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Pulling Out Trees, Trucking Water For Cows: California Farmers Take Drastic Measures in Drought

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Tara Duggan

Normally, the biggest vegetable grower in Sonoma County, Humberto Castañeda Produce, grows heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, watermelons and other crops on 180 acres outside of Santa Rosa. But this year, Humberto Castañeda and his son, Gabriel, are farming only 17 acres after receiving a fraction of their normal allotment of water from the city of Santa Rosa.

“I could plant the whole farm and have water that might last me for a month,” said Gabriel, 27, who is managing the farm Humberto founded in the 1980s for the first time this season. “After that the plants are going to die.”

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With New Law, Las Vegas Water Agency Bets On ‘Aggressive Municipal Water Conservation Measure’ To Remove Decorative Turf, Conserve Colorado River Supply

/in , , /by /The Nevada Independentby Daniel Rothberg

The backdrop for the legislation was set hundreds of miles away from Carson City, where the Colorado River meets Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam outside of Las Vegas.

Over the past two decades, Lake Mead, which holds nearly all of Las Vegas’ water, has dropped more than 100 feet amid drought and overuse. In response, federal regulators expect to declare the first-ever shortage for the Colorado River next year, triggering cuts to Arizona and Nevada’s allocations.

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State Releases Its First Reviews of Local SGMA Plans

/in , , /by /AgAlertby Christine Souza

Against the backdrop of what’s shaping up as a devastating drought year, the California Department of Water Resources has released its first assessments of groundwater sustainability plans developed by local agencies to meet the requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The department released reviews of four local plans, approving two but sending the other two back to local groundwater sustainability agencies, saying the plans need more work. Under SGMA, the local groundwater sustainability agencies must develop plans to guide management of groundwater in basins and subbasins statewide. This first round of assessments pertains to agencies overseeing critically overdrafted basins and that were required to submit plans by Jan. 31.

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Water: Amazing New Map Shows the Path of Every Raindrop That Hits the United States

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

Water is like electricity. Most people don’t think about it much until it’s gone.

Now, as California and other Western states find themselves heading into a severe and worsening drought, a new interactive map is providing a breathtaking journey that shows where America’s water comes from and ends up.

The project is called River Runner. It allows anyone to click on any place where a raindrop would fall in the United States, and then track its path through watersheds, into creeks, rivers, lakes and ultimately the ocean.

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Opinion: How Better Data Can Help California Avoid a Drinking Water Crisis

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Rich Pauloo and Alva Escriva-Bou

Drought is here — and we’re beginning to feel the effects. A majority of affected households during the last drought were in the San Joaquin Valley and these same communities are among the most vulnerable this time. As California faces a second year of drought, many are left to wonder, “What can be done to help?” Last time, small rural communities reliant on shallow wells — many of them communities of color — were among the most affected. More than 2,600 households reported losing access to water because their wells went dry between 2012–16. (That number is likely an undercount as reporting was voluntary.) Much has changed however since the 2012–16 drought.

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From Shasta to Folsom, Shriveled Reservoirs Show Depths of California’s Drought Disaster

/in , , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler, Ryan Sabalow and Phillip Reese

Instead of being flush with newly melted snow, Folsom Lake is the driest it’s been in springtime since the epic drought of 1977. Water levels are so low that temporary pumps probably will be installed to help move water out of the stricken reservoir.

Water levels at Lake Oroville have plunged to the point that its giant hydropower plant could be idled for the first time ever this summer, putting additional strain on California’s troubled electric grid. At Shasta Lake, which feeds the Sacramento River watershed and much of the Central Valley, conditions are so bad that major cities are drawing up conservation plans, farmers have scaled back plantings and environmentalists are angrily warning of extensive fish kills.

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“This is Definitely Going To Be A Painful Drought, But I Don’t Think It’s A Complete Calamity For Most Parts of the State”

/in , , /by /Yahoo Finance

Co-Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC-Davis, Jay Lund, joined Yahoo Finance Live to break down the gravity of the drought the Western U.S. is facing and why the water shortage could send food prices higher.

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How Capturing Floodwaters Can Reduce Flooding and Combat Drought

/in , , /by /Inside Climate Newsby Liza Gross

Farmers toil at the mercy of nature’s whims, which can prove particularly vexing in California.

Even before climate change, bouncing between drought and deluge was routine in the Central Valley, the state’s richest farming region. Humans have amplified these natural cycles by pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, studies show, creating a future filled with what scientists recently dubbed “whiplash events.”

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“Mega-Drought” Takes Dramatic Toll On Colorado River System That Provides Water to 40 Million People

/in , , /by /CBS News

Scientists are calling it a “mega-drought” brought on by climate change. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor Map shows large areas of the Southwest are “exceptionally dry,” the worst category. It’s taking a dramatic toll on the Colorado River system that provides water to 40 million people in seven states — and may force the federal government to make a drastic and historic decision. For more than eight decades, the iconic Hoover Dam has relied on water from Nevada’s Lake Mead to cover up its backside. But now, at age 85, it finds itself uncomfortably exposed. Much of the water the dam is supposed to be holding back is gone.

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Carbon Dioxide in Atmosphere Reaches New High Despite Pandemic, Scripps Reports

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein

Atmospheric carbon dioxide measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory peaked for 2021 in May at a monthly average of 419 parts per million, the highest level since accurate measurements began 63 years ago, Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego reported Monday.

Scripps scientist Charles David Keeling initiated on-site measurements of carbon dioxide atop the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1958. NOAA began measurements in 1974, and the two research institutions have made complementary, independent observations ever since.

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