Farmers in the Bay Area were excited that the latest storm brought another round of much-needed rain in the hopes it will bring them closer to the end of what has been a difficult drought.
Many in the agricultural and farming industries of the Santa Clara Valley are relieved the region took in substantial rainfall over the past few days.
California is in the grip of its fourth drought since 2000. To cope with worsening droughts, over the past few decades Californians have made impressive gains in water efficiency. Total water diversions in California for agriculture and cities – roughly 30 million acre feet per year for agriculture and 8 million acre feet per year for cities – have not increased even while California’s population has grown and irrigated farm acreage has increased. But conservation alone cannot guarantee Californians have an adequate supply of water.
To help stave off another round of mandatory cutbacks, water leaders for Arizona, Nevada and California are preparing to sign an agreement that would voluntarily reduce Colorado River water to the lower basin states by 500,000 acre-feet — enough to supply about 750,000 households for a year — for both 2022 and 2023.
The agreement, known as the “500+ Plan”, would require millions of dollars from each state over two years — $60 million from Arizona, $20 million from Nevada and $20 million from California with federal matching dollars — to fund payments for water use reduction and efficiency projects that result in supply savings throughout the lower basin.
The signing is expected to take place Wednesday at the Colorado River Water Users Association annual meeting in Las Vegas, amid urgency to negotiate new rules for managing the depleted river beyond 2026 when the 2007 interim guidelines expire.
Our country faces a flood crisis. More people and places are at risk, with climate-induced flooding threatening widespread social, environmental and economic impacts.
We need a holistic approach to reduce flood risk now. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has focused on building levees, spillways and hardened infrastructure to address episodic storm events. But, by focusing solely on storm surge, they leave millions exposed to chronic flooding from sea level rise, tides and extreme rainfall.
Our country faces a flood crisis. More people and places are at risk, with climate-induced flooding threatening widespread social, environmental and economic impacts.
We need a holistic approach to reduce flood risk now. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has focused on building levees, spillways and hardened infrastructure to address episodic storm events. But, by focusing solely on storm surge, they leave millions exposed to chronic flooding from sea level rise, tides and extreme rainfall.
A robust atmospheric river storm started to taper off Tuesday morning in the Bay Area after shuttering highways due to flooding and prompting evacuation warnings in areas left scarred by wildfires and susceptible to mudslides and debris flows.
Environmental groups claim Utah and two other upper basin states — Colorado and New Mexico — are overusing their share of water from the Colorado River.
The Utah Rivers Council released a report Monday saying the Colorado River’s flows have dropped about 20% since 2000. The report outlines that the hydrology of the river hasn’t stopped the three states from pursuing large water projects.
The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at the UCSD/Scripps Institution of Oceanography has updated its popular watershed precipitation forecasts as part of its interactive “Decision Support Tools” page. These forecasts focus on quantifying and illustrating the 10-day precipitation forecasts averaged for the 126 Hydrologic Unit Code 8 (HUC-8) watersheds in California from four numerical weather prediction models. These models include the deterministic and ensemble models of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Global Forecast System and the European Centre for Medium-Ranged Weather Forecasts model.
The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at the UCSD/Scripps Institution of Oceanography has updated its watershed precipitation forecasts. (Graphic: Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes)
Officials on Friday marked the beginning of construction on the Chanticleer Water Purification plant — the “heart” of the Pure Water Soquel project — where treated wastewater will undergo further purification before it is injected back underground.
The recycling process will provide a buffer against seawater contamination, bolster drinking water supplies and raise groundwater levels that are depleted after decades of overuse.
Over the last 20 years, the water flow in the Colorado River has declined by roughly 20%. But some states in the river’s basin, including Utah, haven’t adjusted to the dwindling supply.
And if it doesn’t make adjustments, Mexico and other states in the Lower Colorado River Basin could demand the Beehive State scale back its water use.
California water officials have alerted local groundwater agencies in farming areas across the San Joaquin Valley that their plans for bringing aquifers into balance don’t adequately address how continuing declines in water levels could cause many more wells to run dry. The state Department of Water Resources notified agencies in six areas of the San Joaquin Valley this week that their groundwater sustainability plans are incomplete and have deficiencies that need to be corrected.
