California and the U.S. Archives

When State Water Boards Clash On Lack Of Science And Evidence

January 13, 2017/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Fox and Hounds Daily by Aubrey Bettencourt

The California State Water Resources Board (SWRCB) was taken to the woodshed this week by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), when Mark Holderman, the principal engineer at DWR’s South Delta Branch offered expert testimony that the Bay-Delta water plan was written “without evidence, incomplete scientific information, ill-suited for real-time operations, and unverified assumptions.” On January 3, 2017, the SWRCB held its fourth and final public hearing on the Bay-Delta Plan’s Draft Substitute Environmental Document (SED), in Sacramento.

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Campus Experts Say Increased Rainfall Into New Year Could Mark End Of California Drought

January 13, 2017/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Daily Californian (Berkeley, Calif.)by Malini Ramaiyer

California’s current La Niña period, characterized by highly unpredictable rainfall patterns, might mean the end of the statewide drought, according to UC Berkeley environmental experts. If the rainfall continues further into the new year, most, if not all, of the state will likely see the end of the drought, according to assistant professor of water and climate Ted Grantham. Grantham said there are two definitions of a drought — the traditional meteorological drought is characterized by significantly below average rainfall. Another definition, however, also considers water supply in reservoirs.

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Lawmakers Tour Location Of Proposed Sites Reservoir

January 12, 2017/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Taryn Luna

As Northern California skies begin to clear, California lawmakers are using the storm that pelted the region over the last week as a catalyst to talk about the state’s water management system. Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, is leading a troupe of lawmakers today on a tour of the Sites Reservoir, a $4.4 billion proposed water storage project four decades in the making.

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Before-And-After Photos Show California Storm’s Insane Impact On Water Levels

January 12, 2017/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /SFGate (San Francisco)by Amy Graff

As three raging storms pummeled Northern California in early January, the lakes rose, the floodgates opened, the rivers swelled, and the waterfalls roared. The landscape that became dry and parched during five years of drought turned into a wet, soggy mess. Trickles of water became surging flows, and floodplains transformed into massive seas of water. The gallery below of before-and-after images shows the dramatic impact the heavy rains have had on water levels at lakes, reservoirs, dams and rivers across the top half of the state.

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Officials: More Than 40 Percent Of California Out Of Drought

January 12, 2017/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Associated Press (As published by 23ABC News-Bakersfield)

Federal monitors announced Thursday that 42 percent of California has emerged from a five-year drought after some of the heaviest rain and snow in decades. The finding marks a dramatic turnaround from this time last year when 97 percent of California was locked in drought. The U.S. Drought Monitor says half of the state, all in the central and southern regions, remains in severe drought or worse.

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OPINION: Raging Streams Give Argument For Sites

January 12, 2017/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Record Searchlight (Redding, Calif.)

Watching all the water raging in area streams, creeks and rivers, pounding over waterfalls and spilling out of Shasta Dam is a welcome sight after years of drought in Northern California. As an atmospheric river brings feet of snow to the mountains and more rain than the valley has seen in years, the Bureau of Reclamation has opened the floodgates, so to speak, and upped flows from Shasta and Keswick dams to clear out room as it expects even more water to pour into the lake.

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San Diego, Water Authority Eye Up To 500-Megawatt Pumped Storage Project

January 12, 2017/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /American Public Power Associationby Paul Ciampoli Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority and the city of San Diego on Jan. 5 said they were considering a new pumped storage opportunity at an existing reservoir site. The potential project would create a new, up to 500-megawatt source of renewable energy that could provide electric grid stability to the region during peak times for energy use or other days when demand for electricity is high and renewable energy supplies are scarce, the water authority said in a news release.

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California May Finally Be Coming Out Of This Horrendous Drought — But It’ll Be Back

January 12, 2017/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Business Insider (New York)by Erin Brodwin

Ah, California: state of glistening swimming pools, gushing water fountains, and drenched backyard slip-n-slides. Well, not so much, at least for the past five years. Since 2012, the golden state has been stuck in a seemingly never-ending drought that some experts have said is the worst the state has seen in 1,200 years. For the past five years, dwindling reservoirs, shrinking lakes, and dried-up farm fields have dotted the terrain.

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Lost Slough Levee Breaks, But Gets Patched Up For Now

January 12, 2017/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler, Ryan Sabalow and Cathy Locke

A levee partially broke late Thursday in the Delta region of south Sacramento County, but officials said the problem was mostly patched up by nightfall. After days of rain and high flows along the Sacramento River, a hole emerged on a levee at Lost Slough, near I-5 in the vicinity of the Cosumnes River Preserve.

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