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Snow Surveys Help Plan Snowmelt Runoff Forecasts

/in , , /by /Water News Networkby California Department of Water Resources

The California Department of Water Resources May 1 conducted the fifth snow survey of the season at Phillips Station. The manual survey recorded 59 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 30 inches, which is 241% of average for this location on May 1.

The last time there was measurable snow at the Phillips snow course on May 1 was 2020, when only 1.5 inches of snow and .5 inches of snow water equivalent was measured.

DWR’s electronic readings from 130 snow sensors placed throughout the state indicate the statewide snowpack’s snow water equivalent is 49.2 inches, or 254% of average for May 1.

The snow water equivalent measures the amount of water still contained in the snowpack and is a key component of DWR’s water supply run-off forecast.

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‘We’re Not Prepared’: Experts Call for Doubling Levee Protections as California Faces Increasing Floods

/in , , /by /KQED by Ezra David Romero

California water experts and environmental justice advocates are calling for state leaders to mandate that new levees be built with double the federal required protection to withstand the increasingly severe storms caused, in part, by human-caused climate change.

California’s levee protection regulations are not uniform; the state’s seemingly endless dikes and causeways are overseen by a patchwork of widely varying rules. Some communities like Pajaro in Monterey County, which was swamped by floodwaters this year, are protected only against smaller storms that happen every eight years, while levees protecting urban areas of the Central Valley are bolstered against much more powerful storms.

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Opinion: No Choice But For Big Cuts Along The Colorado River Basin

/in , , /by /Denver Postby Ved Nandy
The mighty Colorado River is endangered. Persistent massive drought, exacerbated by climate change, overuse, and ever-rising demand, has taken a heavy toll.
Water levels have dwindled and remain at a historic low in Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the largest human-made reservoirs in the United States – so low in Lake Mead a year ago that it came close to hitting dead pool status, which occurs when water levels are too low to generate electricity.
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Hundreds Of Hazardous Sites in California Are At Risk Of Flooding As Sea Level Rises, Study Finds

/in , , /by /CNNby Rachel Ramirez

Hundreds of hazardous industrial sites that dot the California coastline – including oil and gas refineries and sewage-treatment plants – are at risk of severe flooding from rising sea levels if the climate crisis worsens, new research shows.

If planet-warming pollution continues to rise unabated, 129 industrial sites are estimated to be at risk of coastal flooding by 2050 according to the study, published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology by researchers from University of California at Los Angeles and Berkeley, as well as Climate Central.

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Eight Student Photographers Selected as Sweetwater Authority High School Photo Contest Winners

/in , , /by /Water News Network

Eight high school students were honored for their award-winning photographs in the annual Sweetwater Authority High School Photo Contest. The winners were selected from a group of 62 students from high schools across the South Bay within the Authority’s service area.

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How Much Sewage Can San Diego Recycle? To Keep Pure Water on Track, City Slashes Capacity, Eyes Lake Murray

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby David Garrick

With phase one of San Diego’s Pure Water sewage recycling system nearly half built, city officials are making major adjustments to plans for constructing the rest of the system in order to avoid delays and potentially shrink overall costs.

To cope with severe flooding at the Morena Boulevard pump station that threatens to delay the start of operations by more than a year, city officials now plan to temporarily recycle only 40 percent as much sewage so they can start on time in mid-2025.

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Water Levels Are Going Up in the West’s Massive Reservoirs. Has the Water Crisis Been Averted?

/in , , /by /USA Today by Trevor Hughes

Historic snowfall across the Rocky Mountains is helping recharge some of the country’s biggest reservoirs and provide – briefly – some much-needed breathing room for the oversubscribed Colorado River.

Forecasts say the melting snow flowing into Lake Powell via the Colorado River and its tributaries could hit 177% of average this year, a major boost at a time when lake levels had hit historic lows.

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Long Beach Looks to Invest More in Groundwater as Colorado River Shrinks

/in , , /by /Long Beach Post Newsby Jason Ruiz

With the future of the Colorado River and the amount of water it will be able to deliver to Southern California in question, the Long Beach Utilities Department is looking at investing $157 million into its groundwater system, which could reduce the city’s reliance on expensive and diminishing imported water.

Groundwater accounts for about 60% of the water that Long Beach residents use each year, and the Colorado provides about 25% of the city’s supply, with the rest coming from the State Water Project, both of which can fluctuate with precipitation patterns.

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Epic Snowpack Upends Rhythms of Life for Many Species in Sierra Nevada Range

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Louis Sahagún

The Big Melt is finally underway in the Sierra Nevada range, and soon there will be few wild places beyond the reach of water sounds: dripping, gurgling and roaring as runoff flows from lofty peaks to sage plains below.

But the whiplash change from extreme drought to epic snowpack is having very different consequences for a variety of species.

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BOS Declares End to Local Drought Emergency in Mendocino County

/in , , /by /The Mendocino Voice by Kate Fishman

A drought emergency declaration in place over the past two years was lifted in the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday. “Current conditions are not beyond the control of the services, personnel equipment and facilities of the county” after a stormy winter and spring helped replenish local water reserves, the resolution states.

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