You are now in California and the U.S. Home Headline Media Coverage category.

California’s 2022 Water Year – Both Wet and Dry

/in , , /by /California WaterBlogby Jay Lund

After two years of solid drought, and four months into California’s “wet” season, we don’t know if this year will be wet or dry.  This is normal for California.  But this year’s monthly precipitation “whiplash” is unusual.

For northern California, October was the 2nd wettest October in 102 years of record (400% of average October from one 2-day storm!).  November was the 31st driest November (50% of average). December was the 23rd wettest December (160% of average), and January was the 7th driest January on record (16% of average).

Full Story

California Desperately Needs Rain. What Are the Chances of a ‘Miracle’ in March?

/in , , /by /SF GATEby Amy Graff

The start of the wet season was promising in California, with a record-breaking atmospheric river in October and an onslaught of storms in December, but the weather forecast has remained persistently dry since the start of the year — with no hope for rain in the immediate future.

The lack of rain during what is usually the wettest time of the year is problematic in a drought-plagued state that needs to replenish its water supply and dampen a wildfire-prone landscape. The last hope that remains for winter is a surge of precipitation in late February and in March. What are the chances of that even happening?

Full Story

A Record Dry January in Some Spots, With No Precipitation Currently on Horizon for First Half of February

/in , , /by /Weather Westby Daniel Swain

Well, I don’t need to tell most folks twice: January 2022 was an exceptionally dry month across most of California and Nevada. Some spots saw a bit of rain and snow during the first couple days of the month, but others saw nothing at all; the last 25 days of the month brought essentially zero precipitation to the entire region. As a result, January 2022 will go down in the record books as the driest January on record (since at least 1895) for most of the San Joaquin Valley, the Central and Southern Sierra, and pockets of the Sacramento Valley and western Nevada.

Due to the clear and dry conditions, temperatures were (on average) warmer than usual for January, but with a wide diurnal spread: overnight minimum temperatures were actually slightly *colder* than usual, but daytime high temperatures were significantly above average (and, thus, won out on in the monthly average).

Full Story

Local Water District Awarded $4.5 Million in Funding for Desalination Program

/in , , /by /KVCR Newsby Jonathan Linden

In late January, the EMWD (Eastern Municipal Water District) was awarded nearly $4.5 million by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The funds will go towards the water district’s desalination infrastructure. Kevin Pearson is a spokesperson with the EMWD. “EMWD has a portion of its service area that has a salty groundwater basin, it’s naturally occurring, it has a higher salt contents than drinking water standards,” said Pearson.

Pearson says the water district uses reverse osmosis to purify the water and also discussed the award’s significance. The funds will go towards a study on future well sites and improvements to pipeline access.

Full Story

Riverside County, State Officials Unveil $19.25M Marina Project on North End of Salton Sea

/in , , /by /Palm Springs Desert Sunby Christopher Damien

State Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez and other local leaders revealed a plan Saturday for a recreation and restoration project at the Salton Sea using $19.25 million in state funds.

The Salton Sea North Lake Pilot Demonstration Project is slated to be an approximately 156-acre marina that will be located near the current North Shore Beach and Yacht Club Community Center in the community of North Shore.

“The North Lake Pilot Demonstration Project is an important habitat and dust suppression project and a major investment in state funding to revitalize the northern end of the Salton Sea as well as the community of North Shore,” Perez said in a statement.

Full Story

$1.5B Pumped Hydro Facility at San Vicente Reservoir Takes Next Steps, But Not Everyone is On Board

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Rob Nikolewski Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The construction of a proposed pumped hydro energy storage facility at the San Vicente Reservoir near Lakeside recently took a couple of steps forward but the project still needs to clear regulatory hurdles to become reality — and a backcountry conservation group has already come out in opposition to the project.

The city of San Diego and the San Diego County Water Authority have partnered on the San Vicente Energy Storage Facility Project, which looks to provide 500 megawatts and an estimated 4,000 megawatt-hours of long-duration stored energy to California’s electric grid. That’s enough to power about 135,000 households.

Full Story

County Water Officials Move Forward with PLA Negotiations

/in , , /by /The Coast News Groupby Jordan Ingram and Steve Puterski Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority board of directors recently voted to lower the cost threshold for construction projects to be considered for collective bargaining agreements, significantly changing how the regional water agency awards contract bids.

Full Story

FPUD to Use MWD Refund for CUP Loan Repayment

/in , , /by /Fallbrook Village Newsby Joe Naiman Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority has filed multiple rate lawsuits against the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and has been awarded legal damages and interest payments.

Full Story

Vallecitos Water District Wins Multiple Industry Awards

/in , , /by /Water News Network

The Vallecitos Water District received three awards from the California Water Environment Association on January 29. The Meadowlark Water Reclamation Facility was named the 2021 Tertiary Recycled Water Plant of the Year, Matt Wiese received the “Operator of the Year” award and the District also received the Community Engagement and Outreach award for Best Use of Social Media.

Full Story

Dry January Takes a Toll on Promising Start to Water Year

/in , , /by /AgNet Mediaby Brian German

The second manual snow survey for the current water year demonstrated the impact that dry conditions in January have had on California’s snowpack. The Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted the survey at Phillips Station earlier in the week. While the measurements were relatively strong, there is still concern for the rest of the season as statewide water storage levels sit at about 76 percent of average.

“For our survey today, we recorded a snow depth of 48.5 inches and a snow water content of 19 inches. That results in 109 percent of average to date and 78 percent of the April 1 average here at this location,” said Sean de Guzman, Manager of DWR’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit. “That one dry month of January basically wiped out whatever head start we had as we head towards the end of winter. We still have about two more months to build up our snowpack, but we all need to be prepared for a third consecutive dry year.”
Full Story