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California Drought, Australia Floods: Two Sides of La Niña Amplified by Climate Change

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Paul Duginski

California just notched its driest January and February on record, sounding alarms about a third year of record drought.

Across the Pacific Ocean, thousands are fleeing record flooding in Australia. Officials in Brisbane reported 31 inches of rain in six days, and Jonathan Howe, a government meteorologist quoted by the Associated Press, called the amount of rainfall “astronomical.”

Meanwhile, in the eastern Horn of Africa, prolonged drought is raising the frightening specter of famine for millions.

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Can Cloud Seeding Help Quench the Thirst of the U.S. West?

/in , , /by /Yale Environment 360by James Dinneen

Not since Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 A.D. has the American West been so dry. A recent study in Nature Climate Change found the period 2000 to 2021 was the driest 22 years in more than a millennium, attributing a fifth of that anomaly to human-caused climate change. The megadrought has meant more fires, reduced agricultural productivity, and reduced hydropower generation. Last summer, the United States’ two largest reservoirs — Lake Mead and Lake Powell — reached their lowest levels ever, triggering unprecedented cuts in water allocations to Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico.

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Water Officials Warn Low Sierra Snowpack Level Is ‘One Step Short of Catastrophe’

/in , , /by /abc 7 Newsby Leslie Brinkley

Bad news on the drought front Tuesday as state water officials measured the snowpack up in the Sierra with ominous results for continued drought conditions in 2022.

It’s been a strange year.

There was the now-infamous October storm followed by a historically dry January and February. When the California Department of Water Resources measured the snowpack at the start of March, the number was bleak. Only 63% of normal water content.

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MMWD Delays Decision on Desalination Ballot Measure

/in , , /by /Marin Independent Journalby Will Houston

When Marin last considered building a desalination plant on San Francisco Bay more than a decade ago, residents wary of the high financial and environmental costs reacted by giving voters the power to make that decision.

Now comes the question: should voters retain the power to block what could be an emergency source of water in the event of another crisis?

“The strange weather we’ve had the last few years I think suggests that having more options in the event of a similar kind of emergency we were in this past year is prudent,” Marin Municipal Water District General Manager Ben Horenstein told the district Board of Directors on Tuesday. “With this ordinance in place, it does limit our ability in certain ways to move forward if we wanted to with an emergency desal system.”

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California Drought Now in Third Year

/in , , /by /Water News Networkby Ed Joyce Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

California officials have urged residents to prepare for a third year of drought and urged people to conserve water.

“With only one month left in California’s wet season and no major storms in the forecast, Californians should plan for a third year of drought conditions,” said California Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth.

New Hydration Stations in San Marcos Save Water, Promote Sustainability

/in , , /by /Water News Network

The City of San Marcos and the Vallecitos Water District partnered on a new project with funding from the San Diego County Water Authority and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to encourage water conservation and reduce the use of plastic.

Five hydration stations have been installed in San Marcos parks to encourage the use of refilling reusable bottles during outdoor activities instead of using purchased bottled water. Both the City of San Marcos and the Vallecitos Water District are committed to reducing single-use plastics.

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Opinion: California is Failing to Prepare for Droughts

/in , , /by /The Mercury Times

Climate change isn’t a problem for the future. It’s here, and California isn’t remotely prepared to deal with the consequences.

The state’s latest snowpack report makes that clear. The Sierra Nevada snowpack provides nearly one-third of California’s water supply. On Tuesday it was at 63% of its historical average for that date. That’s despite the heavy storms in October and December. The months of January and February were the driest in the state’s recorded history, meaning Californians are facing a third consecutive year of severe drought.

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UN: Droughts, Less Water in Europe as Warming Wrecks Crops

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Aritz Parra and Sergio Rodrigo

“Herders and farmers have their feet on the ground, but their eyes on the sky.” The old saying is still popular in Spain’s rural communities who, faced with recurrent droughts, have historically paraded sculptures of saints to pray for rain.

The saints are out again this year as large swaths of Spain face one of the driest winters on record. Even as irrigation infrastructure boomed along with industrial farming, the country’s ubiquitous dams and desalination plants are up against a looming water crisis that scientists have been warning about for decades.

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Opinion: Seed Funding Needed for Major Water Recycling Project in Southern California

/in , , /by /Cal Mattersby Adel Hagekhalil

The Colorado is the second largest river that California depends on, second only to the Sacramento. Its enormous challenges tend to fall into the policy shadows in the Capitol’s water discussions. But climate change is rapidly reducing flows in this important river and that requires bold action.

Policymakers in Sacramento have a rare and golden opportunity to be part of a historic collaborative effort toward a broader solution.

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Valley Water Agencies Ask for More Water Now and in the Future

/in , , /by /The Sun Gazetteby Reggie Ellis

On pace to be the driest January-February on record, signaling a third straight year of drought, local water authorities are begging the state to release more water for farmers this summer or at least begin building capacity to withstand future droughts.

On Feb. 23, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced its initial 2022 water supply allocations for Central Valley Project contractors, including the water agencies which operate the Friant-Kern Canal to the east and Delta-Mendota Canal to the west. Allocations are based on an estimate of water available for delivery to CVP water users and reflect current reservoir storages, precipitation and snowpack in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada.

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