You are now in California and the U.S. Media Coverage category.

Could this Obscure California Agency Derail Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels?

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow, Alexei Koseff, and Dale Kasler

As Gov. Jerry Brown leaves office, his controversial Delta tunnels plan is on the ropes. Most farmers who would get water from the tunnels still haven’t agreed to pay their share. Rather than support the tunnels, the Trump administration is trying to bend federal environmental laws to simply deliver more water through the existing Delta system to San Joaquin Valley farms and cities — and just rejected the project’s request for a big startup loan. Brown’s successor, Gavin Newsom, says he would like to see the project scaled down. Lawsuits challenging the project abound.

Full Story

Evacuations Ordered, Roads Closed in California as Flooding Rain Arrives

/in , /by /AccuWeatherby Brian Lada, Chaffin Mitchell, Kevin Byrne, and Faith Eherts

Heavy rain and mountain snow is spreading across California and will bring the risk of flooding, mudslides and travel delays into Friday. Measurable rain is expected in the state’s largest cities, including in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento. Mandatory evacuations have already been issued for people living near the Holy Fire burn scar due to the potential for flooding and mudslides, while those in Malibu near the Woolsey Fire burn scar have been put on alert for potential evacuation.

Full Story

Project to Build Deeper Lake Mead Water Intake Passes Key Milestone

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

After a three-year battle to keep their underground job site from flooding, the construction crew at Lake Mead is ready to let the water win. Sometime late next week, workers plan to shut off the pumps keeping the water out and allow it to fill the cavern they have carefully excavated more than 500 feet beneath the shore. The move will mark the latest milestone for the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s low-lake-level pumping station, a $650 million safety net for a community that draws 90 percent of its drinking water from Lake Mead.

Full Story

Pacific Storm To Bring Rain, Mountain Snow To California

/in , /by /The Associated Press

California will see widespread rain and heavy Sierra Nevada snowfall through midweek, potentially bringing travel problems and raising the risk of damaging runoff from wildfire burn scars, forecasters said Tuesday. The wet pattern from a deep atmospheric fetch of Pacific moisture marks a significant change in the weather following conditions that contributed to disastrous and deadly wildfires up and down California, where hundreds of thousands of acres have burned this year.

 

Full Story

Dry And Getting Drier: Southwestern Water Scarcity The New Norm, Climate Study Says

/in , /by /KUNC (Greeley, Colo.)by Luke Runyon

The effects of climate change are not far off problems for future generations. They are existential problems for everyone alive today. That’s one big takeaway from the U.S. federal government’s latest roundup of climate science, the National Climate Assessment, now in its fourth iteration. Released the day after Thanksgiving, the newest report is unequivocal. In heavily footnoted, short declarative sentences it urgently tells readers that climate change is happening, it’s human-caused, and it could make life in the Western U.S. increasingly difficult.

Full Story

Trump Officials Announce $450 million Loan For New California Reservoir Project

/in , /by /Redding Record Searchlight by Damon Arthur

Trump administration officials were in California on Tuesday to announce a $450 million loan for the Sites Reservoir project in Colusa County. The money will be used to build a tunnel to carry water from the Glenn-Colusa Canal to an existing reservoir, giving farmers on the west side of the Sacramento Valley more access to irrigation water. The 12-foot diameter tunnel, called an intertie, will also be used to transport water to and from Sites Reservoir after it is built, said Jim Watson, general manager of the Sites Reservoir Authority.

Full Story

Imperial Irrigation District Fight Could Threaten Federal Colorado River Drought Plan

/in , /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Janet Wilson

A fierce local battle over water rights unfolding in a small Southern California courtroom Wednesday could threaten federal plans to replenish rapidly dwindling Colorado River water supplies. A third-generation farmer is seeking an injunction to block the Imperial Irrigation District from signing on to the seven-state compact.

Full Story

USDA Invests More Than $449 Million In Innovative Management Of California Water Supply

/in , /by /The Sierra Sun Times (Mariposa, Calif.)

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Tuesday announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing more than $449 million to help build an innovative water management system that will increase the reliability of the California water supply and create more than 560 jobs in the Sacramento Valley. Secretary Perdue was joined by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Rickey “R.D.” James. The announcement follows on President Donald J. Trump’s memo to promote a reliable supply and delivery of water out west.

Full Story

Desalination May Move To Santa Cruz Permanent Back Burner

/in , /by /Santa Cruz Sentinelby Jessica A. York

Desalination, five years after it was last considered a viable water treatment project for Santa Cruz, may soon lose its footing even as a looming backup plan. With a little more than a year before the city is expected to decide how to ensure its long-term water supply security, the Santa Cruz City Council will consider Tuesday all but crossing off construction of the ocean water processing plant, per a recommendation from the city Water Commission, with city Water Department backing.

Full Story

Rounds Of Storms To Send Wind, Rain And Snow Into The West Coast This Week

/in , /by /Accuweather by Courtney Spamer and Faith Eherts

Rounds of rain are expected to soak areas from Washington to Southern California this week. The first storm rolled ashore in Washington and Oregon on Monday and settled into Northern California on Tuesday. Rain is forecast to push farther south across California during Tuesday night. Rain will fall on San Francisco, as well as the Paradise, California, area from Tuesday afternoon to Tuesday night. More rain is in the offing prior to the end of the week. Overall, this first round will bring mostly rain, but the higher elevations of the Cascades in Washington are likely to receive snow.

Full Story