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

Why This Viral Map Isn’t the Best Indicator of California Drought

/in , , /by /SF GATEby Amy Graff

With a parade of storms sweeping California in December, the federal government’s US Drought map has shown severe drought conditions fade across the state in recent weeks, and on the most recent map released Thursday, “exceptional drought” — the most extreme level of drought — completely disappeared from the map.

The map quickly went viral on Reddit, but Jeanine Jones, the drought manager for the California Department of Water Resources, cautioned that the map isn’t an accurate depiction of the overall picture in the state and said that the drought is far from over.

Full Story

As the Colorado River Shrinks, Can the Basin Find an Equitable Solution in Sharing the River’s Waters?

/in , , /by /Western Water (Water Education Foundation)by Douglas E. Beeman

Impacts from climate change and two decades of drought on the Colorado River are fueling fears that states in the Upper Basin – Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming – could be forced to curtail their own water use to fulfill obligations under the century-old Colorado River Compact to send a certain amount of water downstream to the Lower Basin states of California, Arizona and Nevada.

There has never been a so-called “Compact call” on the river. But as evidence grows that the river isn’t yielding the water assumed by the 1922 Colorado River Compact, questions arise about whether a Compact call may be coming, or whether the states and water interests, drawing on decades of sometimes difficult collaboration, can avert a river war that ends up in court.

Full Story

Spaceship-sized Detection System Could Help Determine Future of Ca Water Supply, Where to Store It

/in , , /by /abc 7 Newsby Spencer Christian and Tim Didion

If it looks like something that could transport you into the future, in a sense it is. A spaceship-sized hoop suspended from a helicopter is actually part of an advanced water detection system. The information it’s gathering, could help determine the future of California’s water supply – and where we store it.

“I’ve seen similar studies that say, ‘Hey, let’s not even think of building more above ground reservoirs. Let’s use all the empty space below,'” says Rosemary Knight, Ph.D., a professor of Geophysics and senior fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University.

Full Story

Desert Groundwater Plan OK’d by State

/in , , /by /SJV Waterby Lois Henry

The Indian Wells Valley groundwater plan got a thumbs up from the state on Thursday but with a swarm of lawsuits surrounding the plan, it’s unclear what that approval will mean going forward.

One of those lawsuits seeks a “comprehensive adjudication” of water rights of the Indian Wells Valley basin, which could reconfigure who has rights to how much groundwater, a fundamental underpinning of the groundwater sustainability plan that was just approved.

Full Story

WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Series

/in , , /by /NCDailyStar.com Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

December rainfall and cooler temperatures in San Diego County make it the perfect time of year for homeowners to create low-water-use landscaping to fit their needs. The San Diego County Water Authority is offering their 2022 WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Series of free online classes starting Wednesday, February 2.

Full Story

Mysterious Sewage Spill Baffles Officials

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer

Federal officials are investigating why millions of gallons of sewage-laden water isn’t making its way from Tijuana to the international wastewater treatment plant in the U.S. Instead, that untreated wastewater is flowing into San Diego through a border drain, which indicates there’s probably a broken pipe or a clog somewhere in Tijuana.

The runaway flow began Jan. 7 around 1:30 p.m. when almost a million gallons of sewage escaped from Tijuana through Stewart’s Drain, which sits just east of the International Wastewater Treatment plant operated by the International Boundary Water Commission.

Full Story

Warm, Dry Santa Ana Winds Return to Southern California as Drought Drags On

/in , , /by /VC Starby Cheri Carlson

Santa Ana winds returned to Ventura County this week, bringing back dry, breezy and warm conditions but little fire risk.

Peak Santa Ana wind season typically runs from October through January, and without enough rain, fire season can drag on. This year, however, December storms drenched the region, dampening the threat of large wildfires.

Full Story

Dam Providing Power to Millions Nears Critically Low Water Level

/in , , /by /Roll Callby Benjamin J. Hulac

A federal dam in Arizona that provides electricity to millions of Americans is at risk this year of running out of the minimum level of water required to generate that power.

Glen Canyon Dam, completed in 1963 and brought online two years later, is at 27 percent capacity, the lowest since it was filled, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday.

Full Story

Colorado Had Hottest Six Months in History, New Data Shows

/in , , /by /The Denver Postby Conrad Swanson

The average temperature for the last six months is the hottest recorded in Colorado and the country as a whole, according to data released this week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The next-highest six-month average temperature peak in Colorado came during the 1930s Dust Bowl era, the data shows.

Full Story

Satellite Images Show Mount Shasta’s Transformation After an Exceptionally Dry Summer

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Danielle Echeverria

After one of its driest summers in years, satellite images show that Mount Shasta is blanketed in its signature snow once again after December storms swept across Northern California.

The images show the mountain nearly entirely devoid of snow in early September, after a very hot summer for the region compounded the lack of snowpack after two severely dry winters, dissipating the snowpack earlier than normal. Just four months later, the mountain appeared transformed, covered in snow once again.

Full Story