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Winter’s Snow is Disrupting this Sierra Nevada Summer

/in /by /Los Angeles Times

Even when snowbound and inaccessible to vehicles, the rustic Tioga Pass Resort on the crest of the Sierra Nevada range offered homemade pie, a wood-burning stove and plump sofas to relax on after a day of backcountry skiing. But the winter of 2017 was more than the log cabin lodge, just two miles east of Yosemite National Park, could bear. Trails, roads and campgrounds throughout the Sierra high country were hit hard by snow and runoff from one of the largest snowpacks in recorded history, leaving public agencies scrambling and summer visitors feeling lost.

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Opponents of California’s Delta Tunnels Project Push Alternative Strategies

/in /by /News Deeply (New York)by Alastair Bland

In June, two federal agencies gave their blessings to the controversial project to build two water conveyance tunnels under California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Environmental groups promptly sounded the alarm that the state’s so-named WaterFix project would not, as its backers claim, solve the matrix of problems plaguing the Delta and the people and creatures relying on it. The existing pumps that export Delta water have drastically upset the balance of the estuary’s ecosystem, causing fish declines and the intrusion of saltwater from San Francisco Bay.

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Oroville Dam: DWR Wants To Reconstruct More Of Damaged Spillway This Season

/in /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by Risa Johnson

Oroville – The state Department of Water Resources has filed a request with the Federal Energy Commission to demolish and reconstruct an additional 240 feet of the main Oroville Dam spillway upper chute this season. The purpose of the change is to ensure the reconstruction can be complete in two seasons, per a recent FERC filing. Kiewit, the contractor, said demolition “must commence as soon as possible” to stay on schedule, according to the letter. Erin Mellon with the California Natural Resources Agency said DWR expects to be granted permission in the next several days.

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Tunnel Vision: Why Do The Delta Conveyors Need To Be So Big?

/in /by /Sacramento News & Reviewby Alastair Bland

A project that might make much of the Sacramento River vanish into three giant holes in the ground will not jeopardize the waterway’s ailing salmon and smelt populations, according to new analyses from the federal government. The Delta tunnels, which would be 35 miles long, cost at least $15 billion to build and be capable of sending much of the state’s biggest river to farmers and urban users, received a stubby thumbs-up from the Trump administration on June 26.

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L.A. Took their Water and Land a Century Ago. Now the Owens Valley is Fighting Back

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Louis Sahagun

A century ago, agents from Los Angeles converged on the Owens Valley on a secret mission. They figured out who owned water rights in the lush valley and began quietly purchasing land, posing as ranchers and farmers. Soon, residents of the Eastern Sierra realized much of the water rights were now owned by Los Angeles interests. L.A. proceeded to drain the valley, taking the water via a great aqueduct to fuel the metropolis’ explosive growth. This scheme became an essential piece of California history and the subject of the classic 1974 film “Chinatown.”

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‘Rain or Shine’ Exhibit at State Fair Guides Californian’s to Conserve Water

/in /by /ABC10.comby Giacomo Luca

The California Department of Water Resources is stressing that water conservation is still important through a new exhibit at the state fair. “Water Conservation: Rain or Shine” features step-by-step instructions on how to remove a home lawn and replace it with low-water using landscape. Lawn watering can account for 50 percent or more of home water usage, according to a DWR press release. DWR Spokeswoman Niki Woodard said the exhibit aims to highlight how residents can put in beautiful landscapes that also save water.

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California’s Water Conditions Much Improved – For How Long?

/in /by /Western Farm Press (Clarksdale, Mississippi) by Todd Fichette 2
What a difference a couple of years make as California reservoirs that were once teetering on empty are now overflowing. Water conditions are much improved in California in 2017 after several years of drought in recent years dried up lakes and streams across the state. Record rain and snow that fell on the state during the winter filled reservoirs and added over 70 feet of snow pack that is now melting under the blistering heat of summer. In places like Millerton Reservoir and Pine Flat Reservoir runoff has filled the lakes to capacity.
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Residents Wary Over Delta Tunnels Effect On Waterways, Livlihoods

/in /by /CBS San Francisco Bay Area

The state’s plan to take water from the Sacramento River north of the Delta and tunnel it down to pumping stations in the south has people who live in the area up in arms. Many believe the fix is in to send more water to San Joaquin Valley farmers and Southern California. “It’s a water grab,” said Tim Neuharth, a Delta pear farmer on the Sacramento River and owner of a private beach resort at a spot called Steamboat Landing.

 

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House Passes California Drought Bill

/in /by /The Hill (Washington, D.C.)by Timothy Cama & David Henry

The House passed a bill on Wednesday that California Republicans say will help the state fight future droughts. The legislation, from Rep. David Valadao (R) and 14 other California Republicans, looks to expand water storage and improve water delivery as a way to get more water to the state’s Central Valley during times of drought.The bill overhauls federal regulations and permitting procedures that supporters say have hamstrung California and other states in the West that have faced persistent drought concerns.

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California Water Bill Passes House, But Democrats Vow To Fight It In The Senate

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sarah D. Wire

Some of California’s decisions about how to use its water would be relegated to the federal government under a bill passed by the House on Wednesday. Republicans say the bill will bring more water to the parched Central Valley. California’s Democratic senators have promised to fight the bill in the Senate because it weakens California’s ability to manage its own resources. The Gaining Responsibility on Water Act, sponsored by Central Valley Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), was approved in the House by a 230-190 vote largely along party lines.

 

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