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Where Do Valley Rivers Start – and End? Examining Our ‘Tremendously Engineered’ System

/in , , /by /KVPRby Kerry Klein

California has one of the most complex water systems in the world. And so, the factors giving rise to our region’s floods are more complicated than the simple cascading of rain and snowmelt downhill during a rainier-than-average wet season.

We are well into one of the wettest winters on record in the San Joaquin Valley. Historic precipitation levels have buried the high Sierra Nevada under more than 50 total feet of snow. And parts of the Valley, stricken for years by severe drought, are underwater.

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EPA Announces $170 Million WIFIA Loan for Carlsbad Desalination Plant in San Diego, California

/in , , /by /Water Digest Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced a $170 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan to Poseidon Resources in San Diego County, California, to support its Carlsbad Desalination Plant Intake Modification and Wetlands Project, which will help provide sustainable access to drinking water.

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Diversity, Inclusion Key Themes at Women in Water Symposium

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

San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Sandra L. Kerl delivered an inspiring keynote address at the 2023 Women in Water Symposium at Cuyamaca College. The conference was not held at the college in 2021 or 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. And Kerl’s address focused on the sixth annual conference theme, “Building Resilience In Post-Pandemic Times.”

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Turning Seawater into Drinking Water

/in , , /by /Atlanta News Nowby Trason Bragg Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The power and technology behind the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant, which turns seawater into drinking water, is described in this video report from Reporter Trason Bragg.

The Carlsbad Desalination Plant is the largest, most technologically advanced and energy-efficient desalination plant in the nation, and it has produced more than 100 billion gallons of drinking water for San Diego County since operations began in December 2015.

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$2.5 Million Available for County Residents Struggling to Pay Water Bills

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Elizabeth Ireland

The Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee on Anti-Poverty of San Diego County has financial aid available for low-income water customers in the region to cover residential water and wastewater bills.

There is $2.5 million available for income eligible households through MAAC’s Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program—no past due balance or debt owed is required to qualify.

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With 13 Inches of Rain This Wet Season, San Diego County is Nearly Drought-Free

/in , , /by /NBC 7 San Diegoby Jeanette Quezada

With an exceptionally rainy season for California, much of the state is free from drought, including most of San Diego County, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The latest drought monitor map released Thursday shows all but 11% of San Diego County remains in some form of drought, which is the same as last week. But that’s significantly down from 3 months ago when all of San Diego County was in some form of drought.

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’We’re Looking Really, Really Good’: Bay Area Water Agencies End Water Restrictions, Drought Surcharges

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

Nothing says the end of drought like ending water restrictions — and the pesky drought surcharges on utility bills.

On the heels of California’s remarkably wet winter, the Bay Area’s biggest water agencies, including the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and East Bay Municipal Utility District, have either rescinded their drought policies or are about to do so.

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It’s All White: Colorado’s Statewide Snowpack Tops 140%, Though Reservoirs Are Still Low

/in , , /by /The Colorado Sunby Jerd Smith

Colorado is awash in white this spring, with statewide snowpack topping 140% of average this week, well above the reading a year ago, when it stood at just 97% of normal.

“Conditions in the American West are way better than they were last year at this time,” state climatologist Russ Schumacher said Tuesday at a joint meeting Tuesday of the Water Availability Task Force and the Governor’s Flood Task Force.

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Congress Approves Measure to Toss Biden’s Water Protections

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Michael Phillis and Mary Clare Jalonick

Congress on Wednesday approved a resolution to overturn the Biden administration’s protections for the nation’s waterways that Republicans have criticized as a burden on business, advancing a measure that President Joe Biden has promised to veto.

Republicans have targeted the Biden administration’s protections for thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways, labeling it an environmental overreach that harms businesses, developers and farmers.

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Reclamation Increases Central Valley Project 2023 Water Supply Allocations

/in , , /by /Bureau of Reclamation by Reclamation California-Great Basin Region

The Bureau of Reclamation March 28, announced an increase in Central Valley Project 2023 water supply allocations. After below average precipitation in February, Reclamation announced a conservative initial water supply allocation for the CVP on Feb. 22. Additional atmospheric river systems have since boosted hydrological conditions and storage volumes, allowing for a more robust water supply allocation.

Since making initial allocations last month, Shasta Reservoir, the cornerstone of the Central Valley Project, has increased from 59% to 81%, and San Luis Reservoir, the largest reservoir south-of-Delta, from 64% to 97%. Record-breaking snowpack conditions currently exist in the Southern Sierra coupled with significant snowpack in the Central Sierra and Northern Sierra/Trinity.

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