President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are so in sync on California water that they’re in a race to capture as much of it as possible — even at each other’s expense.
Trump and Newsom’s relative alignment on water issues has been good news all around for farmers and cities that draw from both sides of the state’s main water hub: the federally run Central Valley Project, and the aptly named State Water Project, which is state-run.
The question of how to protect fish and the ecological health of rivers that feed California’s largest estuary is generating heated debate in a series of hearings in Sacramento, as state officials try to gain support for a plan that has been years in the making.
“I am passionate that this is the pathway to recover fish,” said state Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot. “This is the paradigm we need: collaborative, adaptive management versus conflict and litigation.”
California has hundreds of miles of coastline, yet melted snow from other states remains an important source of its water. Perhaps a needed change is on the horizon — one that would even help Nevada.
Interstate negotiations over the Colorado River appear deadlocked. The three Lower Basin states, including Nevada, remain at odds with their four Upper Basin counterparts. There is significant disagreement over what to do when the river doesn’t deliver enough water. Unfortunately, that has been the reality for many years, as the river was overallocated from the beginning. Lake Mead is forecast to drop even further in the coming months.
At UC Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, located at 6,894 feet above sea level near Donner Pass, researchers collect detailed measurements of the snowpack each day.
There is still some snow on the ground to measure, but less than they usually see in late January.
The Trump administration on Friday gave its approval for plans to build Sites Reservoir, a vast 13-mile-long off-stream lake north of Sacramento that would provide water to 500,000 acres of Central Valley farmland and 24 million people, including residents of Santa Clara County, parts of the East Bay and Los Angeles.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation issued a document called a “record of decision” for the proposed project, signing off on its environmental review process.
With frustrating meetings on a near-daily basis, the seven states that share the Colorado River are scrambling to deliver any semblance of an agreement as they gear up for a high-profile discussion with the Trump administration next week.
About 40 million people — and economically vital farms — in the American West rely on the river for their water supply in some of the nation’s fastest-growing metropolitan areas like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Denver.
Washington’s Yakima River basin has been thirsty for rain, but it’s finally getting a drink.
Drought conditions have not let up in the region for three years. But in the first full week of last December, its mountain reservoirs racked up a combined 36 inches of rain.
Water use in California was lower than officials estimated it would be between 2000 and 2020, according to a new report.
The findings raise questions about the accuracy of long-term water-demand projections, which could have knock-on effects on costs borne by consumers, but overall the news that water demand is lower than projected is positive for the state and its regular battles against drought, experts told Live Science.
Los Angeles and Ventura county officials Wednesday broke ground on a $280 million pump station project designed to ensure water is available in Southland communities that were hard hit during recent California droughts.
The Sepulveda Feeder Pump Stations Project will allow the region’s water wholesaler — the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — to divert water from the Colorado River and Diamond Valley Lake to communities that normally rely on State Water Project supplies. The project will ensure that when water supplies are limited, SWP-reliant communities will have access to water from other sources.
Southern California’s largest reservoir, Diamond Valley Lake, is nearly full due in large part to two powerful sets of storms that drenched the region over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
It’s at 94% capacity. Many of the reservoirs in Los Angeles County, just as critical, are also in good shape. It’s been a long time since the region has seen this much rain this early in the season.
