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Drought Conditions Spread Over Much Of California

/in , /by /The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa)by Guy Kovner

Sixteen days into summer, with wildfires raging over the bone-dry landscape and more scorching hot days ahead, it might feel as if California is on the verge of another drought. The official word from weather authorities shows much of the state trending in that direction. Abnormally dry or drought conditions prevail over 85 percent of California, including the coast from Monterey County to the Oregon border, the U.S. Drought Monitor said Thursday. Nearly all of Lake County and parts of eastern Napa and Mendocino counties are now in moderate drought, authorities said.

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Trump Administration Sends Sacramento $1.8 Billion For Flood Protection

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

Even after years of drought, Sacramento’s biggest worry over water is flood risk. The city is widely considered the second-most flood-prone major city in America, after New Orleans. Sacramento’s efforts to fight flooding got a major boost Thursday. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Rep. Doris Matsui’s office announced that the region has been allocated nearly $1.8 billion to strengthen levees and raise Folsom Dam. The federal money also will be spent widening the Sacramento Weir, a mechanism north of the city that acts as a safety valve by channeling flood waters into the Yolo Bypass.

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VIDEO: Spillway Repairs Have Lake Oroville Hovering Near 800 Feet

/in , /by /CBS (Sacramento)

The Department of Water Resources recently released water from Lake Oroville so spillway repairs could continue.

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A Changing Climate At Mono Lake Could Mean More Dust Storms In The Eastern Sierra — Or Less Water For L.A.

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Louis Sahagun

When dust storms began rising off the dry bed of Owens Lake, authorities in the Eastern Sierra blamed Los Angeles’ thirst. The city had, after all, drained the lake in the 1920s to serve its faucets. Now, as dust kicks up from Mono Lake, authorities in the Eastern Sierra are once again blaming that water-craving metropolis about 350 miles to the south.

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Klamath Dam Removal Project In Final Approval Stage

/in , /by /KRCR News (Redding)by Julia Avery

A plan to remove four dams on the Klamath River is now just one step away from final approval, which would make it the largest dam removal project in U.S. history. The Klamath River Renewal Project includes four separate dams on the Northern Portion of the Klamath River near the California Oregon border.

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In The U.S. Southwest, ‘Drought’ Doesn’t Tell The Whole Story

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Emily Benson

In early June, more than 1,000 people near Durango, Colorado, had to leave their homes as the 416 Fire swept across the landscape. Following a dismal snowpack, the region experienced a spring so hot and dry that the U.S. Drought Monitor labeled conditions “exceptional drought,” the worst category. Colorado wasn’t alone. An irregular bull’s eye of dryness radiated outward from the entire Four Corners region, where Colorado meets New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.

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California Revives 100-Percent Carbon-Free Energy Bill

/in , /by /Associated Press by Johnathan J. Cooper

California lawmakers on Tuesday revived a long-stalled proposal to set a goal of generating 100 percent of the state’s energy from carbon-free sources. With other controversial and high-stakes energy legislation also moving forward, California lawmakers face an array of decisions with vast implications for the Western energy grid, the future of renewable power and consumers’ electric bills. A state legislative committee sent the 100 percent clean energy bill to the full Assembly, setting up a vote later this year.

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Meet The New Entity In Charge Of California’s Water Tunnels Project

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Matt Weiser

California is about to embark on one of the biggest public works projects not just in its own state history, but in any state’s history. The $17 billion WaterFix tunnel project was approved by the state Department of Water Resources in June 2017 after a decade of study, and now moves into the nitty gritty of construction planning.

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The Bay Area’s Sinking Neighborhood Gets A Boost

/in , /by /KQED (San Francisco)by Tiffany Camhi

Welcome to Alviso, where at any given time it can be 10 to 15 feet below sea level. This neighborhood, which used to be its own bona fide town, sits on the southernmost tip of the bay in San Jose, and it’s the next stop in our series about where our money from Measure AA is going. That’s the “Clean and Healthy Bay” tax measure that passed two years ago.

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As Modesto Rain Year Ends, There Remains Gratitude For The Very Wet 2016-17 Season

/in , /by /The Modesto Beeby Deke Farrow

It wasn’t the best of times, it wasn’t the worst of times. With the Modesto Irrigation District’s rainfall season — July 1 to June 30 — at its end, district and farming officials indicated they’re feeling OK about the water picture. Especially since they’re still feeling the benefits of the very wet 2016-17 year. MID’s recorded rainfall in downtown Modesto is just a small part of the local water picture. As of Friday, it stood at 7.87 inches, less than two-thirds of the historical seasonal rainfall average of 12.23 inches. For comparison, 2016-17 totaled 17.93 inches, and the wettest year on record is 1982-83, with 26.01 inches.

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