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IID Rings Alarm on Shrinking Colorado River Crisis

/in , , /by /KECY, KYMAby Vince Ybarra

Imperial Irrigation District warns government officials and residents about how harmful the shrinking Colorado River is to our region. IID General Manager, Enrique Martinez, recently spoke to the United States House of Representatives about the issue the desert southwest is facing. He said the time to act is now.

“The drought has been in existence now for 21 years and has continued to challenge the inflows,” said Martinez.

He said the use of water has continued to increase over the years and the flow of water coming down the Colorado River has decreased. Martinez said unless there is major change in the current climate and we get more water during the winter months, we will continue to spiral with less and less water.

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Study Suggests Flooding Could Reach Never-Before-Seen Levels in Sacramento, Central Valleys

/in , /by /Fox40by Melanie Townsend and Jordan Radach

While wildfires and droughts dominate California weather, residents have to prepare for another kind of disaster — flooding.

Sacramento is no stranger to seeing flooding of epic proportions. It happened during the Great Flood of 1862 that completely submerged Old Town, and the evidence is still right below our feet.

Floodwaters have plagued the Central Valley several more times before, happening again in 1986, 1995, 1997, 2006 and 2017, but new research by the organization Climate Central suggests that in 100 years, flooding in the Sacramento and Central valleys could reach levels never seen before.

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Infrastructure Bill Seen as Way to Pay Farmers to Cut Water Use

/in , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Tripp Baltz

Four states in the drought-wracked West considering whether to pay farmers to cut their water use see federal infrastructure legislation as a possible revenue source.

The $550 billion bipartisan legislation approved in the Senate includes $25 million for the four states—Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

“There’s that bucket, and a lot of other buckets, in the federal infrastructure bill that could come into play for drought contingency planning implementation,” said Amy Ostdiek, interstate and federal manager in the Colorado Department of Natural Resources.

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In This California County, One Town Has No Water. Another Has Enough to Share.

/in , /by /The Washington Postby Scott Wilson

This town took a big step toward making fresh water along the rocky, wild North Coast of California.

As its wells ran dry this month, town officials looked to technology as an emergency measure, hoping to keep both residents and a lifeblood tourism industry with running faucets. The town spent $335,000 on a desalination plant, a small machine of tubes and pumps that officials christened earlier this month. Turning brackish water into useful water, the plant now provides a quarter of the local supply.

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Level 5 Atmospheric River to Unleash Flooding Across Drought-Stricken California

/in , , /by /CNN Weatherby Pedram Javaheri

After nearly a year without rain, a series of potent Pacific storms are directed at Northern California this week, potentially bringing as much as a foot of rainfall and up to three feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada.

Supercharged by a classic atmospheric river pattern, the storms could lead to flash floods and dangerous debris flows in a wide swath of the region already devastated by recent wildfires.
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California’s Drought Sparks Innovation in Santa Barbara County

/in , /by /Santa Barbara Independentby Jean Yamamura

Dry times call for innovative measures, and with California facing its driest year in nearly a century, the privately held water company that supplies Santa Barbara’s Hope Ranch community is floating a unique idea. La Cumbre Mutual Water Company, the affluent community’s supplier, is considering purchasing water produced by an offshore desalination plant contained within a buoy being designed by Ecomerit Technologies.

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Drought: Marin Municipal Water District Allots $23.2M for Pipeline

/in , /by /Marin Independent Journalby Will Houston

The Marin Municipal Water District has allocated up to $23.2 million to buy equipment for a proposed emergency supply pipeline across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

The investment, approved by the district board on Tuesday, is the largest the agency has made since proposing the idea earlier this year.

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California Just Declared a Drought Emergency. What Does that Mean and How Will it Affect Your Life?

/in , /by /CapRadioby Manola Secaira

As the state experiences its second-driest year on record and Gov. Gavin Newsom declares a statewide drought emergency, some Californians may be wondering: How will this shortage impact the Sacramento region and what does it mean for our everyday lives and water supply?

The declaration comes after a summer of record-high temperatures alongside plummeting water levels in reservoirs. With his announcement, Newsom cited these factors as more reason to “redouble our efforts” toward water conservation.

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Hopeful Storms in Forecast for Drought Plagued US West

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Adam Beam

Mired in an historic drought, California is set to get its first significant soaking of the season this week, with storms forecasted to dump up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) of rain in parched parts of the state.

But the rain, which comes after wildfires have collectively burned more than 3,898 square miles (10,096 square kilometers) this year, won’t be enough to make up for all the water California lost over the summer following some of the driest months on record.

Tuesday, state water officials warned one of the state’s large reservoirs in Mendocino County could run dry by next summer. Meanwhile, new data showed Californians lowered their water usage by just 3.5% in July and August, far from the 15% reduction Gov. Gavin Newsom had requested earlier this year.

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Newsom Declares Statewide Drought Emergency, Urges California to Conserve Water

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide drought emergency on Tuesday, appealing to all Californians to do more to conserve water in the face of one of the state’s most severe droughts on record.

“As the western U.S. faces a potential third year of drought, it’s critical that Californians across the state redouble our efforts to save water in every way possible,” Newsom said.

While most of California’s 58 counties have been in a state of drought emergency since July, Newsom’s proclamation added the last eight remaining counties, and further bolstered his call for everyone to voluntary reduce water use by 15%. The proclamation notes that the State Water Resources Control Board may adopt emergency regulations to prohibit wasting water, such as hosing down sidewalks or driveways, allowing drinking water to flood gutters or streets, or washing a car without a shut-off nozzle.

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