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Opinion: California Should Create More Water – Much More

/in , /by /CalMattersby Jim Wunderman

Wouldn’t you know it? Just like washing your car, almost the moment I finished writing this article, the skies opened up.

I’d write one every day if it meant ending our water woes. But it tells you everything you need to know about California’s dire water situation – that the atmospheric river that recently pummeled Northern California and other parts of the state doesn’t even begin to make a dent in our drought.

And it highlights the urgency for California to create more water. Much more.

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Ransomware Attacks on Drinking Water, Wastewater Utilities Are Increasing

/in , , /by /Water Onlineby Peter Chawaga

A slew of recent attacks makes it clear that critical infrastructure like drinking water and wastewater utilities are under increasing threats from cybercriminals and bad actors. And recent revelations from authorities are demonstrating that the problem may be even worse than previously known.

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Scripps, CW3E and Yuba Water Agency Launched Weather Balloons During Atmospheric River

/in , , /by /YubaNet and CW3Eby YubaNet

On Sunday morning, during the atmospheric river event in Northern California, scientists from the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UC San Diego and their partners at Yuba Water Agency launched weather balloons to gather data on the AR and its impacts on reservoirs.

Atmospheric River events in Water Year 2021

(Editor’s Note: The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, or CW3E, at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, released its report October 11 on atmospheric rivers during Water Year 2021.

Atmospheric Rivers-CW3E-Scripps-YubaNet-Science-drought

Distribution of Landfalling Atmospheric Rivers over the U.S. West Coast During Water Year 2021: End of Water Year Summary. Graphic: Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes

The San Diego County Water Authority partnered with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, at UC San Diego in 2020 to better predict atmospheric rivers and improve water management before, during, and after those seasonal storms. The Center and its partners share best practices in forecast-informed reservoir operations, increased research around atmospheric rivers and droughts, and develop strategies for mitigating flood risk and increasing water supply reliability.)

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Storms Bring Pause for State Drought Orders in Modesto and Beyond. They Could Return

/in , , /by /The Modesto Beeby John Holland

The recent storms allowed California to suspend the drought curtailment orders that had been imposed during the summer. Cities and irrigation districts now are free to capture river runoff that had been unavailable because of the orders. Officials warned that they could fall back into place if the state gets another stretch of dry weather.

 

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‘Atmospheric River’ Drenches Drought-Stricken California

/in , /by /AP Newsby Olga R. Rodriguez

A powerful atmospheric river storm that swept through California set rainfall records and helped douse wildfires. But it remained to be seen how much of a dent it made in the state’s drought.

The weather system weakened as it moved south but still dropped enough rain Monday evening to cause mudslides that closed roads in the San Bernardino Mountains northeast of Los Angeles. The atmospheric river storm, a long and wide plume of moisture pulled in from the Pacific, came ashore in Northern California over the weekend.

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How Improved Atmospheric River Forecasting Can Help Keep Water Flowing in California

/in , , /by /ABC10by Monica Woods

Atmospheric rivers can bring dangerous flooding, but, without them, California can head into drought. Improving forecasts for these huge storms is a focus for the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes to keep water flowing in the state.

Marty Ralph remembers living in Los Angeles in the 1980s when a huge rainstorm dropped nearly half the rainfall for the whole year in 12 hours. It was at that moment he realized he wanted to study these kind of storms

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Sacramento Went From Record Drought to Record Rain. Climate Change May Make That More Common.

/in , , /by /Cap Radioby Manola Secaira

Residents of the Sacramento area have been on a meteorological seesaw this past week: After 212 days without rain, the area saw precipitation again — which, this weekend, turned into an all-out rainstorm.

Already, the rainfall this weekend broke records: The area got more than half of the rain it had all of the last wet season, which was particularly dry, in a single storm.

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Los Angeles Receives $224 Million Loan From EPA For Water Recycling Project

/in , , /by /CBS Los Angeles

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has granted a $224 million loan to the City of Los Angeles. The loan will be used to fund a project that aims to purify wastewater and replenish the depleted San Fernando Basin.

The project, called The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA), aims to purify 15.5 million gallons of the city’s wastewater every day, a move that would replenish both the basin and its aquifers – a body of rock that can contain or transmit groundwater.

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Charts Show Where California Reservoir Totals Stand After the Atmospheric River

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Danielle Echeverria

This weekend’s atmospheric river brought record-breaking amounts of rain to drought-plagued California. But they didn’t give the state’s water supply much of a boost, data shows.

The state Department of Water Resources compared the amount of water in select reservoirs across the state as of midnight Oct. 25 to the capacity of each reservoir and to historic levels for the same date. The data shows that, even after all of Sunday and Monday’s rainfall, many of California’s largest reservoirs are still holding less water than the historic level for this time of year.

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Marin Desalination Prospects Fade in Favor of Imports

/in , /by /Marin Independent Journalby Will Houston

The Marin Municipal Water District is moving away from plans to acquire temporary desalination plants and instead is exploring purchasing more water from Sonoma County during the winter months.

“We are determining that this is really not a feasible approach for the current drought where winter water does seem promising,” Paul Sellier, the district operations director, told the board on Oct. 19.

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