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As Drought Persists, Government Says Klamath Farmers Will Be Allocated Limited Water

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

As severe drought persists in Northern California and southern Oregon, the federal Bureau of Reclamation announced Monday that farmers and ranchers will be allocated a limited amount of water in the Klamath River Basin this summer.

Water is at the center of bitter disputes between growers, the federal government and tribes over how much should be allocated for food production, flows in the Klamath River and the health of threatened fish.

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How California’s Highly Anticipated Drought Rules Will Likely Impact San Diegans

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

San Diego’s top water managers have pleaded for months with state officials in Sacramento not to adopt mandatory drought restrictions similar to those imposed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 2015.

For now, it appears their concerns have been heeded. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently laid out a pathway for curtailing water use that gives local jurisdictions significant flexibility over how hard to push residents to conserve.

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East County Nears Vote on New Wastewater Plant Amid Historic Drought

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Blake Nelson

East County is moving closer to building a new wastewater treatment plant to recycle millions of gallons a day, amid a severe lack of rainfall that’s pushed the region into its driest period in a millennium.

Officials with the local Helix Water District have announced they and other project leaders are more than halfway done designing a system to make the region less reliant on outside water. The governing body overseeing the project is scheduled to vote May 19 on a final price with contractors, a spokeswoman said.

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California’s Driest Start to the Year Sparks Water, Wildfire Concerns

/in , , /by /Axiosby Andrew Freedman

California is entering the dry season with its water resources in a precarious position, having seen its driest start to the year on record. A heat wave last week sent temperatures soaring into the 90s and even triple-digits in some locations, as the paltry Sierra Nevada snowpack shrunk even further.

Why it matters: Water and wildfire woes lie ahead for the nation’s most populous state, as spring runoff into reservoirs slows to a trickle, and forests dry out unusually early in the year.

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Powell’s Looming Power Problem

/in , , /by /High Country Newsby Jonathan Thompson

Thirty-nine years ago, due to record-breaking snowfall in the Upper Colorado River Basin, Lake Powell rose substantially, catching river managers off-guard. By late June, the reservoir was nearly overflowing, forcing operators — for the first time ever — to rely on the spillways. Instead of giving relief, that precipitated a new crisis, as a phenomenon called cavitation sent shockwaves through the spillways’ innards, tearing through the concrete and then the sandstone, putting the colossal Glen Canyon Dam in peril.

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Klamath National Forest Snowpack at 16% of Historic Average as Drought Conditions Persist

/in , , /by /KDRVby Brett Taylor

Record low snowpack levels continue to plaque the state of California as dry and unseasonably warm temperatures continue to persist.

According to measurements taken by the U.S. Forest Service for the April survey, in the Klamath National Forest, the snowpack is at 16% of the historic average snow height (snow depth) and at 18% of the historic Snow Water Equivalent (“SWE”, measure of water content) across all survey points.

Weather continued to be relatively dry through March and although several small storms did pop up across the area during the month, unseasonably warm temperatures kept the local snowpack below normal level.

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Newsom’s Drought Order Poses a Big Question on Water Well Permits for Valley Farmers

/in , , /by /The Sunby Don Wright

California’s Governor Gavin Newsom released Executive Order N-7-22 on March 28, 2022 in response to the state’s ongoing drought conditions. It is effective immediately and covers the entire state.

The entire order could perhaps be viewed as part five of his four previous drought related executive orders from 2021.

 

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Few Strong Landfalling Atmospheric Rivers Reach California

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

Few landfalling atmospheric rivers in the current water year have reached California, now in the third year of a statewide drought.

The latest update from the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, shows that Water Year 2022 started strong in October, but weaker storms did not ease dry conditions.

‘Vast Majority’ of California’s Sierra Snowpack Could Be Gone by Mid-to-Late April

/in , , /by /SFGATEby Amy Graff

The heat is on.

Record-breaking temperatures are expected across California Thursday and Friday with the mercury rising up to 25 to 30 degrees above normal.

UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain referred to the sweltering weather as a “major early spring heat wave” and said it may be “most consequential in the Sierra Nevada” where the snowpack is already well below normal after a record-dry January, February and March, experts said.

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The Colorado River Basin Looks to Be Locking in Another Dry Year

/in , , /by /The Colorado Sunby Chris Outcalt and Margaret Fleming

The Colorado River Basin looks to be headed for a third straight dry year, according to the April report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Colorado Basin River Forecast Center.

Although the weather in March was more active than it was in January and February, it continued a trend of either below or well-below normal precipitation across much of the Colorado River Basin, according to Brenda Alcorn, a hydrologist at the NOAA forecast center.

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