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Kiewit Corp., a construction giant with extensive experience in dam projects, was awarded the massive repair job at troubled Oroville Dam on Monday. The California Department of Water Resources announced that Kiewit, based in Omaha, Neb., beat two competitors for the job with a $275.4 million bid. Kiewit had the low bid, although its offer was still higher than DWR’s internal estimate that the project would cost $231 million. (DWR said on Saturday that it estimated the project would cost $220 million, but released a corrected estimate Monday.)

 

The federal government said Monday it plans to release an above-average amount of water from a major reservoir in the Southwestern U.S. this year, but it’s less than many hoped after a healthy snow season across much of the West. The Bureau of Reclamation, which manages dams and reservoirs on the Colorado River, said it will release 9 million acre-feet from Lake Powell, sending it down the Colorado into Lake Mead, where it will be tapped by Arizona, California and Nevada. An acre-foot can supply two typical homes for a year.

 

As construction bids came in to fix the damaged spillway at Oroville Dam, a new round of storms sent water out through the partly collapsed concrete chute over the weekend. State officials expect water to pour through the spillway for up to two weeks, depending on rainfall levels.State officials have reopened the damaged spillway at Oroville Dam as another set of rainstorms began moving across Northern California. Water resumed gushing through the partly collapsed concrete chute Friday morning.

Carrizo Plain National Monument is a place of extremes. The grassland, the largest of its kind in California, stretches across over 250,000 acres of unforgiving wilderness. Caliente Mountain and the Temblor range border the plain, while the San Andreas Fault cuts it down the middle. Surface fractures are visible across the dry landscape. The species that call home to the Carrizo Plain don’t just survive, but thrive in its acute conditions.

Knee-high tufts of grass dot the streets of Hardwick, a rural neighborhood with a few dozen homes hemmed in by vineyards and walnut and almond orchards in California’s agriculture-rich San Joaquin Valley. Nearby, the Kings River — swollen with rainwater and Sierra Nevada snowmelt — meanders through fields. Water is abundant in the river but it may not last. Despite winter storms that have turned much of California’s parched landscape to vibrant green, the drought has yet to loosen its grip on thousands of residents in the valley. Many people must still use water stored in large tanks in their yard to wash dishes and bathe.