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Atmospheric Rivers Forecast for U.S. West Coast

/in , , /by /Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes

The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, or CW3E, issued this outlook for Atmospheric Rivers on October 18, 2021.

Active weather is forecast to continue, bringing multiple landfalling ARs to the U.S. West Coast

  • The first AR is forecast to make landfall over Northern California on Tuesday evening, bringing moderate to strong AR conditions to the region
  • The second AR is forecast to make landfall on Thursday and is forecast to be stronger and last longer than the first AR
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Opinion: the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan Is No Longer a Contingency

/in , , /by /The Colorado Sunby Rebecca Mitchell

If you live in Colorado—you get it. We don’t quit when challenged. Whether you live in a city, on a farm or ranch, in a rural town, or somewhere in between—you are part of the dynamic group of people who call Colorado home; people who understand when it comes to protecting Colorado water, specifically the Colorado River’s water, we must rise together to meet the challenge.

 

From its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado River flows broadly across 1,450 miles of the southwestern United States, changing elevation by a remarkable 10,000 feet. More than 40 million people rely on the Colorado, the nation’s fifth-longest river, for drinking water and energy through hydroelectric power. In addition, the river supports an estimated $25 billion recreational economy and an agricultural economy of about $1.4 trillion a year.

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Opinion: What You Can Do — and What You Can’t — to Deal With California’s Driest Year

/in , /by /Los Angeles Times

It can’t be because everything else was going so well. It can’t be because the rain gods thought we had it too good, or that there were too few flames burning too few trees and homes, or that the summer wasn’t hot enough or there was too little violent crime or not enough deadly disease. We’ve had more than our fill of all that.

In fact, we may never know the reason why last year was not only dry, but was California’s second-driest year on record, according to the state Department of Water Resources. And the prospects for the current water year, which began on Oct. 1, aren’t any better.

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Shifting Pattern to Dump Mountain Snow, Raise Flood Threat Across the West This Week

/in , , /by /AccuWeatherby Brandon Buckingham

Multiple storms are expected to march into the West Coast this week, bringing along a changeable mixture of rain, wind and snow for many places. While a dent in the ongoing drought is expected, it will come at a cost.

This week has already kicked off with a storm marching into the Pacific Northwest. The grey skies and spits of rain that are typical of autumn led to a dreary end to the weekend along the Interstate 5 corridor across western Washington, Oregon and even Northern California.

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Satellites Reveal the Secrets of Water-Guzzling Farms in California

/in , , /by /NPRby Dan Charles

In a new push to stop further depletion of California’s shrinking aquifers, state regulators are turning to technology once used to count Soviet missile silos during the Cold War: satellites.

Historically, California’s farmers could pump as much as they wanted from their wells. But as a consequence of that unrestricted use, the underground water table has sunk by hundreds of feet in some areas, and the state is now trying to stabilize those aquifers.

Regulators need to calculate just how much water each farmer is using across California’s vast agricultural lands, and scientists and private companies are now offering a technique that uses images from orbiting satellites.

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Kamala Harris Visits Lake Mead to Sell Biden’s Climate Agenda Amid Drought in West

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Melanie Mason

Amid worsening drought in the West that threatens the region’s water and food supplies, Vice President Kamala Harris went to Lake Mead on Monday to pitch the Biden administration’s infrastructure and climate change plans, saying they would create jobs and respond to climate change.

“It is critical that we as a nation understand that we have within our hands, within our possession, the ability to actually change the course of where we’re headed,” Harris said, standing in front of a lectern with Lake Mead — and its precipitously low water levels — as a backdrop. “Let’s get these bills passed.”

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EPA Unveils Strategy to Regulate Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’

/in , /by /AP Newsby Matthew Daly

The Defense Department said it is moving to assess and clean up PFAS-contaminated sites throughout the country, while the Food and Drug Administration will expand testing of the food supply to estimate Americans’ exposure to PFAS from food. And the Agriculture Department will boost efforts to prevent and address PFAS contamination in food.

The plan is intended to restrict PFAS from being released into the environment, accelerate cleanup of PFAS-contaminated sites such as military bases and increase investments in research to learn more about where PFAS are found and how their spread can be prevented.

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Opinion: Clean Water in California is Overdue

/in , /by /CalMattersby Sean Bothwell

Forty-nine years ago this week, Congress passed the federal Clean Water Act, with the goal of restoring America’s waters. Yet today, 95% of California’s rivers, lakes, bays and wetlands are plagued by pesticides, metals, pathogens, trash and sediment, making it unsafe to swim, fish or drink. As we approach the 50th anniversary of this landmark environmental legislation, it is time for the state to get on track toward ensuring swimmable, fishable and drinkable waters for all Californians.

Underserved communities of color shoulder far too much of the cost of unsafe water. But the state has increasingly treated these communities as water quality “sacrifice zones.”

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Despite a Punishing Drought, San Diego Has Water. It Wasn’t Easy

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Jill Cowan Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

In many parts of California, reminders abound that the American West is running out of water. “Bathtub rings” mark the shrinking of the state’s biggest reservoirs to some of their lowest recorded levels. Fields lie fallow, as farmers grapple with an uncertain future. A bed-and-breakfast owner spends $5 whenever a tourist showers. But not in San Diego County. In this coastal desert metropolis, life has stayed mostly the same for residents already accustomed to conserving what they have long treated as a precious resource.

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People Should Drink Way More Recycled Wastewater

/in , , /by /Wiredby Matt Simon

ON A DUSTY hilltop in San Diego, the drinking water of the future courses through a wildly complicated and very loud jumble of tanks, pipes, and cylinders. Here at the North City Water Reclamation Plant, very not-drinkable wastewater is turned into a liquid so pure it would actually wreak havoc on your body if you imbibed it without further treatment.

First the system hits the wastewater with ozone, which destroys bacteria and viruses. Then it pumps the water through filters packed with coal granules that trap organic solids. Next, the water passes through fine membranes that snag any remaining solids and microbes. “The pores are so small, you can’t see them except with a really powerful microscope,” says Amy Dorman, deputy director of Pure Water San Diego, the city’s initiative to reduce its reliance on water imported from afar. “Basically, they only allow the water molecules to get through.”

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