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If the Colorado River Keeps Drying Up, a Century-old Agreement to Share the Water Could Be Threatened. No One Is Sure What Happens Next.

/in , /by /CPR Newsby Michael Elizabeth Sakas

The West could be facing a water shortage in the Colorado River that threatens a century-old agreement between states that share the dwindling resource.

That possibility once felt far off, but could come earlier than expected. One prominent water and climate scientist is sounding the alarm that the Colorado River system could reach that crossroads in the next five years, possibly triggering an unpredictable chain-reaction of legal wrangling that could lead to some water users being cut off from the river.

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The Drought is Going to Stick Around for a Third Year in California, Federal Scientists Project

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

California is likely to emerge from the winter with little relief from drought, federal climate experts said Thursday, setting the stage for a third year of dry weather and continuing water shortages. The monthly climate report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects that drought conditions will persist in almost all of California through February. With the next three months historically the state’s wettest, the opportunity for drought recovery is essentially lost.

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Cut Back or Pay: Water Conservation to be Mandatory in South Bay After CA Approves New Restrictions

/in , , /by /ABC 7 News Bay Areaby Amanda del Castillo

Despite recent rain, California is still in the depths of a drought. Conditions have improved, but barely. Most of the state is still in exceptional or extreme drought. In the South Bay, a million residents will soon be hit with the toughest water restrictions of any major urban area in California. Late Wednesday, the state PUC gave final approval to San Jose Water Company’s plan. Approval by state regulators means the call to cut water use is no longer voluntary for South Bay residents.

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This Obscure Laboratory on Donner Summit Holds Answers to California’s Water Future. But Hardly Anyone Knows it Exists.

/in , , /by /SF Gateby Julie Brown

At the top of Donner Summit, an old cabin rests in a thicket of tall trees. The structure is three stories tall, including the basement. Still, in the heaviest of winters, the snow drifts are deep enough to bury the front door, so the only way into the building is through a window on the top floor.

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Four San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Plans Deemed Inadequate

/in , , /by /CalMatterby Rachel Becker

State officials warn some of the state’s most powerful and largest agricultural districts that their plans fail to address how over-pumping could harm local communities’ drinking water supplies.

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Opinion: Pull the Plug On Proposed California Water Ballot Measure

/in , , /by /The Mercury News

Say this for Central Valley Republicans and Big Ag backers: When it comes to proposing water projects that benefit Central Valley farmers at the expense of urban users and the state’s fragile environment, they are as persistent as an annoying, leaky faucet.

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California Spent Decades Trying to Keep Central Valley Floods at Bay. Now It Looks to Welcome Them Back

/in , , /by /Water Education Foundation / Western Water by Alastair Bland

Land and waterway managers labored hard over the course of a century to control California’s unruly rivers by building dams and levees to slow and contain their water. Now, farmers, environmentalists and agencies are undoing some of that work as part of an accelerating campaign to restore the state’s major floodplains.

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Biden Administration Acts to Restore Clean-Water Safeguards

/in , , /by /PBS News Hourby Suman Naishadham, Matthew Daly,

The Biden administration took action Thursday to restore federal protections for hundreds of thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways, undoing a Trump-era rule that was considered one of that administration’s hallmark environmental rollbacks.

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‘Backsliding.’ California Mostly Ignores Newsom’s Plea to Conserve Water During Drought

/in , , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

Californians are still lagging behind Gov. Gavin Newsom’s drought-emergency plea to use less water. Urban residents reduced water consumption by just 3.9% in September, compared with a year earlier, according to data released Tuesday by the State Water Resources Control Board. The August figure was a slightly better 5.1%.

 

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State Addresses Urgency to Prepare Roads, Water Systems for Rising Sea

/in , , /by /The Orange County Registerby Martin Wisckol

Guidelines for how cities and local agencies should adapt roads, railways and water systems to accommodate rising seas were unanimously approved Wednesday by the state Coastal Commission.

The 230-page document sets a controversial benchmark by urging communities to prepare for the Pacific Ocean to rise 10 feet by 2100, a projection so far beyond current calculations that climate scientists haven’t yet determined the probability of it occurring.

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