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Fire Officials To Trump: No, California Didn’t Worsen Wildfires By Dumping Water Into Ocean

/in , /by /The Washington Postby Kristine Phillips

As fires grow to historic sizes in California, President Trump tweeted that the state is “foolishly” diverting “vast amounts of water from the North” into the Pacific Ocean instead of using them to fight its wildfires. The state’s “bad environmental laws” are to blame, he added. The tweets baffled state officials, who quickly pointed out that water supplies are not the problem. “Let’s be clear: It’s our changing climate that is leading to more severe and destructive fires,” said Cal Fire spokesman Mike Mohler. Scott McLean, also a Cal Fire spokesman, said he doesn’t understand the president’s comments.

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As Storms Worsen, America’s Aging Dams Overflow

/in , /by /CBS Newsby Ed Leefeldt

More than 80,000 people in the mountain community of Lynchburg, Virginia, were at risk, and 120 families evacuated, when rising waters from nearby College Lake reecently threatened to overflow its outdated dam. Although calamity was averted when the water receded, the incident was a frightening reminder of the growing risk facing millions of Americans. The average age of the 90,580 dams located across the U.S is 56 years, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Worryingly, more than 15,000 of them are considered “high hazard” and – like the Lynchburg dam built in the 1930s – need to be repaired or replaced.

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Smoke Prompts Sacramento County Health Alert: Limit Outdoor Activity Through Friday

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Hannah Holzer

The smoky air blanketing the region from wildfires prompted a statement Monday from Sacramento County air quality and health officials urging residents to take precautions and limit outdoor activities through Friday. If you smell or see smoke, officials said, here’s what you should do: Minimize outdoor activities, even if you’re healthy. In particular, children, the elderly and people with respiratory or heart conditions should avoid exposure when air quality is poor.

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Trump Says California’s Water Policies Are Making The Wildfires Worse. Is He Right?

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

President Donald Trump recently broke his silence on California’s wildfire disasters by blaming the state’s environmental and water laws, saying the state has exacerbated its fire problems by letting large amounts of water flow out to the Pacific Ocean. Trump’s remarks, which he posted in a pair of tweets Sunday and Monday, drew immediate criticism from fire experts in the state.

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Why Are California’s Wildfires So Intense And What Can Be Done?

/in , /by /The Guardian (New York)by Edward Helmore

The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning in parts of California warning of conditions conducive to the growth of wildfires, including strong winds, low humidity and very high temperatures. The White House has declared California’s fires a major disaster and there are signs they are growing more intense.

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California Groundwater Law Means Big Changes Above Ground, Too

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

California’s new groundwater management law is not a sports car. It moves more like a wagon train. The rules do not require critically overdrafted aquifers to achieve “sustainability” until 2040. But 22 years from now, once they finally get there, lives will be transformed. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), adopted in 2014, will change more than groundwater. The requirement to end overdraft will also transform land use, a massive side effect yet to be widely recognized. Parts of California will literally look different once the law takes full effect. It could put some farmers out of business. It could change how others farm.

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California’s Destructive Summer Brings Blunt talk About Climate Change

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Rong-Gong Lin II and Javier Panzar

At Scripps Pier in San Diego, the surface water reached the highest temperature in 102 years of records, 78.8 degrees. Palm Springs had its warmest July on record, with an average of 97.4 degrees. Death Valley experienced its hottest month on record, with the average temperature hitting 108.1. Park rangers said the heat was too much for some typically hardy birds that died in the broiling conditions. Across California, the nighttime brought little relief, recording the highest minimum temperature statewide of any month since 1895, rising to 64.9. California has been getting hotter for some time, but July was in a league of its own.

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OPINION: California’s Leaky Bucket Theory Of Public Improvement

/in , /by /The Orange County Registerby Jon Coupal

Unfortunately, Californians have come to expect significant levels of waste and incompetence when it comes to government programs. Just last week, we learned that the “new” $290 million computer system for the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration — in the works for over a decade — was having significant problems with tax filers trying to submit their quarterly returns. Despite California being home to Silicon Valley and the best high-tech minds on the planet, the State of California has a sorry history of failure when implementing big computer projects.

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A Vicious Climate Cycle: Droughts Are Becoming Hotter, Raising Risk Of Wildfire, Scientists Say

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Amina Khan

Droughts don’t just make a place drier. As new research shows, they also make it hotter. A team from UC Irvine that compared temperature changes across the U.S. found that temperatures rise faster in places under drought conditions than they do in places with average climates. This relationship could also raise the risk of concurrent heatwaves and wildfires, the researchers say. As global warming continues its upward climb, the phenomenon described in the journal Science Advances highlights another complex feedback loop that contributes to more extreme weather events — events that could have serious implications for human health and safety.

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How Is A Changing Climate Affecting California’s Way Of Life?

/in , /by /KCRA 3 (Sacramento, Calif.)

California’s natural beauty is facing tremendous challenges — a climate that is changing and a population that is growing fast and constantly demanding the most precious resource: water. “California needs a new tool to manage water for the next drought,” said Jim Watson, Sites Project Authority general manager. One of those new tools is the Sites Reservoir Project, which was just awarded $816 million in voter-approved state funding. Located about 90 miles north of Sacramento, the site of the new reservoir is just remote rangeland now, but when it’s completed in 12 years, it will store nearly twice as much water as Folsom Lake — enough to serve 4 million Californians each year.

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