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Western Lawmakers Call on Biden, FEMA to Declare Drought Disaster

/in , , /by /NBC Newsby Alicia Victoria Lozano

Congressional leaders are calling on President Joe Biden to declare a drought disaster in the West as record temperatures and historic wildfires batter multiple states.

In letter, Reps. Joe Neguse of Colorado and Jared Huffman of California, Democrats whose districts have been ravaged by drought and wildfires, ask Biden and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to release additional resources to aid Western communities faced with water cuts as supplies rapidly dwindle.

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“This is a Lose-Lose”: Drought, Wildfires Complicate Biden’s California Water Plans

/in , , /by /Politicoby Debra Kahn and Annie Snider

As climate-driven drought and wildfires rage in California, the Biden administration is struggling to navigate the hard politics that come with deciding who gets access to the state’s precious — and dwindling — water supplies.

Responding to the hot and parched conditions that have contributed to the wildfires and worsened the water shortages this summer has strained both federal and state capacity. Now the Biden administration is delaying action on the fundamental question at the heart of California’s long-running water wars: How much water should be reserved for species protections, at the expense of the state’s powerful agricultural industry?

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These Before-After Images of Bay Area Reservoirs Show Drought’s Severe Impact

/in , , /by /The San Francisco Chronicleby Jessica Flores

Water levels at several Bay Area reservoirs have reached historical lows — just one of the devastating environmental impacts of California’s punishing drought, the Santa Clara Valley Water District said Wednesday.

Reservoirs operated by Valley Water, the main provider in Santa Clara County, were 85% full in April 2017, the agency said. As of Wednesday morning, they were at 12.5%. Then-and-now images illustrating how low the reservoirs have dwindled reinforced the agency’s grim report.

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Mount Shasta Hasn’t Been So Bare of Snow in Years. Is This the New Normal?

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

Mount Shasta has long symbolized the grandeur of California’s far north, its muscular flanks and thick cover of snow an enduring expression of nature’s bounty.

But this summer, the north state’s tallest peak is looking a little frail. Its slopes are drab and dusty, and most of the snow has melted away. Locals say they haven’t seen the mountain so barren in years, if not decades.

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Supes Approve Trucking Water from Ukiah to Mendocino

/in , , /by /Fort-Bragg Advocate Newsby Megan Wutzke

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution implementing a water hauling assistance program at a special meeting on Aug. 24, which will focus on trucking raw water from Ukiah to the Summer Lane reservoir in Fort Bragg to be treated — where it would then be trucked to Mendocino.

The board discussed applying for a grant from the Department of Water Resources that would cover much of the cost for residential uses, though the logistics remain uncertain for business use. In the meantime, $1.5 million will be allocated for the trucking program.

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Water Agency Asks Butte County Supervisors for Drought Legislation Help

/in , /by /Enterprise Recordby Sharon Martin

Drought conditions continue to worsen after an update was presented to the Butte County Board of Supervisors during Tuesday’s meeting.

Christina Buck, chair of the county’s drought task force and assistant director of Water and Resources Conservation said there are more dry wells being reported as well as a shortage of supplies like storage tanks and well materials.

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Scientists Launch Effort to Collect Water Data in US West

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Felicia Fonseca

The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday announced a new kind of climate observatory near the headwaters of the Colorado River that will help scientists better predict rain and snowfall in the U.S. West and determine how much of it will flow through the region.

The multimillion-dollar effort led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory launches next week. The team has set up radar systems, balloons, cameras and other equipment in an area of Colorado where much of the water in the river originates as snow. More than 40 million people depend on the Colorado River.

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These Maps Tell the Story of Two Americas: One Parched, One Soaked

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Aatish Bhatia and Nadja Popovich

In New York City, a tropical storm delivered record-breaking rains this weekend. Heavy downpours caused devastating flash floods in central Tennessee, tearing apart houses and killing more than 20 people. Yet, California and much of the West remained in the deepest drought in at least two decades, the product of a long-term precipitation shortfall and temperatures that are much hotter than usual.

This divide, a wetter East and a drier West, reflects a broader pattern observed in the United States in recent decades.

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Amid California’s Drought Turmoil, Lawmakers Praise Water Board Chair

/in , , /by /Agri-Pulseby Brad Hooker

The Senate Rules Committee last week unanimously approved Gov. Gavin Newsom’s reappointment of Joaquin Esquivel as chair of the State Water Resources Control Board. Esquivel fielded questions from senators covering a range of contentious issues the administration has been grappling with across two presidential administration and an extreme drought.

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Metropolitan Water District, Supplier of Most of Pasadena’s Water, Partners with Other Agencies to Conserve Water in Lake Mead

/in , , /by /Pasadena Nowby City News Service

In response to worsening drought conditions, the board of Southern California’s regional water wholesaler and other water agencies across the Southwest have announced a partnership with the federal government to fund a short-term agricultural land fallowing program in California that will conserve water on a large scale.

The partnership among the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Central Arizona Project, Southern Nevada Water Authority, and the Palo Verde Irrigation District is expected to help conserve up to 180,000 acre-feet of water over the next three years, amounting to about a 3-feet increase in Lake Mead’s water level.

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