texas, which warmed by 6.2 degrees and 5.9 degrees, respectively.

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Seawater Desalination Possibly Expanding in California Amid Worsening Drought

/in , , /by /abc 7 Newsby Mike Nicco and Tim Didion

As the pressure on California’s water supply grows more intense this summer, another urban area could begin the process of producing their own. The California Coastal Commission is set to vote later this spring on what would be the state’s second major coastal desalination plant in Huntington Beach, south of Los Angeles.

Glenn Farrel is with the industry group, CalDesal.

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California Drought, Australia Floods: Two Sides of La Niña Amplified by Climate Change

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Paul Duginski

California just notched its driest January and February on record, sounding alarms about a third year of record drought.

Across the Pacific Ocean, thousands are fleeing record flooding in Australia. Officials in Brisbane reported 31 inches of rain in six days, and Jonathan Howe, a government meteorologist quoted by the Associated Press, called the amount of rainfall “astronomical.”

Meanwhile, in the eastern Horn of Africa, prolonged drought is raising the frightening specter of famine for millions.

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