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Green Water Could Help California’s Farming Woes

/in , /by /Physics World

More effective use of green water – rainfall stored in soil – could mitigate irrigation demand for some of California’s most important perennial crops. So say US researchers who simulated 13 years’ growth of alfalfa, grapes, almonds, pistachios and walnuts under different irrigation strategies.

Though the Midwest might be America’s breadbasket, in value terms the nation’s agricultural output is dominated by California, which has become a globally significant producer of fruit and nuts.

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State Appeals FEMA Spillways Reimbursement

/in , /by /Oroville Mercury - Register by Chico Er

The California Department of Water Resources was notified today that the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services submitted DWR’s Oroville spillways reimbursement appeal to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Back in March, FEMA notified DWR that it does not consider some spillway reconstruction work to be eligible for reimbursement based on information DWR had previously submitted at the end of 2018. DWR appealed the initial reimbursement determination and provided FEMA with follow up information and updated cost estimates to support DWR’s appeal, according to a DWR press release.

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Kamala Harris Proposes Bill To Invest In Safe Drinking Water

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Juana Summers

Sen. Kamala Harris is introducing legislation designed to ensure all Americans, particularly those in at-risk communities, have access to safe, affordable drinking water, the latest response to burgeoning water crises across the country. The California Democrat and presidential candidate’s “Water Justice Act” would invest nearly $220 billion in clean and safe drinking water programs, with priority given to high-risk communities and schools. As part of that, Harris’ plan would declare a drinking water infrastructure emergency, devoting $50 billion toward communities and schools where water is contaminated to test for contaminants and to remediate toxic infrastructure.

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New Yolo Bypass Fish Passage Project Approved

/in , /by /Daily Democrat (Woodland, Calif.)

The Department of Water Resources has secured final state and federal approval for a project that will expand a migration corridor for fish to the Yolo Bypass, the Sacramento Valley’s main floodplain. The project is part of the largest floodplain restoration action on the West Coast and demonstrates a commitment by DWR, the State Water Contractors, and the Bureau of Reclamation to protect native fish in California, while safeguarding agriculture, according to Erin Mellon, assistant director of public affairs for the DWR. The project aligns with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent executive order calling for a Water Resilience Portfolio that creates a suite of actions to secure healthy waterways and ecological function through the 21st century.

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Farm Bureau Endorses Water Legislation

/in , /by /Register-Pajaronian (Watsonville, Calif.)

Water legislation recently introduced in the U.S. Senate recognizes the continued crisis facing water reliability in the West, according to the California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF). CFBF endorsed the Drought Resiliency and Water Supply Infrastructure Act by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who introduced the bipartisan legislation along with Sens. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz). The bill would authorize federal funding for new storage, recycling and desalination projects; create a loan program for water supply projects; enhance forest restoration and other activities to benefit water supply or quality; and take additional steps to encourage water development.

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OPINION: Drought Contingency Plans Embrace Water Marketing

/in , /by /Tucson.comby Robert Glennon

At Hoover Dam on May 20, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation hosted the seven Colorado River Basin states at a ceremony to celebrate the signing of the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plans. The jubilant mood of the dignitaries masked a grim reality facing the Basin states: legal rights to Colorado River water exceed the amount of water in the river, which supplies water to 40 million people and irrigates 5.5 million acres of farmland. The act authorizing the plans, which Congress enacted in a rare display of bipartisanship, is only a few paragraphs long. It simply instructs the secretary of the interior to carry out the provisions of various state drought plans.

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Bonneville, The Northwest’s Biggest Clean-Power Supplier, Faces Promise And Perils In Changing Energy Markets

/in , , /by /Seattle Timesby Hal Bernton

When workers started pulling apart the three largest hydroelectric units in North America — capable of supplying more than enough power for all of Seattle — they found the damage far worse than expected. They encountered large cracks, worn-out bearings and a defect in a critical weld that, if left in place, could fail, unleashing catastrophic flooding inside the powerhouse that risked killing workers and destroying the 7 million-pound generator-turbine units. That last discovery halted work for 10 months to give engineers time to come up with a fix that would ensure a crucial covering would hold fast. “How do we deal with the unexpected?

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OPINION: All Californians Should Have Safe, Clean Water. But How Do We Make It Happen?

/in , , /by /Sacramento Beeby Dan Schnur

“Few California urbanites grasp the intolerable, third-world conditions that nearly a million of their fellow Californians live in when it comes to accessing safe drinking water,” said Michael Mantell, president of the Resources Legacy Fund. “That residents of a state with the fifth largest economy on the planet lack that access is nothing short of scandalous.” Lea Ann Tratten, a partner at TrattenPrice Consulting, described the Californians who suffer most without access to clean water and reiterated the urgency for action. “The heaviest burden of the toxic taps crisis has fallen on our most marginalized communities, communities of color and people with low-incomes,” Tratten said.

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Lake Tahoe Is At Its Fullest In Nearly 20 Years As Snowmelt Pushes Water Level Close To Limit

/in , /by /KTLA 5

Lake Tahoe is the fullest it’s been in nearly two decades. Officials say the alpine lake on the California-Nevada line is approaching the legal limit after snowmelt from a stormy winter left enough water to potentially last through three summers of drought. For three weeks, Tahoe has been within an inch (25 millimeters) of its maximum allowed surface elevation of 6,229.1 feet (1,898 meters) above sea level. It crept to within a half-inch (13 millimeters) earlier this week. Chad Blanchard, a federal water master in Reno responsible for managing the water, told the Reno Gazette Journal it’s the longest he’s seen the lake stay that high for so long.

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When Will California Become Too Hot To Grow Wine Grapes?

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Esther Mobley

We know that climate change is going to alter wine. In fact, we know that it already has. But we are still working toward a deeper understanding of what it will look like — and what can be done about it. The latest step toward that understanding is a study published Tuesday by the Union of Concerned Scientists, one of the most detailed forecasts to date of extreme heat across the U.S. As The Chronicle’s environmental correspondent Kurtis Alexander reported, the study warns that most of the country will see more than double the number of days with a 100 degree heat index by 2050, unless something drastic is done.

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