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Will the Climate Crisis Tap Out the Colorado River?

/in , , /by /High Country Newsby Nick Bowlin

Southern California farmers spend their winters watching the snowpack in the Colorado Rockies, and what they see is the climate crisis hitting hard. When it melts, the snow that falls on these peaks will, eventually, make its way into the Colorado River, which connects the Southwest like a great tendon, tying the Continental Divide in Colorado to Southern California’s hayfields, where the Imperial Irrigation District is one of the country’s largest, and pouring from the faucets of urban users in Los Angeles and San Diego.

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Sierra Snowpack Has Major Drop Over the Past Decade

/in , , /by /NBC Bay Areaby Jeff Ranieri

Sierra snowpack is so vital to California as it provides one third of the state’s water supply and it seems more and more lately we are seeing this dwindle. You can see from 2002 to 2011 60% of the time the Sierra snowpack was 100% or better, a pretty good trend.

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“Water Wars” – Fights Over a Precious Resource

/in , , /by /Interesting Engineeringby Marcia Wendorf

Picture the desert landscape of a Mad Max movie populated with vigilantes devoted to acquiring not gasoline — but water. This scenario isn’t as far-fetched as you might think. “Water wars” describes conflicts between countries, states, or groups over the right to access water resources, usually freshwater. Freshwater is necessary for drinking, irrigation, and electricity generation, and conflicts occur when the demand for potable water exceeds the supply, or when allocation or control of water is disputed.

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Extinction: Freshwater Fish in ‘Catastrophic’ Decline

/in , /by /BBC Newsby Helen Briggs

Conservation groups said 80 species were known to have gone extinct, 16 in the last year alone. Millions of people rely on freshwater fish for food and as a source of income through angling and the pet trade. But numbers have plummeted due to pressures including pollution, unsustainable fishing, and the damming and draining of rivers and wetlands. The report said populations of migratory fish have fallen by three-quarters in the last 50 years.

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State Ocean Protection Council Awards $1.3 Million to Elkhorn Slough Restoration

/in , /by /Monterey Heraldby Hannah Hagemann

The state’s Ocean Protection Council has awarded $1.3 million to preserving and safeguarding estuary habitat at Elkhorn Slough, which boasts the second-largest tidal salt marsh in California. The wetland, once degraded by farming activities such as diking, is at risk of impacts from climate change — particularly rising sea levels.

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Feds Start 2021 with Light Water Supply for Valley Farmers

/in , , /by /San Joaquin Valley Sunby Alex Tavlian

Valley farmers had low expectations heading into the spring. Federal water authorities likely met them, to say the least.

Tuesday, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced its first water allocations for farmers and water users along the Central Valley Project.

Light snowpack is, once again, the culprit, Federal officials said.

“Although we had a couple of precipitation-packed storms in January and early February, we are still well below normal for precipitation and snowfall this year,” said Bureau region director Ernest Conant. “We will monitor the hydrology as the water year progresses and continue to look for opportunities for operational flexibility.”

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California’s Wet Season Hasn’t Brought Much Drought Relief and the Outlook Isn’t Promising

/in , , /by /The Weather Channelby Linda Lam

California’s wet season has not brought much relief so far and the outlook is not promising.

The water year, which runs from October through April, started off slowly. October was the second driest on record for California. Later, strong systems – including an atmospheric river in late January that caused flooding, debris flows and feet of snow in the Sierra – brought needed moisture to the Golden State.

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Lack of Rain Could Potentially Impact Crops in the Central Valley

/in , , /by /Fox 26 Newsby Shelby Bracho

Crops are now blooming here in the San Joaquin Valley, which marks the beginning of harvest season for farmers.

As a drier-than-usual wet season continues to unfold, many are worried about how current drought conditions will impact this year’s crop.

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SoCal Water Managers Want to Know Who – Exactly – is Sinking the California Aqueduct

/in , , /by /San Joaquin Valley Waterby Lois Henry

A state report released in December pinned blame for sinking along the California Aqueduct on excessive nearby groundwater pumping to irrigate vineyards and nut orchards.

That was a pretty pointed finger, but not pointed enough for some committee directors in the large and powerful Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

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Opinion: Utah’s Designs on Colorado River Water Would Ignore the Facts and Evade the Law

/in , , /by /The Salt Lake Tribuneby Claire Geddes
Utah House Bill 297 is a dangerous spending bill that provides its benefactors with exemptions to conflict-of-interest laws that raises serious moral questions about what is happening at the Utah Legislature. The bill creates another heavily-funded and secretive government agency — the Colorado River Authority — that would receive an initial $9 million, plus $600,000 per year thereafter, in addition to collecting unknown sums of money from other agencies.
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