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California Drought Conditions Predicted to Worsen in Coming Months, Federal Forecasters Say

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

Serious drought conditions across California and the West are expected to worsen this spring into early summer, with hotter-than-normal temperatures, reduced chances of rain and increased fire risk likely, federal forecasters said Thursday.

The next three months through the end of June show little to no drought relief, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the parent agency of the National Weather Service.

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Drought Year Three in California, 2022

/in , , /by /California WaterBlogby Jay Lund

2022 is another drought year, although we won’t know exactly how dry for about another month.  Precipitation and snowpack this year in California are below average.  In addition, the prolonged dry and warm months of January through March of this year’s “wet” season will have evaporated more water from watersheds and reduced snowpack, reducing runoff and groundwater recharge from this year’s modest precipitation and likely lengthening this year’s wildfire season.

Some reservoirs did refill during the wetter-than usual December, but many of the largest reservoirs remain significantly lower than at this time last year, in the 2nd year of this drought.

 

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Water Authority Confident in Local Water Supply But Still Asks to Conserve

/in , , /by /CBS 8by City News Service / Richard Allyn

California’s Department of Water Resources Friday announced that due to the ongoing statewide drought, it must reduce the State Water Project allocation to 5% of requested supplies for 2022, but San Diego County Water Authority officials said they remain confident in the region’s supply.

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Lake Powell Water Crisis Is About to Be an Energy Crisis

/in , , /by /Gristby Jake Bittle

Stretching for 186 miles along the border of Utah and Arizona, Lake Powell serves as one of two major reservoirs that anchor the Colorado River. Last week, the lake reached a disturbing new milestone: water levels fell to their lowest threshold ever, since the lake was created by the damming of the Colorado in 1963.

The precipitous drop is the result of the decades-long drought in the American West that has ravaged the Colorado River for years, forcing unprecedented water cuts in states like Arizona.

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Only 8 of 20 Critical GSA Plans Approved

/in , , /by /Western FarmPressby Tim Hearden

Only eight of the 20 California watersheds most critically affected by subsidence have had their groundwater sustainability plans approved by state water officials, according to recent testimony before a state board.

The other 12 – most of which are in the San Joaquin Valley – had their plans marked “incomplete” by state water regulators and face a July deadline to fix their deficiencies, said Paul Gosselin, who oversees the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act office for the state Department of Water Resources.

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State Water Project Declines Highlight Drought’s Severity

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

“Today’s announcement about reduced allocations from the State Water Project brings into focus the increasing challenges created by the megadrought. This is an emergency felt throughout the state and we strongly support continued conservation.”

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Carlsbad Desalination Plant Shields Region From Megadrought

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

As the worst drought in 1,200 years grips the West, the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant is protecting the San Diego region with 50 million gallons a day of drought-proof water.

Completed in 2015, the plant was built before the period of increasing inflation that’s driving up prices for water infrastructure projects that are just starting. That means the desal plant is safeguarding the region’s economy and quality of life today at a lower cost than it would be to build now.

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CAISO Approves Nearly $3B of Transmission Projects to Prepare for California’s Clean Energy Goals

/in , , /by /Utility Diveby Kavya Balaraman

The California Independent System Operator approved a transmission plan Thursday that includes 23 projects, estimated to cost nearly $3 billion, to cope with the dramatic increase in renewable generation and forecasted load growth in its footprint.

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Calif. to Zero Out Water Supplies Again Amid Dry Winter

/in , , /by /The Sunby Reid Stone

For the second time in a single water season, California water officials are preparing to zero out water deliveries to Valley farmers reliant on the State Water Project.

During a Tuesday meeting of California’s State Water Resources Control Board, Department of Water Resources director Karla Nemeth announced her agency would be enacting the cuts on water contractors and preserving resources for health and safety needs only.

Brad Hooker of Agri-Pulse first reported the news.

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Spring Outlook: Drought to Expand Amid Warmer Conditions

/in , , /by /NOAA-NWS Climate Prediction Center / California DWR

NOAA issued its U.S. Spring Outlook today and for the second year in a row, forecasters predict prolonged, persistent drought in the West where below-average precipitation is most likely. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center — part of the National Weather Service — is also forecasting above-average temperatures for most of the U.S. from the Desert Southwest to the East Coast and north through the Midwest to the Canadian border from April to June.

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