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First California Snowpack Measurement of 2020 is Boosted by Recent Storms

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hannah Fry

After a slow start to California’s wet winter season, a series of storms that hammered the state at the tail end of 2019 dumped enough snow on the Sierra Nevada to kick off the new year with a solid snowpack.

Surveyors with the California Department of Water Resources trudged through a snow-covered field Thursday at the department’s Phillips station — fresh powder crunching beneath their snowshoes —and plunged a hollow pole into the snowpack for the first monthly measurement that serves as an important marker for the state’s water supply.

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Sierra Nevada Snowpack Begins 2020 in Good Shape, a Hopeful Sign for California Water Outlook

/in , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by Paul Rogers

After a dry start to California’s winter rainy season, a series of big storms that began around Thanksgiving delivered enough snow for the Sierra Nevada to begin 2020 in relatively good shape.

As of Dec. 31, the statewide Sierra Nevada snowpack — a major source of California’s water supply — stood at 94% of its historical average.

That’s the highest total in four years, when it came in at 106% on Dec. 31, 2015.

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Opinion: What Have Decades of Water Lawsuits in California Accomplished?

/in , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)

We are stunned by the suggestion that yet another water lawsuit will help anyone. Conflict has dominated California water policy at least as far back as the coining of the phrase “whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting.”

And what have decades of endless lawsuits accomplished?

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California’s New Laws Cover Wildfires, Energy, Animal Cruelty

/in , /by /Bloomberg Environment (Arlington, Va.)by Emily C. Dooley

California’s legislature and new governor were busy last year and a slew of environment and energy laws have just taken effect, from trying to reduce wildfire risks to banning fur trapping.

The measures also touch on a frequent California theme: taking aim at disagreements with the Trump administration and attempts to roll back or weaken environmental protections.

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California Department of Water Resources to Conduct First Snow Survey of 2020

/in , /by /23 ABC News Bakersfieldby News Staff

The California Department of Water Resources is set to conduct the first snow survey of 2020 on Thursday.

The DWR snow survey is a chance for officials to measure the water content in the snowpack. Data collected from the monthly snow surveys will help determine the amount of water that will melt and run off to state reservoirs during warmer months. The information is critical to the water managers who allocate California’s natural water resources to regions downstream.

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Enough Rain? Sufficient Snow? Here’s How Wet California, and Sacramento, Got in 2019

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby California Department of Water Resources

It’s a new year, and a time to take stock in California’s most precious commodity: water.

While October marks the start of the new water year, state hydrology leaders opened the new year with the first measure of snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, east of Sacramento.

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Balancing Water Supply for All is 2020 Priority, California Farm Bureau Federation Says

/in , /by /Sierra Sun Timesby Christine Souza

California water policy leaders say balancing the supply of groundwater by implementing the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, and addressing policies related to water supply and water quality, will continue to be priority issues in 2020.

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Moving Forward with the California Water Portfolio

/in , /by /Ag Net West Radio (Gainsville, Florida)by Brian German

The development of California’s water portfolio continues to progress. A presentation at the most recent meeting of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture highlighted the priorities for establishing the state’s water resiliency portfolio. Board President Don Cameron noted that the development of a water resiliency plan for California is going to need to incorporate several different factors.

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Water Crisis Puts Oregon Community At A Crossroads

/in , /by /National Public Radio (NPR)by Emily Cureton

In a desert far from any city, farmers use groundwater to grow lush green hay. The hay fattens livestock all over the world. But there’s a big problem: The water is drying up. Now scientists warn it will take thousands of years for an aquifer in southeastern Oregon to recover, while residents there are already hurting.

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Fires, Floods and More: A View of California From Space In 2019

/in , /by /CALmatters

The year began amid the ashes of the deadliest wildfire in California history. Then came torrential rains, the superbloom, a marine heat wave, and fires again.

They are events that foreshadow a future pattern of more extreme wildfires and rainstorms as climate change drives the Earth’s temperatures higher. The 2019 events prompted now familiar responses from politicians confronted with catastrophe across the state: disaster relief money, funding for scientific studies, and recriminations against bankrupt utility Pacific Gas and Electric.

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