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Map Shows Epic Amounts of Water Gushing Through California’s Rivers

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Jack Lee

This year’s historic snowpack has meant epic amounts of water flowing through California’s rivers, streams and creeks. … That’s more than the capacity of four standard 40-foot shipping containers rushing by each second. Around 40% of the roughly 500 stream gauges across the state are running above normal, provisional data from the U.S. Geological Survey shows. A few dozen are registering record highs for this time of year, especially along the central and southern Sierra. With peak melt season expected in the coming weeks, this means plentiful amounts of water running into reservoirs, but also dangerously fast flows and the risk for potential flooding.

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First Drought, Then Flood. Can the West Learn to Live Between Extremes?

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Brook Jarvis

The shadows were long and the wind across the flatlands fierce as trucks and ATVs began pulling into Chepo Gonzales’s yard one afternoon this March. “Did you double up your socks today?” Gonzales teased one of the arrivals, a man who complained about cold feet during the previous night’s patrol. Another man leaned out the window of his truck and offered a more serious status report: “There’s a lot of water out there, but it’s flowing north.”

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Assembly Bill Would Require Countywide Vote for Fallbrook, Rainbow to Exit Water Authority

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

An Assembly bill introduced late last week would require a countywide vote before two agricultural districts in north San Diego County could leave the San Diego County Water Authority.

Assembly Bill 530, introduced Thursday by Tasha Boerner Horvath of Encinitas, would amend California’s Water Authority Act, to require a majority vote in both the separating district and the county to complete a detachment.

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California Agreed to Reduce Its Colorado River Usage, but San Diego Might Not See a Change

/in , , /by /FOX 5 San Diegoby Danielle Dawson Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

In a historic consensus, California, alongside the six other states that rely on the Colorado River for survival, announced an agreement last week for a plan to cut back water usage over the next three years.

The proposal drafted by the three lower basin states – California, Arizona and Nevada – would cut water use from the river by at least 3 million acre-feet by the end of 2026 through conservation to prevent the river’s reservoirs from falling to critically low levels.

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6 Common Misconceptions About El Niño and Its Impact on California Weather

/in , , /by /KQEDby Ezra David Romero

After a four-year hiatus, El Niño is widely expected to make a grand reentrance this summer, ushering in the possibility of yet another wet, stormy winter.

“It looks like it’s full steam ahead,” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a live YouTube interview last week, in which he placed the likelihood of a strong El Niño event at greater than 50% — even as projections still vary widely.

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Supreme Court Scales Back Clean Water Protections. What Does It Mean for California?

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

The Supreme Court’s landmark decision scaling back federal protections for many wetlands and streams has drawn criticism from scientists and environmental advocates, who say the gutting of safeguards will jeopardize water quality throughout the arid West.

California’s water regulators say the ruling will be harmful for protections nationwide, but the more stringent state protections of wetlands won’t be affected.

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State Asked to Stop Diverting Iconic Mono Lake’s Water to Los Angeles

/in , , /by /Cal Mattersby Alastair Bland

As trickling snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada slowly raises Mono Lake —  famed for its bird life and outlandish shoreline mineral spires — advocates are pressuring state water officials to halt diversions from the lake’s tributaries to Los Angeles, which has used this clean mountain water source for decades.

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A Wet Year Promises a Boost to Both Colorado River Basin Reservoirs and Ecosystems

/in , , /by /The Colorado Sunby Shannon Mullane

The network of pipes and massive bathtubs that is the Colorado River Basin’s reservoir storage system is going to see some recovery this year thanks to higher-than-average snowpack. That’s a promising sign for aquatic habitats in need of a health boost.

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Plan Underway to Raise Folsom Dam to Store More Water in the Lake

/in , , /by /CBS Newsby Marlee Ginter

Big crowds were out at Folsom Lake on Memorial Day, and with a record-breaking snowpack, the lake is now nearly full. But there’s also a large amount of water being released downstream

There’s now a plan underway to store more water in the lake, and that involves raising Folsom Dam.

 

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“Thanks for Planting Me!” Spokesplants Promote Landscape Transformation

/in , , /by /Water News Network Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

“Thanks for Planting Me!” encourages more widespread adoption of sustainable landscapes to prepare the Southern California region for a hotter and drier climate.

The “Thanks for Planting Me!” summer campaign offers gratitude to the hundreds of thousands of San Diegans who have transformed their landscapes using low-water and native plants as part of a larger effort to use water more efficiently. Thanks for Planting Me! also is intended to show resident the WaterSmart advantages of embracing regenerative low-water landscapes as climate change stresses water supplies across the Southwest.

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