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Parade Of Storms Bringing Soaking Rain And Feet Of Snow To California Into Late-Week

/in , /by /The Weather Channelby Chris Dolce

California will continue to be under a siege of storm systems through Thursday that will send more soaking rain across the state and snow into the higher terrain. This string of stormy weather actually kicked off last Friday into Saturday, when an initial weather system made its way into the state. The rain from that storm triggered a mudslide on the Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu, California, early Saturday, forcing it to close for a time.

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California Snowpack Surges After Slow Start. Will It Be Enough To Combat Years Of Drought?

/in , /by /Visalia Times-Deltaby Joshua Yeager

California’s snowpack is surging after a series of storms hit the Sierras last week. More snow could hit California’s mountain ranges this week. “Last week’s storms have been nice and cold, coming from the Gulf of Alaska and putting some nice snow across the Sierra Nevadas,” said Chris Orrock, California Department of Water Resources spokesman. California began 2019 with lower-than-average snowpack measurements — just 67 percent of the year-to-date average. Recent storms pushed that total to 90 percent as of Friday.

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Gavin Newsom Appoints Oakland Man To Lead Natural Resources Agency

/in , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by Nico Savidge

Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed the leader of an Oakland water philanthropy to be the next secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency. Wade Crowfoot will lead the agency that oversees state parks, the Department of Water Resources and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, among other offices, Newsom announced Friday. Crowfoot, 45, was CEO of the Water Foundation, an organization with offices in Sacramento, Oakland and Los Angeles that helps fund efforts to improve water management, from 2016 to 2018. Before that, Crowfoot worked as a deputy cabinet secretary and senior adviser to Gov. Jerry Brown, and as a senior environmental adviser to Newsom when he was mayor of San Francisco.

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OPINION: Is There Enough Water For Us In The Desert? Water Agencies Work To Keep It Flowing.

/in , /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Joseph K. Stuart

Is there enough water in our desert? I am often asked this question. Everywhere you look new homes, hotels and master-planned developments are appearing. It is wise to ask whether we have enough water for these future desert residents and visitors. Permits for new projects are under the jurisdiction of cities or the county — not under the purview of water agencies. Water agencies are tasked with supplying the water. Balancing growth and water supplies is nothing new to desert communities. It has always been a fact of life in our desert and is one of Desert Water Agency’s most important responsibilities.

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Arizona Lawmakers Under Pressure To Approve Seven-State Colorado River Drought Plan Before Federal Deadline

/in , /by /The Colorado Sun (Denver)by Jason Blevins

Years of drought planning between the seven Western states that rely on the overtaxed, climate-withered Colorado River comes down to Arizona lawmakers in the next two-and-half weeks. With a federal deadline of Jan. 31 for the states to forge a collaborative Drought Contingency Plan, Arizona remains the lone holdout. The plans for each of the states — California, Arizona and Nevada in the Lower Basin, and Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming in the Upper Basin — outline strategies for reducing demands on the Colorado River before water storage in the already record-low Lake Mead and Lake Powell drop to catastrophically low levels.

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Trump Tempers Talk Of Emergency At Border, But Eyes California Projects For Wall Funds

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sarah D. Wire

As the federal government’s partial shutdown became tied on Friday for the longest one ever, President Trump tempered his talk of declaring a national emergency on the southern border that could free him to spend money on a wall there. The president insisted on his power to make the declaration, which could allow him to divert federal funds for other purposes to a wall. Yet after days of resistance from some congressional Republicans, he no longer sounded notes of urgency about taking such action.

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San Francisco Sues State Over Potentially Drastic Water Reductions

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

The city of San Francisco is not standing down in California’s latest water war, joining a lawsuit against the state on Thursday to stop it from directing more of the Sierra Nevada’s cool, crisp flows to fish instead of people. City officials contend the State Water Resources Control Board is overreaching with a new, sweeping plan to restore California’s depleted river system by limiting draws on such water supplies as San Francisco’s Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite. The plan, according to city estimates, will force Bay Area households to cut water use by 20 percent or more.

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Arizona Drought-Plan Issues Remain As Federal Jan. 31 Deadline Nears

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

Four key issues remain unsettled as negotiators for a Colorado River drought-adaptation plan wrap up discussions and prepare to send a complex package of water-saving proposals to the Arizona Legislature. Farmers, developers and officials of the $4 billion Central Arizona Project said Tuesday they still aren’t satisfied with various provisions in a proposed drought contingency plan aimed at propping up imperiled Lake Mead. Because of that, negotiations over details will probably have to continue even when the Legislature starts debating the plan next week.

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Scientists Are Using Bacteria To Remove Harmful Contaminants From Our Water. Here’s How.

/in , /by /Environmental Health Newsby Hannah Thomasy

John Coates’ laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, hums with activity. Negative 80-degree freezers whirr, liquid nitrogen bubbles, grad students meticulously measure and mix complicated concoctions. But all of this is nothing compared with the commotion going on at a microscopic level.  The Coates lab is growing many different kinds of bacteria, multiplying in petri dishes at mind-boggling rates. But these bacteria aren’t out to harm people or animals. In fact, quite the opposite — they’re hard at work breaking down a dangerous chemical that pollutes waterways across the United States.

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California Water Board Outlines $606M Bill Assistance Program

/in , /by /Circle of Blueby Brett Walton

To subsidize drinking water bills for poor households, California regulators recommend new taxes on bottled water and incomes above $1 million a year, according to a draft proposal released by the State Water Resources Control Board. If the $606 million proposal, or an alternate version, is accepted by the Legislature, California would be the first state in the country to run a water bill assistance program. With the affordability of water and sewer service a hot topic nationally and utility aid programs either underfunded, non-existent, or handcuffed by state laws, other states will be watching the outcome.

 

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