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This Drought is Dead – Long Live the Drought

/in , , /by /California WaterBlogby Jay Lund and Andrew L. Rypel

Floods and droughts are not opposites and can occur simultaneously. This occurs often in California and is especially well-illustrated this year.

Floods, droughts, and water scarcity are different. Floods are too much water at a place and time, and we would often pay to reduce the water present at that location and moment. Droughts and water scarcity represent too little water at a place and time, meaning we would often pay to increase its availability. We highlight these differences because people tend to view such conditions through an unrealistic zero-sum lens. This essay uses this year’s experience to examine how floods, drought, and water scarcity differ, can occur in the same year, and how droughts might end, but leave legacies.

This California drought is largely over. Even though there is another month left in California’s wet season, the 2020-2022 California drought is largely over. Precipitation in all major basins of California exceeds averages for the entire water year. Snowpacks are well above April 1 averages (usually about the maximum for the year). Most reservoirs have more than average volumes stored for this time of year, and many are in flood operations. Only a few very large reservoirs (relative to their average inflows) remain below historical averages (such as Trinity at 50% and New Melones at 90% of their averages).

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Opinion: Newsom Denies the Obvious: California is No Longer in Drought

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby George Skelton

Gov. Gavin Newsom came close but couldn’t quite bring himself to say it: The drought’s over.

It’s disappointing when a governor won’t acknowledge what ordinary citizens already know because they can see things for themselves.

Another drought will emerge soon enough. It always does. That’s the California pattern — climate change or not.

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Spring is Arriving Earlier and Warming Faster. That’s Bad News for the West’s Water Supply

/in , , /by /AZ Centralby Jake Frederico

Spring is arriving sooner and warming up faster than ever before, new research shows. And that means more than just early wildflower blooms across Arizona.

A longer, warmer spring can stress water supplies in the West. The longer spring season may also produce ripple effects on agriculture as water demand will likely increase, and growing seasons may shift.

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Gov. Newsom Relaxed Water Restrictions in Drenched California. Why Didn’t He End the Drought Emergency?

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday relaxed drought rules in California amid a winter season filled with atmospheric river storms, flooding and a massive Sierra Nevada snowpack — and officials signaled that an end to the declared drought emergency in the Bay Area and many other regions is coming soon.

At an appearance at a groundwater recharge project in Yolo County, Newsom announced the end of state regulations he put in place last March that required cities and water agencies to impose water restrictions such as limits on the number of days a week residents could water lawns and landscaping. The decision now will be up to each local area in the coming weeks and months about whether to drop those restrictions.

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Snowpack in Southern Sierra Hits All-Time Record Levels. How Deep is That?

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Terry Castleman

After years of extreme drought and dismal snowpack, California has had a remarkably wet winter and is now veering into record-setting territory for snowfall.

As of Friday, the snowpack in the southern Sierra Nevada was at 286% of normal — the highest figure ever, easily eclipsing the region’s benchmark of 263% set in 1969.

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Women in Water Conference Fosters Workforce Diversity

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

San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Sandra Kerl is the keynote speaker at the 2023 Women in Water Conference at Cuyamaca College Wednesday, March 29. This year’s theme is “Building Resilience In Post-Pandemic Times.” Kerl’s remarks will focus on the conference theme of building career resilience in a new post-pandemic work environment.

 

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California Ends Some Water Limits After Storms Ease Drought

/in , , /by /AP

California Gov. Gavin Newsom ended some of the state’s water restrictions on Friday because a winter of relentless rain and snow has replenished the state’s reservoirs and eased fears of a shortage after three years of severe drought.

He also announced local agencies that supply water to 27 million people and many farmers would get much more from state supplies than originally planned. But Newsom did not declare an end to the drought, warning much of the state is still suffering from its lingering effects.

“Are we out of a drought? Mostly — but not completely,” Newsom said Friday from a farm northwest of Sacramento that has flooded its fields to help replenish groundwater.

Newsom said he would stop asking people to voluntarily cut their water use by 15%, a request he first made nearly two years ago while standing at the edge of a nearly dry Lopez Lake in the state’s Central Coast region — a lake that today is so full from recent storms it is almost spilling over. Californians never met Newsom’s call for that level of conservation — as of January the cumulative savings were just 6.2%.

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Snow Readings Give Reprieve to Colorado River Shortage

/in , , /by /The Desert Reviewby Betty Miller

“It’s snowing!” is how Imperial Irrigation District Water Manager Tina Shields began her hydrology report at the March 21 regular meeting. The water manager’s monthly reports have taken a turn to the positive after years of dire Lake Mead elevation readings.

Although Central California irrigates with water from different sources other than the Colorado River, the Valley’s sole source of water, Shields reported the continuous atmospheric rivers have been devastating to the Central Valley farmland with reports of flooding and washing out of ground.

“Every drought is followed by a flood,” she said. “They have had 250% above average of rain, the photos of two-story houses buried in snow and ski lifts unusable because they are covered in snow are crazy. They are actually talking about Fourth of July skiing and that fields will stay flooded for months. It is all time record breaking.”

Opinion: Western Water Crisis Solutions Inevitably End With a Lot Less for California Farms

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Jim Newton

A modest proposal for western water: Turn off the spigot to the Imperial Valley and let the farms go fallow. In return, provide a water future for Arizona, Nevada and Southern California.

Sure, there would be a price to pay. California’s Imperial Valley, which sits in the southeastern corner of the state, bordered by Arizona and Mexico, produces alfalfa, lettuce, corn and sugar beets, among other crops. It’s home to more than 300,000 head of cattle. Cutting off the water would end all of that, along with the livelihoods of the farmers and ranchers who produce it and the communities that depend on it.

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EPA Loans $170 Million for Claude “Bud” Lewis Desalination Plant Environmental Upgrades

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Debbie L. Sklar Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has loaned $170 million intended to reduce financing costs for environmental upgrades at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant, it was announced Friday.

Rep. Mike Levin, D-Dana Point, helped secure the funds, which he said will save ratepayers up to $54 million compared to alternate financing strategies.

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