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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In some parts of the country, cold weather is threatening crops. Meanwhile, California has been so unseasonably wet that its deserts are experiencing what’s called a “super bloom.” After years of drought, the normally arid desert is lush. “It just looks like a sea of flowers,” says Janet Gordon, a geologist from Los Angeles. “You got purple, red, yellows and blues,” adds Joe Sheidness, visiting from San Diego. “It’s fantastic,” says Dennis Brian, from Reno, Nev., who says he was a flower child in the 1960s.
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.
California Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration on Thursday proposed spending nearly $400 million over 10 years to slow the shrinking of the state’s largest lake just as it is expected to evaporate an accelerated pace.The plan involves building ponds on the northern and southern ends of the Salton Sea, a salty, desert lake that has suffered a string of environmental setbacks since the late 1970s. During its heyday of international speed boat races, it drew more visitors than Yosemite National Park and celebrities including Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and the Beach Boys.
