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OPINION: Now Is California’s Chance To Save The Salton Sea

/in , /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Frank Ruiz

Spectacular landscapes are part of California’s natural identity. I recently led a group on a tour of the Salton Sea and it prompted me to think that we should consider the sea one of these treasures. There’s nothing in California like it. We visited during a rare rainstorm, so there were waves on the lake and dramatic gray skies. Nonetheless, the landscape was full of life. Waterfowl are making a comeback on the lake, and we saw plenty of Redhead ducks and Canvasbacks in places like Salt Creek.

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Historic Midwest Flooding Destroys Roads, Bridges, Dams And Levees

/in , /by /Engineering News-Record (Troy, Mich.)by Pam Radtke Russell and Mark Shaw

Midwestern floodwaters have topped or breached multiple levees, damaged bridges and roads, destroyed one dam and damaged another and inundated at least 42 wastewater treatment plants as historic flooding continues to hit Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. At least two people are reported dead. Nine levees in total have been breached on both sides of the Missouri River, and “additional breaches are possible,” says Mike Glasch, deputy director of public affairs for the Army Corps’ Omaha District. “We are continuing to work with state and local agencies to monitor the levees,” he adds.

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2019 California Central Valley Project Water Allocations Updated

/in , /by /Sierra Sun Times

The Bureau of Reclamation last week issued updated allocations for Central Valley Project contractors for the 2019 contract year. This update reflects the benefits of the series of storms that brought significant precipitation to California during February and early March. “The precipitation we’ve experienced since mid-February has provided a significant boost to the projected water supply for the Central Valley Project this year,” said Mid-Pacific Regional Director Ernest Conant. “With the improved CVP storage conditions and the latest runoff forecasts, we are pleased to increase the amount of water allocated to many of our water service contractors.”

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California Drought Officially Over After More Than Seven Years

/in , /by /KSBY (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)

California is officially free of drought after more than seven years, drought monitors said Thursday. The Golden State has experienced some form of drought for 376 consecutive weeks, the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska, tweeted. It’s the first time the state has been free of drought since Dec. 20, 2011. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tweeted that weather in 2017 helped matters, but moderate drought persisted. Rainfall this winter further alleviated the drought, although 7 percent of the state remains “abnormally dry.”

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Wet Winter Likely To Keep Colorado River Out Of Shortage Next Year

/in , /by / Las Vegas Review-Journalby Henry Brean

For the moment, Mother Nature is smiling on the Colorado River. Enough snow has piled up in the mountains that feed the river to stave off a dreaded shortage declaration for one more year, according to federal projections released Friday afternoon. Just a month ago, forecasters expected Lake Mead to start 2020 about 17 feet lower than it is now, below the trigger point for a first-ever federal shortage declaration on the drought-stricken river.

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Wet Winter Likely To Keep Colorado River Out Of Shortage Next Year

/in , /by /Las Vegas Review-Journalby Henry Brean

For the moment, Mother Nature is smiling on the Colorado River. Enough snow has piled up in the mountains that feed the river to stave off a dreaded shortage declaration for one more year, according to federal projections released Friday afternoon. Just a month ago, forecasters expected Lake Mead to start 2020 about 17 feet lower than it is now, below the trigger point for a first-ever federal shortage declaration on the drought-stricken river. But several weeks of winter storms across the Mountain States have cut the lake’s expected decline by Jan. 1 roughly in half, leaving the reservoir east of Las Vegas safely above the shortage line, according to the new figures from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

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Reclamation Drought Plan Would Nix Environmental Reviews

/in , , /by /E&E News (Washington, D.C.)by Jeremy P. Jacobs

As the Trump administration moves toward a drought contingency plan for the Colorado River, the Bureau of Reclamation is pushing legislation that would exempt its work from environmental reviews. That includes potential impacts on what has emerged as a major sticking point in the drought negotiations: Southern California’s Salton Sea, a public health and ecological disaster. Draft legislation obtained by E&E News would authorize the Interior secretary to implement the drought plan “notwithstanding any other provision of law” and “without delay.”

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Hundreds Wade Into Complex, Challenging World Of California Water

/in , /by /The Delano Record (Bakersfield, Calif.)by John Cox

Hundreds of Bakersfield agriculture, oil and political leaders came together March 7 to examine the challenges and opportunities associated with providing California residents and businesses with a secure, reliable supply of clean water. Lest the wet winter create a sense of complacency around one of the state’s most vital needs, specialists from various fields urged collective attention to the costly and increasingly complex problems that surround sourcing, storing and conveying water across the Golden State.

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California Is Now Drought-Free, Monitor Says. Wait, Didn’t That Happen 2 Years Ago?

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Michael McGough

Thanks to a wet winter across the state, the entirety of California is free of drought for the first time since 2011, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor’s Thursday update. Don’t confuse that with former Gov. Jerry Brown’s April 2017 announcement that the statewide drought had officially ended. The drought officially began with Brown’s declaration of a state of emergency in January 2014.

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Two California Water Agencies Battling Over Colorado River Drought Plan

/in , , /by /KQED (San Francisco)by Felicia Fonseca and Jonathan J. Cooper

A major Southern California water agency is trying to push the state through a final hurdle in joining a larger plan to preserve a key river in the U.S. West that serves 40 million people. Most of the seven states that get water from the Colorado River have signed off on plans to keep the waterway from crashing amid a prolonged drought, climate change and increased demands. But California and Arizona have not, missing deadlines from the federal government.

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