Another atmospheric river swept through the Bay Area this week, adding to what has been a wet start to the rainy season.
So how much did the second round of rain add to the state’s water supply?
Area canals in the Fresno Irrigation District have run dry but at some point during a wet year, a new recharge basin south of Fresno will be full of water.
“Most of the signs are pointing to another dry year, unfortunately, this year,” says Fresno Irrigation District General Manager Bill Stretch. “It could turn wet and if it does, we’ve got the infrastructure in place to capture those flood flows.”
The California Farm Bureau is applauding Congress for passing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, commending the benefits it extends to local agriculture and rural communities.
The one trillion dollar plan passed by congress late Friday night is set to fund improvement projects across the country and projected to create some 2 million jobs.
The U.S. House Nov. 5 voted 228-206 to pass a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that includes $8.3 billion dollars in water-related investments.
The package, HR 3684, includes investments in dams, waterways, flood prevention efforts, drought resilience, groundwater storage and conveyance, aquifer recharge projects and other water works.
States in the Colorado River Basin are adjusting to the reality that their rights outstrip the available water by nearly one-third, state and tribal leaders told a congressional panel last month.
The situation is likely only to worsen as the climate changes, leaving states and tribes in competition for their most vital resource.
Hamish Prince, an intern at CW3E (studying at the University of Wisconsin), recently published a paper (Prince et al., 2021) in Geophysical Research Letters along with co-authors from CW3E and JPL including Peter Gibson (now at NIWA, New Zealand), Mike DeFlorio, Thomas Corringham, Alison Cobb, Bin Guan, Marty Ralph, and Duane Waliser. This study contributes to the goals of CW3E’s 2019-2024 Strategic Plan to support Atmospheric River (AR) Research and Applications by furthering our understanding of AR dynamics.
A weak atmospheric river rolled through the San Francisco Bay Area early Tuesday, dumping more than 2 inches of rain in the Marin County community Kentfield, nestled in the shadow of Mt. Tamalpais, but giving little relief to the drought stricken South Bay. Rainfall totals over the last 24 hours depended entirely on what zip code you lived in. The National Weather Service said as of 5 a.m., 2.21 inches had fallen in Kentfield, 1.57 inches in Santa Rosa and 1.66 inches in Mill Valley.
When a fierce early-season storm drenched parts of Northern California last month, some experts said it was in the nick of time.
Reservoir levels were critically low. Soils were parched. Fires rampaged through dry forests.
There was general consensus among climate experts that not even the record-breaking downpour would end the two-year drought plaguing the state. There was too much of a deficit, and a single storm — even of biblical proportions — would not be able to solve it in one fell swoop.
Gov. Gavin Newsom praised Congress for passing President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill Friday night, calling it a “once-in-a-generation investment” which will help to create jobs and modernize California’s transportation systems. Newsom expect billions of dollars in additional federal funding under the bill, including another $5.8 billion over five years that will help fix California highways, which are rated among the nation’s worst. That money comes in addition to the $3 billion to $4 billion California usually gets for such programs every year.
Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article255606451.html#storylink=cpy
Storing water in reservoirs is important for maintaining freshwater ecosystem health and protecting native species. Stored water also is essential for adapting to the changing climate, especially warming and drought intensification. Yet, reservoir operators often treat environmental objectives as a constraint, rather than as a priority akin to water deliveries for cities and farms. Reservoir management becomes especially challenging during severe droughts when surface water supplies are scarce, and urban and agricultural demands conflict with water supplies needed to maintain healthy waterways and wetlands. In times of drought, most freshwater ecosystems suffer.
