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Opinion: To Feed The Nation, Farmers Need Water

/in , /by /California Ag Todayby Patrick Cavanaugh

Founded in 2009, the California Water Alliance is the leading educational voice and authority on California water. The Alliance is a 501c4 nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advocates for the water needs of California families, cities, businesses, farms, and the environment. The California Water Alliance is working to assist the farming community in multiple ways. Being transparent is at the forefront. William Bourdeau is executive VP of Harris Farms and a board member of the Alliance. The alliance is telling the truth and being transparent, and that is very important, he said.

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Local Districts Oppose ‘Water Taxes’

/in , /by /Calaveras Enterprise by Dakota Morian

The Calaveras County Water District and 149 other similar agencies have joined the Association of California Water Agencies’ (ACWA) coalition against a state budget trailer bill that would impose a tax on water district customers in order to ensure safe drinking water. The Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Act Budget Trailer Bill (BTB) is an effort by Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration and other proponents to advance the proposals made in Senate Bill 623 (Monning), which was suspended in August.

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DWR Increases Water Supply Allocation To State Water Contractors

/in , /by /Lake County Newsby Lake County News Reports

The California Department of Water Resources on Tuesday announced a statewide increase in State Water Project allocations for 2018. SWP contractors can now expect to receive 30 percent of their requests, up from the initial 15 percent allocation in December and the 20 percent announced in January.

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California Voters Will Consider Two Water Bonds This Election Cycle

/in , /by /Capitol Public Radio, Sacramentoby Ben Bradford

Two different water bonds are set to appear on the California ballot this election season, after a $9 billion measure gathered enough signatures to qualify in November, according to the Secretary of State’s Office on Wednesday. Primarily backed by farmers, water districts and conservation groups, the ballot initiative would split funding between each of their priorities, distributing $3 billion to water quality improvement projects, $3 billion to watersheds and fisheries, and about $1 billion to protect habitats. The rest of the funding, about $2 billion, would be divvied up between water delivery and storage projects.

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What You Need To Know About California Water, Droughts

/in , /by /KCRA-TV Sacramentoby Mark Finan

They  may be unpredictable, but they are unavoidable — droughts. California goes through drought cycles, but that’s what has prepared the state for the worst. KCRA TV Sacramento meteorologist Mark Finan answers five frequently asked questions about droughts and water in California:

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Climate change will make California’s drought-flood cycle more volatile, study finds

/in , /by /Los Angeles Times by Bettina Boxall

Californians should expect more dramatic swings between dry and wet years as the climate warms, according to a new study that found it likely that the state will be hit by devastating, widespread flooding in coming decades. UC researchers in essence found that California’s highly volatile climate will become even more volatile as human-caused climate change tinkers with atmospheric patterns over the eastern Pacific Ocean.

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What Western Snowpack Tells Us About the Water Year

/in , /by /News Deeplyby John Fleck and Tara Logan

In this episode of Deeply Talks, Ian Evans, Water Deeply’s community editor, speaks with Tara Lohan, Water Deeply’s managing editor and John Fleck, director of water resources at the University of New Mexico, about the status of this year’s snowpack, what it can tell us about the water year to come and how that fits with long-term climate change trends. The most significant reservoirs in the West are not stored behind concrete dams, but on top of mountains as snowpack. This year, however, snowpack has been alarmingly low throughout most of the West.

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Voters OK’d billions for new reservoirs in 2014. California is about to start spending

/in , /by /Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

California took a big step Friday toward launching a new multibillion-dollar wave of reservoir construction.

After being accused of being overly tightfisted with taxpayer dollars, the California Water Commission released updated plans for allocating nearly $2.6 billion in bond funds approved by voters during the depths of the drought. The money will help fund eight reservoirs and other water-storage projects, including the sprawling Sites Reservoir in the Sacramento Valley and a small groundwater “bank” in south Sacramento County.

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Desalination In Las Vegas? Faraway Ocean Could Aid Future Water Needs

/in , /by /News Deeplyby Matt Weiser

Sin City has never been a place that thinks small. So it should come as no surprise that Las Vegas – about 300 miles from the Pacific Ocean – is pondering seawater desalination to meet its long-term water demand.

That doesn’t mean Vegas plans to build a pipeline to the ocean. More likely, it would help pay for a desalination facility in a place like Mexico, then trade that investment for a piece of Mexico’s water rights in the Colorado River.

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Southern California Plans To Spend $11 Billion On The Delta Tunnels. Who Will End Up Paying?

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Betina Boxall Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

When the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California voted to finance the lion’s share of the delta tunnels project, some on the board called it a bold stroke of leadership. The delegations from Los Angeles and San Diego, however, called the move alarming, financially risky and irresponsible. MWD’s two largest member agencies, L.A. and the San Diego County Water Authority, were on the losing end of last week’s vote to invest nearly $11 billion in the construction of two massive tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

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