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California Drought’s Biggest Lesson? Build More Water Storage

/in /by /Redding Record Searchlight

The winter’s welcome wet spell has brought at least an unofficial end to California’s drought. But has the rain washed away the most obvious lesson of the Golden State’s dry weather? Quite possibly. The Democrats who control state government say the right things about continuing to push water conservation and to move away from unmetered water systems. But when it comes to perhaps the drought’s most obvious lesson — the need to sharply increase water storage capacity — their silence is deafening.

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Wet Weather Abates Drought In Southern California

/in /by /AndNowUKnow (Sacramento)by Eva Roethler

The Santa Fe Irrigation District’s (SFID) board voted unanimously, last week, to lift all restrictions on water use by its customers—essentially declaring that the official drought has ended for the 20,000 residents of Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe, and Fairbanks Ranch. Local news source the Del Mar Times noted that the decision came at the tail end of one of the wettest winters in the state’s recent history—during which time five years of drought gave way to concerns over flooding.

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Little Change In Oroville Dam Operations, Feather River Flow

/in /by /Oroville Mercury Register

Little has changed in the operation of Oroville Dam or in the flows in the Feather River. Flows in the part of the river past downtown Oroville are 40,000 cubic-feet per second, according to a Department of Water Resources press release. Another 7,000 cfs is entering the river at the Thermalito Afterbay outlet downstream from town. Most of the water — 40,000 cfs — is coming down the damaged main spillway. Another 6,450 cfs is being released through the Hyatt Powerhouse under the dam.

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Endless Snow Cheers Skiers But Has Downsides in California’s Sierra Nevada

/in /by /The Wall Street Journalby Jim Carlton

David Manahan has a lot of responsibilities as director of the Sierra Expeditionary Learning School here. This year, a major one has been digging out from under the mountains of snow burying sidewalks and classroom entrances of the K-8 charter school.

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Big Snowstorms Put Colorado River Drought Plan On Ice

/in /by /Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, Ariz.)by Tony Davis

An unusually snowy winter in the northern Rockies has for now helped put the kibosh on a statewide plan to conserve Colorado River water to stop Lake Mead from falling too low. Future conservation efforts are highly uncertain. For many months, water agencies including Tucson Water have discussed a plan to save 1.2 million acre-feet of river water over three years to delay the threat of shortages to the Central Arizona Project, which brings drinking water to Tucson and Phoenix and irrigation water to Central Arizona farmers.

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River Running High As DWR Opens Space In Lake Oroville

/in /by /Chico Enterprise-Record News

Lake Oroville is dropping about 4 feet a day and the Feather River is running high, as the Department of Water Resources empties space in the lake to absorb storm runoff and snowmelt. DWR is releasing 40,000 cubic-feet per second through the damaged main Oroville Dam spillway, and another 6,750 cfs through the Hyatt Powerhouse underneath the dam. As inflow to the lake is ranging from 16,000-25,000 cfs, the lake level has declined since the spillway gates were opened Friday for the first time since Feb. 27.

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Big Snowstorms Put Colorado River Drought Plan On Ice

/in /by /Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, Ariz.)by Tony Davis

An unusually snowy winter in the northern Rockies has for now helped put the kibosh on a statewide plan to conserve Colorado River water to stop Lake Mead from falling too low. Future conservation efforts are highly uncertain. For many months, water agencies including Tucson Water have discussed a plan to save 1.2 million acre-feet of river water over three years to delay the threat of shortages to the Central Arizona Project, which brings drinking water to Tucson and Phoenix and irrigation water to Central Arizona farmers.

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Governor Brown Requests Presidential Declaration For Oroville Dam Spillway

/in /by /CBS Sacramento

Gov. Jerry Brown is asking for federal assistance to repair damage at Oroville Dam and other infrastructure impacted by February storms that caused flooding, mudslides and power outages. Sunday’s request follows three other petitions for federal help that President Donald Trump’s administration has granted to assist with earlier storm damages and the emergency at Oroville Dam. Brown’s office says the governor also declared a state of emergency for Contra Costa and Solano counties, bringing the total to 50 counties affected by February storms.

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California Officials Reactivate Damaged Oroville Spillway to Prepare for More Storms

/in /by /The Wall Street Journalby Jim Carlton

California officials have temporarily resumed using the damaged main spillway at Lake Oroville, marking an important milestone in efforts to get the vast state reservoir back to normal after a near collapse last month.The main spillway of the reservoir 70 miles north of Sacramento ruptured during heavy rains last month.

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San Francisco Pitches Plan For Future Of California Rivers

/in /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

For decades, San Francisco has been blissfully removed from California’s water wars. The city’s pristine reservoirs in and around Yosemite National Park have been not only plentiful but also largely outside the reach of regulators. But plans by the state to mandate an increase in the amount of water flowing down rivers between the Sierra and San Francisco Bay — a bid to prevent the collapse of some of California’s most precious wetlands — has drawn the city into the fray.

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