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Federal Government Slashes Water Deliveries to Farms, Cities as California Drought Worsens

/in , , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

California’s water supply got cut again Wednesday, with the federal government reducing allocations to cities and farms as the drought intensified.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced that municipal water agencies that rely on the Central Valley Project will have this year’s allocations slashed from 55% down to 25% — a level not seen since the drought of 2015.

That could put additional pressure on the municipalities around greater Sacramento that depend on supplies from Folsom Lake, whose water levels have sunk dramatically this spring. The reservoir is at 46% of its usual capacity for late May.

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Hoover Dam, Symbol of the Modern West, Faces a New Test With An Epic Water Shortage

/in , , /by /Arizona Republicby Ian James

Hoover Dam has helped store Colorado River water since 1935, but reservoir levels are nearing the lowest point since Lake Mead was filled.

Hoover Dam towers more than 700 feet above Black Canyon on the Arizona-Nevada state line, holding back the waters of the Colorado River. On top of the dam, where visitors peer down the graceful white arc of its face, one of its art deco-style towers is adorned with a work of art that memorializes the purposes of the dam.

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Drought Forces Drastic Water Cuts to Valley Towns, Farmers

/in , , /by /GV Wireby Bill McEwen

It’s not yet Memorial Day weekend, but the Bureau of Reclamation is taking drastic measures because of the California drought. On Wednesday, the Bureau announced that farmers north and south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta would receive no water from the Central Valley Project. Municipal, Industrial Water Deliveries Cut 30%. In addition, municipal and industrial water-service contractors north and south of the Delta will see their allocations cut from 55% of their historic use to 25%.

 

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California Water: Mandatory Restrictions Coming to Santa Clara County as Feds Cut Water Supply

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

In the latest and possibly most severe evidence yet of California’s worsening drought, the federal government on Wednesday announced it will cut water deliveries to urban areas it serves by more than half — and to zero for many farmers across the Central Valley.

The move will result in mandatory water restrictions across Santa Clara County, said Rick Callender, CEO of the Santa Clara Valley Water District, which provides water to 2 million people.

“We are truly in an emergency situation,” Callender said. “We’re going to be seeking everything we can do to address this emergency. The public should expect tighter restrictions.”

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State Orders Sweeping Water Restrictions for Towns, Vineyards Along Russian River

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

Several communities and hundreds of vineyards in California’s Wine Country are being cut off from their water supply because there’s not enough water to go around. State regulators on Wednesday ordered nearly 1,000 water rights holders in the Russian River watershed to stop drawing supplies from the basin’s many rivers and creeks, the latest turn in California’s deepening drought. The order means many small water agencies and scores of growers in Sonoma and Mendocino counties will have to fall back on stored water or other sources, if they have it, or go without water entirely. State officials say the restrictions will not apply when human health and safety are at risk, though the exceptions are made on a case-by-case basis and are yet to be issued.

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As Drought Worsens, Tensions Erupt Over Control of SoCal’s Largest Water Supplier

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sammy Roth

Southern California’s biggest water supplier has chosen a new general manager — but the selection isn’t yet final, and the fiercely contested vote is exposing deep disagreements within the powerful agency as a severe drought grips the region.

The Metropolitan Water District’s board of directors voted this month to select Adel Hagekhalil to lead the agency, The Times has learned, replacing longtime head honcho Jeff Kightlinger, who is retiring. Hagekhalil runs L.A.’s Bureau of Street Services and was previously second-in-command at the city’s sanitation department.

Metropolitan finds itself at a crossroads after 15 years under Kightlinger’s leadership. The agency delivers huge amounts of water from the Colorado River and Northern California, and has prided itself on hammering out complex deals to protect the region’s water rights and investments. But those far-flung resources are becoming less dependable as the planet heats up.

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Opinion: How Infrastructure Plan Can Accelerate Resilience

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Amanda Brown-Stevens

Passing President Biden’s infrastructure bill would be the most significant step we’ve taken as a nation to start to address climate change head on.

Greenbelt Alliance believes this infrastructure bill is a great start. Yet, so far there is no path to guide how we can equitably shift away from rebuilding in the most climate-vulnerable areas and instead build for a more resilient future.

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Arizona’s Current Historic Drought May Be ‘Baseline for the Future’

/in , , /by /Cronkite Newsby Alyssa Marksz

Arizona and other Western states just lived through the driest year in more than a century, with no drought relief in sight in the near future, experts told a House panel Tuesday.

The period from last April to this March was the driest in the last 126 years for Arizona and other Western states, witnesses said. It caps a two-decade stretch that was the driest in more than 100 years that records have been kept – and one of the driest in the past 1,200 years based on paleohydrology evidence, one official said.

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Surfrider’s Annual Clean Water Report Highlights Infrastructure Needs and Toxin-Removing Landscapes

/in , , /by /The Beach Reporter by Laylan Connelly

Too often, ocean water is laced with sewage and pollutants, affecting how safe beaches are for swimming and surfing –  that’s the message of this year’s Clean Water Report released Tuesday, May 25, by the Surfrider Foundation.

“We believe the water should be clean, always. We should be able to do that in all but the most unusual circumstances,” San Clemente-based Surfrider Foundation CEO Chad Nelsen said. But instead, the report highlights inefficiencies in sewer infrastructure and a need to stop urban runoff before it reaches the coast, both main contributors to dirty water that plagues the country’s coastlines.

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As Sea Level Rise Threat Grows, SF Officials Don’t Have Public Plan to Save Sewers

/in , , /by /NBC Bay Areaby Stephen Stock, Robert Campos, Mark Villarreal, Michael Horn and Jeremy Carroll

Because Bay Area low-lying sewage treatment plants remain vulnerable to rising sea levels, government regulators told sewage facility managers to “provide a written plan for coping with SLR by the fall of 2021 – or they will be given a plan.”  The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit reached out to 10 “at risk” sewage treatment plants to see those plans. All except one provided extensive documents of their proposals, the cost to address them, and even provided tours of completed work. San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission replied to the Investigative Unit’s public records request that after a “diligent search for records…no records were found.” Other sanitary district officials were much more forthcoming about what they’ve already spent, what they’ve built and what they’re planning in the future to combat the rise in bay levels. All agreed seas are rising faster than expected.

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