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Top Federal Water Official Gives States Jan. 31 Deadline To Pass Colorado River Drought Deal

/in , /by /Cronkite News (Phoenix)by Luke Runyon

Water leaders throughout the West now have a hard deadline to finish deals that would keep the Colorado River’s biggest reservoirs from dropping to deadpool levels – the point at which water no longer can be released. The nation’s top water official is giving leaders of the seven states that rely on the river until Jan. 31 to finalize a Drought Contingency Plan. The combination of multistate agreements would change how reservoirs are operated and force earlier water cutbacks within the river’s lower basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada as reservoirs drop.

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A Larger Issue Looms Over Short-Term Colorado River Plan: Climate Change

/in , /by /The Arizona Republic (Phoenix)by Ian James

With the water level in Lake Mead hovering near a point that would trigger a first-ever official shortage on the Colorado River, representatives of California, Arizona and Nevada are trying to wrap up a plan to prevent the water situation from spiraling into a major crisis. The plan is formally called the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan. But at an annual Colorado River conference this week, many water managers stressed that it’s merely a stopgap plan to get the region through the next several years until 2026.

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UC Merced Researchers Assess Western Forests’ Ability To Survive Next Drought

/in , /by /Sierra Sun Times

By Lorena Anderson, UC Merced – UC Merced researchers have evidence that California’s forests are especially vulnerable to multi-year droughts because their health depends on water stored several feet below ground. “Each year our forests, grasslands and shrublands depend on water stored underground to survive the dry summers, but during multi-year dry periods there is not enough precipitation in the wet winter season to replenish that supply,” said Joseph Rungee, UC Merced graduate student and lead author on a new paper published in the journal Hydrological Processes.

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All Eyes are on Arizona as Colorado River Meetings Open with Focus on Finishing Drought Deal

/in , /by /The Arizona Republicby Ian James

Representatives of water agencies from across the West convened here this week for their annual Colorado River meetings, focusing on finishing a drought plan to prevent the levels of reservoirs from continuing to drop. Many of the water managers said they’re looking to Arizona to finish negotiating the details of its plan so the state can sign on and make possible a larger deal aimed at preventing Lake Mead from falling further. Federal officials had expressed hopes that Arizona, California and Nevada would iron out remaining issues and be ready to sign the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan at the Las Vegas conference.

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California Unveils $1.7 Billion Plan For Rivers, Fish. Will It Ward Off A Water War?

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

Hoping to head off one of the biggest California water wars in decades, state officials Wednesday proposed a sweeping, $1.7 billion plan to prop up struggling fish populations across many of the state’s most important rivers. Capping 30 days of feverish negotiations, the Department of Water Resources and the Department of Fish and Wildlife unveiled a dramatic plan that would reallocate more than 700,000 acre-feet of water from farms and cities throughout much of the Central Valley, leaving more water in the rivers and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to support ailing steelhead and Chinook salmon populations.

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Climate Change will Bring More Strong El Niños. Here’s What That Means for California

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Julia Rosen

California is no stranger to extreme weather. The last decade has brought crippling droughts and dam-busting deluges. And climate change is only making the situation worse by turning up the heat during the dry season and supercharging storms during the wet season. Now, a new study suggests rising temperatures also will increase the frequency of strong El Niño events, which often bring pummeling rains across the state. “This adds to the evidence that what we’ve experienced in California over the last several years is consistent with what we can expect from global warming,” said Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Stanford University who was not involved in the study.

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Major Rollback of Water Rules Endorsed by California Farmers

/in , /by /Daily Democrat (Woodland, CA)by Ellen Knickmeyer and John Flesher

The Trump administration proposed withdrawing federal protections for countless waterways and wetlands across the country Tuesday, making good on President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to weaken landmark Obama-era water rules long opposed by some developers, farmers and oil, gas, and mining executives.

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Carr Fire Damage Continues to Threaten Water Supplies

/in , /by /Redding Record Searchlightby Damon Arthur

More than three months after the Carr Fire was contained, the burned out hillsides the deadly blaze left behind continue to pose a threat to water quality in western Shasta County.

The barren fire-scarred hillsides could cause drinking water quality problems for communities that rely on water from Whiskeytown Lake, according to a report written for the Shasta County Public Works Department.

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Trump Administration Unveils Major Clean Water Act Rollback

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Evan Halper

The Trump administration unveiled its plan Tuesday for a major rollback of the Clean Water Act, a blueprint drawn up at the behest of farm groups, real estate developers and other business interests that would end federal protections on thousands of miles of streams and wetlands. The proposal has big implications for California and other arid Western states, where many of the seasonal streams and wetlands that are a foundation of drinking-water supplies and sensitive ecosystems would lose federal protection. Acting Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the Obama-era rule that put those waters under the protection of the Clean Water Act “further expanded Washington’s reach into privately owned lands.”

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A Wet Start To The Winter Brings Piles Of Snow To California Mountains And High Hopes For Water Supply

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

In a good sign for California’s water supply, the Sierra Nevada has been blanketed by heavy snow thanks to a series of recent storms. The snowpack measured 106% of average, according to the state’s snow survey taken late last week. That’s more than double the 47% of average measured on the same day last year. The Sierra Nevada is a key source of water for California, which is still recovering from years of drought conditions. Two storms beginning on Thanksgiving brought up to 2 feet of snow in parts of the northern Sierra, said Emily Heller, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

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