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New Federal Guidelines for Diverting California Water to Take Effect Soon

/in , /by /KSRO Sonomaby News Staff

The war over California’s water between Governor Gavin Newsom and the Trump administration is at a crossroads, with new federal guidelines loosening the restrictions on water pumping set to take effect soon. The new guidelines call for diverting more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to agribusiness and urban areas further south. Barbara Barrigan-Parilla with the group Restore the Delta, says despite Newsom indicating he was going to sue over the new federal guidelines, that hasn’t happened yet.

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Who Should Pay For Water Conservation in the West? Water Managers Wade Into Discussion

/in , /by /Aspen Times by Heather Sackett

Water managers from throughout the Colorado River Basin took the stage at the Colorado River Water Users Association conference earlier this month to talk about conserving water in the face of the twin threats to the river: increasing demand and climate change.

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California Water Cutbacks Could Take Large Area of Farmland Out of Production

/in , /by /National Public Radio (NPR)by Kerry Klein

The state of California is gearing up to regulate its groundwater. By some estimates, water cutbacks could result in half a million acres of farmland taken out of production.

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Opinion: Newsom is Being Played by Big Ag on Delta Water

/in , /by /San Jose Mercury Newsby Editorial Board

He won’t admit it, but Gavin Newsom is being played by Big Ag interests as he tries fruitlessly to negotiate a truce in California’s water wars.

The governor’s apparent willingness to play into the hands of monied, agri-business players at the expense of the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta remains the biggest mystery of his short tenure. It also threatens to trash his reputation as a strong protector of California’s environment.

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California’s Wet Again, The Snowpack Looks Good and Ski Resorts Are Happy. Will It Last?

/in , , /by /Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow

Just a few weeks ago, it was one of the driest starts to the rainy season in modern California history. PG&E was shutting off power to tens of thousands of Californians as dangerously dry fire weather dragged on nearly to Thanksgiving.

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Opinion: California Can Solve its Water Shortage With the Water We Have. Here’s How

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Heather Cooley

California is at a water crossroads.

We can continue our costly, 100-year-old pattern of trying to find new water supplies, or we can choose instead to focus on smarter ways of using – and reusing – what we already have.

The cheapest water is the water we save.

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Opinion: Newsom Can’t Have It Both Ways On California Water

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Times by Editorial Board

It’s been a month since Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to sue the Trump administration to block stepped-up federal water diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to agribusiness and urban areas further south.

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Opinion: On the Anniversary of John Muir’s Death, A Wish To See Hetch Hetchy Restored

/in , /by /The Fresno Beeby Barbara Mossberg

For days of infamy — Pearl Harbor and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting — December has a handful. In this list of national anguish two anniversaries of deaths loom. One hundred and six years ago: on Dec. 2, 1913, Congress passed 43-25 (with 29 abstentions) a law drowning Hetch Hetchy, the natural twin of Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park, in order to provide water and power to San Francisco. On Dec. 24, 1914, John Muir died.

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Sierra Snowpack Off to Healthiest Start Since 2010, Water Officials Say

/in , , /by /KGO TV San Francisco by News Staff

The Sierra snowpack is off to its best start in years, according to the California Department of Water Resources. Thanks to all the recent storms, it’s at 109 percent of where it should be for this time of year. Last year, it was at 82 percent of average.

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Delta Smelt: The Tiny Fish Caught in California’s War With Trump

/in , /by /The Guardianby Maanvi Singh

On a warm November morning, John Durand squints over the stern of a small research boat, and gestures toward gray-blue water, and the chaotic tangles of tube-like tule reeds.

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