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State’s Retiring Snow Guru Talks Snowpack Tech And California Water

/in , /by /KQED (San Francisco)by Craig Miller

Frank Gehrke says that back in Missouri, where he was raised, snow was “something to be plowed.” He would soon take a very different view. In December, Gehrke retired as chief snow surveyor for the California Department of Water Resources. He spent much of his 31 years with the department on skis and snowshoes, in remote corners of the Sierra Nevada, measuring the “frozen reservoir” that ultimately provides about a third of California’s water supply

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State Reservoirs Nearing Historical Averages For This Time Of Year

/in , /by /KRON 4 News (San Francisco) by Charles Clifford

After several weeks of dry weather, heavy rain returned to California and the Bay Area, giving our reservoirs and snow pack a needed boost. As of early Monday morning, the seven reservoirs used by the East Bay Municipal Utility District are holding a total of just over 600,000 acre feet of water — that’s about 78 percent of full capacity. The Lafayette Reservoir is currently 69 percent full. In the South Bay, the Santa Clara Valley Water District reservoirs are on average about 28 percent full.

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Storms Produce Drier Than Average Snow In Sierras

/in , /by /Mountain Democrat (Placerville, Calif.)by Dawn Hodson

The first snow survey of 2019 measured almost 2 feet of snow at Phillips Station, although the snow is drier than normal for that location. Those results are better than last January when a paltry 0.3 inches of snow were to be found. Conducted on Thursday, Jan. 3 by staff from the Department of Water Resources (DWR), the manual survey recorded 25.5 inches of snow and a snow water equivalent of 9 inches, which is 80 percent of average for Phillips Station. However, that is better than the statewide average, which is at only 67 percent of average. The results confirm that despite early winter storms, Sierra water content is below average for this time of year.

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Our Current Drought Is Worse Than Most Megadroughts, New Study Says

/in , , /by /Arizona Daily Star (Tuscon)by Tony Davis

Tucson’s drinking water supply — carries nearly 20 percent less water than in 2000. Bark beetles are chomping away at our forests and killing off ponderosa pines. Wildfires are rapidly growing in intensity. These problems have been linked to a drought that has stretched 19 years with no respite. Now, a team of researchers concludes that the ongoing drought across the western U.S. rivals most past “megadroughts” dating as far back as 800 A.D. — and that this region is currently in a megadrought.

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Rivers In The Sky: What You Need To Know About Atmospheric River Storms

/in , /by /KQED (San Francisco)

The rainy season is well underway in California: Roughly 90 percent of the Golden State’s precipitation typically falls during the months of October through April. While drought has bedeviled the state in recent years, there’s evidence that the wet season is actually getting wetter. If you live on the West Coast, you may hear the term “atmospheric river” thrown around. These massive, fast-moving storm systems can transport more than 25 times the moisture as flows through the mouth of the Mississippi River.

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Winter Storm Batters Northern California, Highway 80 Shut Down At Donner Summit

/in , /by /CBS San Francisco

A winter storm front roared into Northern California Sunday, dumping more than 3 inches of rain in Marin County, triggering flooding along San Francisco’s Great Highway and blizzard conditions in the Sierra Nevada. The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory Sunday afternoon for southeastern Marin County. Forecasters said the storm had dumped 3.32 inches of rain in San Rafael by 4:30 p.m. while 3.86 inches fell in Kentfield. The NWS also posted a flood advisory for southeastern Sonoma County, advising motorists to not drive through flooded roadways.

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OPINION: State Should Use Science To Determine Delta Water Flows

/in , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by Jon Rosenfield

How low our expectations of government have sunk. Federal agencies now regularly deny science that explains the warming of our planet and rising seas. Back-room deals and obstruction of the public’s will have become so commonplace that we notice when one of our state government’s agencies takes action to protect the environment, even if it falls well short of the mark.

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Trump Asks Supreme Court To Resolve Groundwater Fight

/in , , /by /E&E News (Washington, D.C.)by Ellen M. Gilmer

The Trump administration is pushing the Supreme Court to review what could be the most consequential environmental case of the term: a broiling Clean Water Act debate. The Justice Department yesterday recommended the high court decide whether the landmark environmental law applies to pollution that travels through groundwater before reaching federally regulated water. Two recent circuit court decisions say yes, but critics think that approach vastly expands the statute.

 

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Statewide Snowpack At 67 Percent Of Average For This Time Of Year

/in , , /by /Mountain View Voice (Palo Alto)

Storms have come to California early this winter, but a survey of the Sierra snowpack on Thursday (Jan. 3) shows it is only at 67 percent of average statewide for this time of year, according to the state’s Department of Water Resources. The snowpack survey was the first of 2019 in California and included a manual survey at Phillips Station just off of U.S. Highway 50 near Sierra-at-Tahoe.

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OPINION: New leaders On Monterey Peninsula Must Finish The Job On Water Project

/in , /by /Monterey Heraldby Bill Kampe, Ralph Rubio and Jerry Edelen

In September of 2018, a busload of local citizens traveled to San Francisco to support approval of our local desalination plant by the California Public Utilities Commission. Included among the supporters were local elected officials, representatives of labor, environmental, housing and business organizations, and people from the community at large. The one thing all these people had in common was the understanding that an adequate and drought-proof water supply is a necessity for a thriving community.

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