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California Drought: Proposed Ballot Measure Would Fast-track Construction of Dams, Desalination Plants and Other Water Projects

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

California has not built enough new reservoirs, desalination plants and other water projects because there are too many delays, too many lawsuits and too much red tape.

That’s the message from a growing coalition of Central Valley farmers and Southern California desalination supporters who have begun collecting signatures for a statewide ballot measure that would fast-track big water projects and provide billions of dollars to fund them — potentially setting up a major political showdown with environmentalists next year shaped by the state’s ongoing drought.

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$1 Trillion Bill Brings Billions to the Valley. What Are the Projects?

/in , , /by /Greenwireby Bill McEwen

Two Fresno area Democrats who attended the signing of President Joe Biden’s $1 billion infrastructure bill into law on Monday say the package will improve the lives of Valley residents and strengthen the local economy.

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Sonoma County Backs Well Water Regulations, Favoring New Era of Groundwater Oversight

/in , /by /The Press Democratby Guy Kovner

Hailed as a complex and historic step, Sonoma County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously endorsed plans to guide use and governance of groundwater relied on by rural residents, farmers and cities.

The plans, required by a 2014 state law crafted amid California’s past drought, will eventually include well water use fees in three basins underlying the Santa Rosa Plain and Sonoma and Petaluma valleys.

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What La Niña Means for California’s Drought

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Soumya Karlamangla

For California, the arrival of winter means the beginning of our rainy season, at least relatively speaking.

However much precipitation California is going to receive in a year, the bulk of it typically falls between December and March. And given the severity of our state’s ongoing drought, the amount of rain we get this winter couldn’t be of more importance.

A Water Crisis: Colorado Agriculture Facing Changes as Drought Continues

/in , , /by /KRDOby Bart Bedsole

An estimated 40 million people rely on water that originates in the Colorado River Basin, but the river can no longer keep up with demand, and it’s raising serious questions about the future of water in the west.

Surrounded by bright orange pumpkins and empty shanks of corn outside his store east of Pueblo, Shane Milberger surveys his field.

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How One California City Cut Its Water Use in Half

/in , , /by /NPR

Despite pleas to conserve water during a historic drought, Californians have not saved much at all this year. But there are exceptions. We look at how Healdsburg dramatically cut its water use.

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Biden Signs Historic $1-Trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Erin B. Logan

President Biden on Monday signed a historic $1-trillion bipartisan bill that he said will overhaul the nation’s infrastructure and boost the nation’s economy, which has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Touting the legislation as a job creator, the president said it was also an example of him fulfilling a campaign promise to reach across the aisle to get things done.

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$1 Billion Project to Expand Major Bay Area Reservoir Gains Momentum

/in , , /by /Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

The rolling hills and ranchlands of eastern Contra Costa County are known for wineries, cattle ranches, wind turbines and growing subdivisions.

But soon they may be known for something else: The biggest new water storage project in the Bay Area in years. And now, amid the current drought, nearly every major water agency in the region wants a piece of it.

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Opinion: Don’t Let a Few ‘Monster’ Storms Fool You, S.F.’s Water Supply is Unsustainable

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicle

Faced with a worsening drought and the ever-present threat of more wildfires, the Bay Area needed a miracle. And last month, it got one. An unexpected and almost unprecedented October deluge gave the Hetch Hetchy reservoir, the primary water supply for San Francisco and most of the Bay Area, a more than 21-foot bump in its water level. That’s an 11% boost; and the prospect of breaking the drought this rainy season suddenly no longer sounds impossible.

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Which Species Will Survive? Climate Change Enhances the Vulnerability of California Freshwater Fishes to Severe Drought

/in , , /by /California Water Blogby Peter Moyle

As I write this on an October weekend, rain is falling steadily in Davis and has been for most of the day. This is the first real rain we have had in over seven months. But it is not the end of the drought. Multiple storms are needed. The landscape is a dry sponge, reservoirs are empty, water rationing is in place or expected to be, and aquatic species are in decline. Water agencies are trying to capture all the water they can behind dams with bypass flows for fish minimal.

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