California and the U.S. Archives

Freakish Warming Causes Arctic Temperatures To Rise Nearly 40 Degrees Above Normal

February 27, 2018/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /NewsWeek (New York)by Aristos Georgiou

At this time of year, temperatures in the Arctic circle usually linger around the -22°F (-30°C) mark, with the region still cloaked in perpetual darkness. However, the region is experiencing one of the warmest Februarys on record, with temperatures for the area north of 80 degrees latitude currently averaging 17.6°F (-20°C)–more than 36°F (20°C) above normal, Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist at the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI), told Reuters.

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Study: Climate Change Threatens Major Crops In California

February 27, 2018/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /KQED Science (San Francisco)by Amel Ahmed

California currently provides two-thirds of the country’s fruits and nuts, but according to a new study published Tuesday, by the end of the century California’s climate will no longer be able to support the state’s major crops, including orchards. The report, published in “Agronomy,” warns that the increased rate and scale of climate change is “beyond the realm of experience” for the agricultural community, and unless farmers take urgent measures, the consequences could threaten national food security.

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When It Comes To Rain, Ventura County Needs ‘Miracle March’

February 27, 2018/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Ventura County Starby Christian Martinez

A weak storm system brought little rain to Ventura County on Monday and Tuesday, providing a disappointing end to a typically wet month. According to the Ventura County Watershed Protection District, most communities in the county got less than one-tenth of an inch of precipitation between Monday night and Tuesday morning. The exception was in Thousand Oaks, where a Tuesday afternoon storm left the city with 0.31 inch of rainfall. “People need to realize we are always on a drought footing,” said Arne Anselm, deputy director of water resources for Ventura County Public Works.

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Californians Are Struggling To Pay For Rising Water Rates

February 27, 2018/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Water Deeply (New York)by Alastair Bland

California has been blessed with the distinction of being home to some of the richest and the poorest income-earning Americans, according to a 2015 report by the Social Science Research Council. This stark division of wealth between the extravagantly rich and the destitute is displayed vividly in how the state’s residents consume water. On the one hand, some estate owners have been publicly shamed for watering their lawns during extreme drought with thousands of gallons per day – sometimes five or 10 times the average household rate.

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First Of Week’s 2 Storms Hits California With Snow And Rain

February 27, 2018/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /U.S. News & World Report

The first of two storms predicted this week brought some snow to the mountains and mostly modest amounts of rain as it moved through California on Monday, but some authorities were cautious about the potential for mudslides and debris flows. The storm descended through the San Francisco Bay Area in the morning and dropped snow in the Sierra Nevada, where travel was hobbled on Interstate 80 and U.S. 50. The relatively narrow storm band continued southward along the coast and also brought rain to the state’s Central Valley agricultural heartland.

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Southern California Water Agency Could Vote Soon On Whether To Bankroll Delta Tunnels

February 27, 2018/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow

Facing pressure from Gov. Jerry Brown, Southern California’s largest water agency could vote as soon as April on whether to take a majority stake in the twin-tunnels project Brown plans for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The fast-track timeline was disclosed Tuesday at a committee of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which heard a report from staff members about the benefits, risks and financing possibilities of the agency agreeing to pay the majority of the costs in a twin tunnels system.

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“Largest Storm Of The Year” To Bring Up To 7 Feet Of Snow To Sierra Nevada

February 27, 2018/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Mercury News (San Jose)by Paul Rogers

A major storm system is forecast to slam into California from Alaska and Canada starting Wednesday night, bringing soaking rain to the Bay Area on Thursday and dumping up to seven feet of new snow to the historically dry Sierra Nevada by Saturday. But as welcome as the snow is during a very dry winter so far, it won’t be enough to return the Sierra Nevada — the source of 30 percent of California’s water supply — back to its average for the year, experts said Tuesday.

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Storms To Steer Needed Rain, Mountain Snow Into California This Week

February 26, 2018/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /AccuWeather (New York)by Rennee Duff

A pair of storms will swing into California this week, potentially unleashing the most significant precipitation to impact the state in over a month. As the state contends with a worsening drought, depleted snowpack and renewed fears for the water supply in the coming months, the unsettled pattern may slightly ease, but not fully wipe out, these concerns. Abnormally dry winter months have caused moderate to severe drought conditions to blossom in much of central and Southern California, according to the latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

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U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To EPA Water Regulation

February 26, 2018/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Reuters (As published by Yahoo News)by Lawrence Hurley

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a challenge led by states and environmental groups to an Environmental Protection Agency regulation that lets government agencies transfer water between different bodies, such as rivers and lakes, without needing to protect against pollution. The nine justices left in place a lower court ruling upholding the EPA’s “water transfers rule,” issued in 2008 by Republican former President George W. Bush’s administration, that exempted such transfers from a national water discharge program aimed at curbing pollution.

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Hidden ‘Rock Moisture’ Possible Key To Forest Response To Drought

February 26, 2018/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /ScienceDaily (Rockville, Md.)

A little-studied, underground layer of rock may provide a vital reservoir for trees, especially in times of drought, report scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and affiliated with The University of Texas (UT) at Austin and the University of California, Berkeley. The study, published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), looked at the water stored inside the layer of weathered bedrock that lies under soils in mountain forest ecosystems.

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