California and the U.S. Archives

Wet Winter Greatly Reduces Drought Conditions In California

February 9, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Andrea Mora /Ventura County Starby As published by The Associated Press

A very wet winter has greatly reduced drought conditions in California, but Ventura County isn’t out of the woods yet. The U.S. Drought Monitor reports that more than 34 percent of the state including the Sierra Nevada, much of the Central Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area is free of any significant dryness. Ventura County is in a portion of the state rated as “abnormally dry” after rain eased the “moderate drought” rating for an area that stretched from the Central Coast down through the southern tier of the state.

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Californians With Bad Water Ask For Help While Opposition Mounts To Newsom’s Proposed Tax

Californians with unhealthy drinking water pleaded for help from lawmakers this week but opposition quickly developed to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to pay for system improvements with a new fee. “We just upped our water rates, and to turn around and give them a tax on their meter is just not feasible,” said Maxine Israel, director at the Cabazon Water District, which serves about 2,500 customers near Palm Springs.

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2018 Was The U.S.’s Third-Wettest Year On Record—Here’s Why

February 7, 2019/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Andrea Mora /National Geographicby Alejandra Borunda

On Wednesday, NASA and NOAA announced that 2018 was the fourth hottest year on record. But the impacts of a warming planet extend beyond just warming air; the feverish state of the planet is also changing when, where, and how intensely rain and snow fall. And 2018, the reports say, was the third-wettest year since 1895, when steady record-keeping began. Overall, the U.S. got 4.68 inches more precipitation in 2018 than the 20^th-century average, but that rain and snow was not anywhere close to evenly distributed across the country. In the eastern half, several states, like North Carolina and Virginia, blew past their previous precipitation records, while most of the western U.S. remained mired in drought.

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Two Year Anniversary Of Oroville Spillway Crisis: Emergency Spillway Nears Completion

February 7, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Andrea Mora /KRCR News Channel (Redding, Calif.)by Kelli Saam

Thursday marks two years since the first hole opened up in the Oroville Dam Spillway, triggering an emergency that forced the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people. The crisis started on February 7, 2017. The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) had been releasing 60,000 cubic feet of water per second, when they noticed the concrete on the spillway began to disintegrate. That first day, the hole was 30 feet deep by 180 feet wide.

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More Frosty Weather On The Way For California, And The Snow Might Stick Awhile

February 7, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Kristiene Gong /Los Angeles Timesby Javier Panzar

From the Bay Area to Los Angeles, it was a day to gaze upon snow-capped peaks, acknowledge that yes, California does have a winter, and share a photo or two on social media. And don’t expect the alpine glory — caused by a series of cold storms that dropped snow levels dramatically — to disappear soon. Wet weather will kick back up again Friday for large swaths of the state, which could bring hazardous conditions for drivers.

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California Officials Draft A $600M Plan To Help Low-Income Households Absorb Rising Water Bills

February 7, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Kristiene Gong /Water Education Foundation (Sacramento)by Gary Pitzer

Low-income Californians can get help with their phone bills, their natural gas bills and their electric bills. But there’s only limited help available when it comes to water bills. That could change if the recommendations of a new report are implemented into law. Drafted by the State Water Resources Control Board, the report outlines the possible components of a program to assist low-income households facing rising water bills.

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Federal Register Notice On DCP Draws Ire From IID

February 7, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Kristiene Gong /Imperial Valley Pressby Tom Bodus

A notice published recently in the Federal Register is not sitting well with Imperial Irrigation District. That notice, submitted by the Department of Interior through the Bureau of Reclamation and published on Feb. 1, calls recommendations from the governors of the seven Colorado River Basin state for protective actions the Department of Interior should take in the absence of a completed drought contingency plan. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman set a deadline of Jan. 31 for states to complete and approve a DCP.

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What Is Happening With The Colorado River Drought Plans?

February 6, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Kristiene Gong /KUNC (Greeley, Colo.)by Luke Runyon & Bret Jaspers

States that rely on the Colorado River for their water supplies are currently unable to finish a series of agreements that would keep its biggest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, from dropping to levels not seen since they were filled decades ago. Five states — Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming and Nevada — are done. The country of Mexico has also completed its portion. But California and Arizona failed to meet a Jan. 31 federal government deadline to wrap up negotiations and sign a final agreement.

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Scientists Develop Category System To Warn Residents About Strong Storms

February 6, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Kristiene Gong /CBS Sacramento

When you hear about a category five hurricane, you know it can be deadly. Now meteorologists have created a new scale to track the strong winter storms that slam the west coast. The new system could help give more people warning and ranks some of our past storms. Northern California is no stranger to strong storms that cause flooding, levee breaks, and mudslides. In the past, they’ve been known as a pineapple express, and more recently they’ve been dubbed atmospheric rivers. Now scientists have developed a new scientific scale to track them.

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Senate Bill 204 Increases WaterFix Oversight

February 6, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Kristiene Gong /The Press (Brentwood, Calif.)by Tony Kukulich

During a town hall meeting in November 2017, the Delta Caucus co-chairs state Sen. Bill Todd (D-Napa) and Assemblymember Jim Frazier (D-Discovery Bay) opined for more legislative oversight pertaining to the California WaterFix project. Last week they took a step in that direction. Todd introduced Senate Bill (SB) 204, which would require the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Delta Conveyance, Design and Construction Authority (DCDCA) to submit information about pending State Water Project contracts to the legislature for public review prior to those agencies moving forward with work on the Delta Tunnels.

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