California is a land of extremes – where preparing for extremes must be constant and eternal. The past six years have demonstrated California’s precipitation extremes. From 2012 to 2015, California endured one of its driest periods on record. And 2016 was an additional near-average year, classified into drought because water storage levels were so low.
The water agency that supplies drinking water to Los Angeles agreed Tuesday to contribute $1.5 million toward the planning of Sites Reservoir in the Sacramento Valley, giving the agency a toehold in a potentially valuable storage project. The board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, as expected, approved the expenditure by a unanimous vote. If the agency eventually decides to contribute to the construction project itself, it would entitle Metropolitan to control up to 50,000 acre-feet of storage in the reservoir. Sites, to be built on the Glenn-Colusa county line, would store up to 1.8 million acre-feet.
Central Valley farmers learned Tuesday they will get a full allocation of water this year for the first time since 2006. But their celebrations were muted. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said it will provide a 100 percent allocation to Central Valley Project customers this year, including the large agricultural districts in the San Joaquin Valley. Just a year ago those districts got a 5 percent allotment, and three weeks ago the farmers were told their deliveries might not top 65 percent this year. The announcement came four days after Gov. Jerry Brown declared an official end to the drought practically everywhere in California.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration is using federal security regulations written to thwart terrorism to deny public access to records that experts say could guide repairs to the Oroville Dam and provide insight into what led to the near catastrophic failure of its emergency spillway. The administration also is blocking public review of records that would show how Brown’s office handled the February crisis at Oroville Dam that led to the two-day evacuation of nearly 200,000 Northern Californians. Days after the evacuation orders were lifted in February, The Sacramento Bee filed requests to the state under the California Public Records Act.
A major California newspaper reports that southern California’s Metropolitan Water District (MWD) may put up $1.5 million in “pre-development work” to kick-start the Sites Reservoir project in northern California. The Sacramento Bee says MWD’s interest in the project could be 50,000 acre feet of storage, or about 25 percent of the water the reservoir is projected to hold. Sites Reservoir is far from a “done-deal.” It must still gain California Water Commission approval for at least part of the $2.7 billion pot of money earmarked for water storage projects in the most recent voter-approved water bond.
Can you believe it? Jerry Brown declared an end to California’s historic drought Friday. No one ever expected this because there is too much money to be made off supporting the drought fantasy! OK. Great! So when are water rates going to drop back to pre-drought levels! Never you say? As far back as I can remember the Democrats have never been able to survive without a tax or fee once imposed!
California is a land of extremes – where preparing for extremes must be constant and eternal. The last six years demonstrated California’s precipitation extremes. From 2012-2015, California endured one of its driest years of record. 2016 was an additional near-average year, classified into drought because water storage levels were so low. 2017 will likely be the wettest year on record in northern California and one of the wettest years ever in most of California. Most of California has over 160% of average precipitation, with over 150% of average snowpack.
Just over 4½ inches of rain fell over the weekend in Grass Valley. That’s about three times the normal amount of rain for the entire month of April, the National Weather Service said. The weekend rains are the latest example of precipitation that’s pushed through Nevada County this year, helping fill reservoirs and eliminating a drought that’s loomed over Northern California. Meteorologists said Grass Valley has received 90.64 inches of rain since Oct. 1. That’s compared to an average of 50.74 inches for the same time.
While the deep snowpack in California’s mountains is easing drought concerns, there are still people in the state’s rural Central Valley who don’t have water running from their taps. California Governor Jerry Brown has declared an end to his state’s five-year-long drought. Emergency water restrictions have been lifted for most Californians, but not all. In some of the hardest hit areas in the rural Central Valley, there are still thousands of people living without any running water.
A storm that delivered a body blow to Northern California, endangering homes and leaving 40,000 customers without electricity, rolled through the Central Coast Friday toward Los Angeles. The weather system dumped fractions of an inch of rain in San Luis Obispo County but Rocky Butte, a summit near San Simeon, received nearly 5 inches over 24 hours. Rain was expected to continue shifting slowly southward before the system finally tapers off late Saturday.
