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

After Rain Burst, California Salmon Reclaim Old Spawning Grounds

/in , , /by /Reutersby Nathan Frandino

The heavy rains that soaked California late last year were welcomed by farmers, urban planners – and endangered coho salmon.

“We’ve seen fish in places that they haven’t been for almost 25 years,” said Preston Brown, director of watershed conservation for Salmon Protection And Watershed Network (SPAWN).

California received more precipitation from October to December than in the previous 12 months, according to the National Weather Service.

Full Story

Drought is Revealing a Human Security Crisis in Farming Communities

/in , , /by /Agri-Pulse.comby Brad Hooker

Sweeping cutbacks in water allocations to farms are leading to widespread underemployment in some of California’s most vulnerable communities. Lawmakers are scrambling for policy solutions.

The impact to paychecks has been raising food insecurity and malnutrition issues as food prices soar, while the reduced spending is reverberating through local businesses and economies. And the situation is exacerbating a mental health epidemic already made worse by the pandemic.

“Too often, these human impacts are overlooked,” said state Senator Melissa Hurtado of Sanger, in opening a recent hearing for the new Select Committee on Human Security. “We sometimes miss the impacts that drought has on food security, health, labor and the communities themselves.”

Full Story

Sweetwater Authority Opens 2022 High School Photo Contest

/in , , /by /Water News Network

The Sweetwater Authority calls on high school student photographers to enter its 2022 High School Photo Contest. This year’s contest challenges students to creatively photograph the many ways people use water.

The 2022  theme is “Water In Daily Life.” Water supports our daily lives. It flows into our homes, helping to quench our thirst, cook, clean, grow food, and keep us healthy. Students are encouraged to answer this question with their work: What ways do you interact with water?

Full Story

Scientists See Silver Lining in Fed’s Efforts at Lake Powell

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Joan Meiners

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced last week that it plans to adjust management protocols for the Colorado River in early 2022 to reduce monthly releases from Lake Powell in an effort to keep the reservoir from dropping farther below 2021′s historic lows.

As of Jan. 6, the nation’s second-largest reservoir — part of a Colorado River system that provides drinking water to approximately 40 million people throughout the West — sat at an elevation of 3,536 feet, the Spectrum reported.

Full Story

California City Finds a Creative Way to Conserve Water

/in , , /by /Yale Climate Connectionsby YCC Team

This past summer, as California faced a historic drought, reservoirs used by the small city of Healdsburg dropped to record lows.

“It puts us in a situation where we just simply don’t have enough water to go about our normal daily practices,” says Terry Crowley, the city’s utility director.

He says to conserve water, Healdsburg needed to slash consumption by 40%. City officials limited household use and banned watering ornamental lawns.

Full Story

Here’s How Much Rain Fell in 35 San Diego County Communities Before Dawn Tuesday

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins

A modest storm drenched parts of San Diego County late Monday night and early Tuesday, providing much-need rain in a region where seasonal precipitation totals have been falling behind, says the National Weather Service.

Full Story

Climate Change Resilience Begins With Water, Say These UC AG Researchers

/in , , /by /KVPRby Kerry Klein

On the rare days it rains in western Fresno County, the soils in Jeffrey Mitchell’s experimental fields soak up the water like a sponge. “The water disappears within less than a minute, even for four inches of water,” he said, laughing.

Mitchell is a cropping systems specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension. His quick-absorbing soils keep the rainfall from pooling and overflowing, like it does in many surrounding fields.

Full Story

Ramona Water District Staff to Give Status Reports on Activities and Accomplishments

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Julie Gallant

The Ramona Municipal Water District is taking another step to improve its transparency by starting to share monthly status reports and goals from its various departments, officials said.

Water district directors voted unanimously Jan. 11 to approve several new ways to keep the board and public updated about operations.

Full Story

Dropping Reservoirs Create ‘Green Light’ for Sustainability on Colorado River

/in , , /by /The Aspen Timesby Heather Sackett

Some Colorado River scholars say that a plan by the lower-basin states to leave more water in Lake Mead embodies a principle they explore in a recently published article: Dropping reservoir levels have opened a window of opportunity for water-management policies that move the river system toward sustainability.

In December, water managers from California, Nevada and Arizona signed a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, to spend up to $200 million to add 500,000 acre-feet of water in both 2022 and 2023 to Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, which has dropped precipitously low due to climate change and drought.

Full Story

Atmospheric River Storm Observations Take Flight Over Pacific Ocean

/in , , /by /Water News Networkby Steve Koppes and Lauren Wood Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Research on atmospheric rivers takes flight as UC San Diego’s Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes taps “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft for specialized scientific missions.

The aircraft will fly for a 13-week period (that began January 5) to glean critical data for improving forecasts of atmospheric river storms over the Pacific Ocean. Those storms, or “AR’s,” provide up to half of the U.S. West Coast’s annual precipitation and a majority of the flooding.

Full Story