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Water Sector Collaborates on National Water Reuse Action Plan

/in , , /by /Water Finance & Management by WFM Staff

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with federal partners, has released the National Water Reuse Action Plan: Collaborative Implementation, a collection of bold actions developed in collaboration with water sector organizations that will reshape the way communities around the nation manage water. The plan identifies 37 actions across 11 strategic themes to give communities tools to consider and adopt water reuse as part of an integrated water resources plan.

EPA announced its intent to facilitate the development of the National Water Reuse Action Plan one year ago on Feb. 27, 2019.

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How Beef Eaters in Cities are Draining Rivers in the American West

/in , , /by /National Geographicby Alejandra Borunda

It’s not exactly news that the rivers of the western U.S. are in trouble.

For decades, their water has been siphoned off by climate change-fueled heat and an ever-growing human demand for grassy front lawns and long showers. The biggest user of river water by far, though, is agriculture—and new research shows that across the western United States, a third of all consumed water goes to irrigate crops not for human consumption, but that are used to feed beef and dairy cattle. In the Colorado River basin, it’s over 50 percent.

The burgers, steaks, yogurt, and ice cream Americans eat in abundance, the new results show, is directly related to the overuse of river water—leaving the ecosystems and communities that depend on those rivers drastically stressed under even the best of circumstances.

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Rain, Snow Kindle Hopes of ‘March Miracle’ in Parched California

/in , /by /GV Wire by GV Wire

It’s looking a lot more like winter in California’s parched mountains today.

Snow fell across the Sierra and in the mountains of Southern California on Sunday.

And, while the immediate forecast calls for a return of dry skies, the National Weather Service in Hanford says there is a possibility of rain on the Valley floor and snow in the mountains on Saturday.

The early March turnabout followed two months that set records for dryness in parts of the state.

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Feds Ink Deal with Water District Tied to Bernhardt

/in , /by /E&E News by Jeremy P. Jacobs

The Trump administration on Friday awarded a permanent water delivery contract to the country’s largest agricultural district, brushing aside environmentalists’ concerns about California’s uncertain water future in the face of climate change.

At issue is irrigation water that flows through the Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project to the Westlands Water District, a Rhode Island-sized agricultural powerhouse and former client of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.

Reclamation cast the agreement as a good deal: In return for a contract that lasts in perpetuity, Westlands pays off its debt for the Central Valley Project construction much faster. As of Sept. 30, 2018, Westlands owed about $480.7 million to the federal government.

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California’s Driest February and Coming Drought?

/in , , /by /California WaterBlog (UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences)by Jay Lund

February has been amazingly dry in California, if anyone hasn’t noticed.  No precipitation at all in February, a dry forecast, about 51% of seasonal Sacramento Valley precipitation (a bit less for the San Joaquin and Tulare basins), and only about half (45-57%) of normal snowpack for this time of year.  Unless March is wet, this dry year seems likely to advance the onset of the fire season and threaten forest health this year.

Reservoir levels are still not bad for this time of year.  Many are fuller than average, perhaps reflecting some snowpack loss.  Some other reservoirs are a bit low.  This is inherent in the first year of a drought, low precipitation and snowpack, but mostly ok reservoirs.

Groundwater has recovered somewhat from the previous 2012-2016 drought, better in the north, but less in the state’s more overdraft-prone areas in the San Joaquin and Tulare basins.

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Bureau of Reclamation Completes First Group of Congressionally-Mandated California Central Valley Project Contract Conversions

/in , /by /Sierra Sun Times

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Bureau of Reclamation executed congressionally-mandated contract conversions last Friday, with Central Valley Project contractors pursuant to the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act. These contracts provide water to families, farms and communities in the respective California contractors’ service areas. Today’s contract conversions are the first group of more than 75 repayment contract conversions requested by CVP contractors.

“Completing these contracts is a big win-win for our contractors and the American public,” said Ernest Conant, California-Great Basin’s regional director. “The federal government will receive early payment of over $200 million, which Congress directed should be used for much-needed storage projects.”

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Summers Are Starting Earlier, Finishing Later and Winter is in Retreat

/in , /by /The Sydney Morning Heraldby Peter Hannam

Australia’s summers have lengthened by as much as a month or more in the past half century, exposing people to greater fire and heat extremes and placing ecosystems and farm crops at risk.

Researchers from The Australia Institute analysed data from 70 of the Bureau of Meteorology’s weather stations across southern and sub-tropical Australia, where the bulk of the population lives. They found in the past five years, summers were 50 per cent longer than they were in the mid-20th century.

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Drought In California Seems Inevitable. But Experts Say Don’t Panic

/in , , /by /Capital Public Radioby David Ezra Romero

Some communities in California just experienced the driest February ever, and there’s around an 80 percent chance the state will enter a full-blown drought this year.

If that happens, it could be the third-driest year in over a century, according to modeling by the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis.

But even though around a quarter of California is undergoing moderate drought conditions experts say it’s too early to panic — they say a second year of drought is where things get dicey.

“The first year of a drought is really mostly a wake-up call,” said Jay Lund, the center’s director. “It will be prudent, if this turns out to be a dry year, for us to prepare for it to be a longer drought.”

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Westlands Water District Gets Permanent U.S. Contract for Massive Irrigation Deliveries

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Bettina Boxall

The Interior Department on Friday awarded the nation’s largest farm water district a permanent entitlement to annual irrigation deliveries that amount to roughly twice as much water as the nearly 4 million residents of Los Angeles use in a year.

Gaining a permanent contract for so much cheap Central Valley Project water represents a major milestone for Westlands Water District, which supplies some of the state’s wealthiest growers and has long-standing ties to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.

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Wildlife Conservation Board Funds Environmental Improvement and Acquisition Projects

/in , /by /California Department of Fish and Wildlife

At its Feb. 26, 2020 quarterly meeting, the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) approved approximately $33.2 million in grants to help restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat throughout California. Some of the 41 approved projects will benefit fish and wildlife — including some endangered species — while others will provide public access to important natural resources. Several projects will also demonstrate the importance of protecting working landscapes that integrate economic, social and environmental stewardship practices beneficial to the environment, landowners and the local community.

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