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Opinion: A Rainy Season Starts to Chip Away at Drought, Locally and Throughout State

/in , , /by /Santa Cruz Sentinel

Rainy weather. A series of storms that have brought rainfall to Santa Cruz County and heavy snowfall to the Sierra Nevada over the past few days should taper off by today, although the forecast over the next week shows unsettled weather and possibly more rain gathering on the horizon. The past three years of drought and the wildfires sparked in its wake, along with heightened worries over water supply, mean that the recent rains are a blessing.

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Sierra Snowpack is Exceptional, but Last Year’s Memories Haunt California

/in , , /by /GV Wireby Bill McEwen

The Sierra snowpack vital to supplying water for California’s residents, businesses, and farms is off to a strong start. Recent storms bringing rain to the Valley and other parts of the state are also dumping snow on the Sierra Nevada. According to the state Department of Water Resources, the northern Sierra snowpack is 155% of normal through Monday. Meanwhile, the central Sierra and southern Sierra snowpacks are 166% and 216% of normal, respectively.

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Dried Up: In California, Desalination Offers Only Partial Solution to Growing Drought

/in , , /by /The Hillby Sharon Udasin

As water in the Western U.S. becomes an increasingly rare commodity, the driest states are grasping at solutions for an even drier future — investing heavily in technologies to maximize the conservation, and creation, of the region’s most precious resource. With more than a thousand miles of Pacific Ocean coastline, California appears to have access to a wellspring that other arid states lack.

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These Imperial Valley Farmers Want to Pay More for Their Colorado River Water

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer

Alex Jack says he’s not charged enough for the water he uses at his Imperial Valley farm. Because the Colorado River water shared by him and his neighboring farmers who make up the vast agricultural economy in the middle of the desert is so cheap, he says, farmers have little incentive to conserve.

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Feds Announce Plan for Massive Cuts in Colorado River Deliveries

/in , , /by /Arizona Daily Starby Tony Davis

The Bureau of Reclamation is for the first time legally signaling its intent to make major cutbacks in water deliveries from Lake Powell to Lake Mead and the Lower River Basin to protect the reservoirs that are on the edge of collapse. In online presentations last week, the bureau said it’s working through a formal process that could lead to cutting deliveries from Powell by 2 million to 3 more.

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Regulator Authorizes Cal AM to Purchase Future Water Supply

/in , , /by /The Monterey County Heraldby Dennis L. Taylor

A key state regulator on Thursday OK’d an agreement to have California American Water Co. buy future water from the planned Pure Water Monterey Expansion project. The agreement signals a major new water supply for the Monterey Peninsula. Mike McCullough, the director of external affairs for Monterey One Water (M1W), said the authorization defines the terms and conditions for the sale of water from the expansion project.

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Drought-Hit California Cities to Get Little Water From State

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Kathleen Ronayne

California water agencies that serve 27 million people will get just 5% of what they requested from the state to start 2023, water officials announced Thursday.

The news of limited water comes as California concludes its driest three-year stretch on record and as water managers brace for a fourth year with below-average precipitation. But if the winter is wetter than expected, the state could boost how much supply it plans to give out — as it did last year when allocations started at 0% and ended the winter at 5%.

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Winter Storm Hit Tahoe With ‘Win-Win’ Scenario — Here’s How Much Snow Region Got

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

The winter storm that dropped rain across the Bay Area dumped snow on the Sierras and ski resorts across Tahoe. Heavy snow and slick roads also made for dangerous driving conditions but the precipitation is a boon for California’s water supply. Building on gains during a storm in early November, this latest storm brought statewide snowpack up to 106% of normal for December 1, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

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An Idea That Could Help Replenish California’s Groundwater Supplies

/in , , /by /Yale Climate Connections

When drought strikes, California farmers often pump water from underground aquifers to water their crops. But increasingly dry conditions are straining that resource. “On average, over time, we have been extracting more water from the subsurface than has been recharged,” says David Freyberg of Stanford University. He says many people are looking at ways to replenish the state’s dwindling groundwater supplies.

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Glen Canyon Reservoir: The Colorado River’s Descent into ‘Dead Pool’

/in , , /by /Digital Journalby Karen Graham

A long-standing drought in the American Southwest is getting worse by the day, threatening reservoirs and groundwater supplies. And the first sign of “serious damage” could be a whirlpool, according to the operators of the nation’s second-largest reservoir, Lake Powell, reports the Washington Post.

 

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