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Glenn County Residents Continue to Feel the Impacts of the Drought

/in , , /by /KRCR-TVby Kelly DeLeon

The recent rains were much needed, but they were not enough to get the state out of the drought.

One of the first counties in the Northstate to declare a local drought emergency, Glenn County, is still experiencing water supply issues.

“The rain is always good and the snow is even better because snow will last for a while and melt and come down and refill what has been depleted when people are using. It had a positive impact. Dramatic? I wouldn’t say so,” said the director of Glenn County Planning & Community Development Services, Don Rust.

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California Drought: Santa Clara County Residents Exceed Water Conservation Targets

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

After months of falling short, Santa Clara County residents have finally begun to hit the target when it comes to water conservation — and the threat of higher water bills may have played a role.

Following two record-dry years, the Santa Clara Valley Water District declared a drought emergency in June and asked the county’s 2 million residents to cut water use by 15% from 2019 levels.

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California City Doubles Local Potable Water Supply

/in , , /by /Water Finance & Managementby WFM Staff

In December, the City of Camarillo, Calif., announced the start-up and commissioning of its North Pleasant Valley (NPV) Groundwater Desalter Plant, moving the city closer to a more self-reliant, affordable potable water future.

For nearly two decades, groundwater quality in the northern portion of the Pleasant Valley Groundwater Basin in Ventura County continuously declined due primarily to the infiltration of poor-quality surface water. These challenges compelled the city to reduce groundwater pumping and increase the blending of imported water with Wells A and B, two of Camarillo’s largest wells.

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California’s Drought Reckoning Could Offer Lessons for the West

/in , , /by /Tucson Sentinelby Matt Vasilogambros

The golden hills of California have turned green in recent weeks after a series of storms delivered much-needed rain and snow to a state suffering from two years of drought.

But state officials and water policy experts are still urging caution even in these wet conditions, pushing for water-saving measures as the drought is expected to continue throughout much of the West.

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Newsom Voices Pledge to Lithium Valley

/in , , /by /Holtville Tribuneby Antoine Abou-Diwan

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday, Jan. 10 announced a commitment to incentivize and spur development of the state’s lithium reserves around the Salton Sea.

“We have what someone described as the Saudi Arabia of lithium here in the state of California down in Imperial County near the Salton Sea,” Newsom said on Monday as he unveiled his budget proposal for 2022-2023 dubbed “The California Blueprint.”

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Desalination Has Guided Water Exchanges for Israel and Jordan. Could It Play a Role in the Colorado River Basin’s Future?

/in , , /by /The Good Men Projectby Sharon Udasin Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Shattering the stillness of a frigid January moonlit sky, the sunrise’s amber aura glimmers over the Tinajas Altas mountain range — giving way to a sandscape of semi-succulent shrubs.

The sun’s increasingly insistent rays animate an otherwise desolate desert corridor that links the city of Yuma, Arizona, to the San Luis Port of Entry along the U.S.–Mexico border. White school buses shuttle Mexican agricultural workers to Arizonan farm acreage, home to America’s heartland of winter leafy greens. Just a few miles west is the Colorado River, the region’s historic lifeblood — a lifeblood that is so under threat that the Bureau of Reclamation declared its first-ever federal shortage for the basin on Monday.

(Editor’s Note: The interviews for this story took place from fall 2019 to spring 2020 as part of the author’s Ted Scripps Fellowship at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism. The story was supported by The Water Desk, an independent journalism initiative based at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism.)

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As the Colorado River Shrinks, Can New Technology Save Water on Farms? The Answer Is Complicated

/in , , /by /Arizona Public Mediaby Alex Hager

On a warm November day in Yuma, Arizona, the desert sun is beating down on a sea of low, green fields. Here, near the banks of the Colorado River, Matt McGuire is surveying an expanse of vegetables that sprawls into the desert landscape.

“You find it on the grocery shelf and it’s a leafy green,” he said, “it probably came from here. Because about 80-85% of the vegetables in the wintertime come from this area.”

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Central, South Coasts Get Some Impressive Rainfall, But Water Experts Say It’s Just a Down Payment on Easing Drought

/in , , /by /KCLUby Lance Orozco

A series of storms dumped impressive amounts of rainfall on the Central and South Coasts during the last quarter of 2021. But, water experts say people need to understand what we’ve had is nothing close to being a drought buster.

There was a lot of excitement in the drought-stricken region. By the end of 2021, the news media was reporting that places like Camarillo had received 176% of normal-to-date rainfall, Oxnard 211%, and Santa Barbara 168%. But, water experts say many people are misunderstanding the nuances of the statistics.

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Will the SF Bay Area Continue to See More Rain Than Usual? Here’s What Experts Say.

/in , , /by /SF GATEby Amy Graff

After an atmospheric river unleashed a torrent of rain over Northern California in October, the state saw another moisture-rich system in November and then a parade of storms across December.

With a wet start this season, the rivers are rushing, the waterfalls flowing and the reservoirs beginning to rise. The snowpack is signaling a remarkable turnaround after two dry seasons. The Hyatt Power Plant is back online at Lake Oroville after it was forced to shut down due to historic low reservoir levels in August.

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Governor Outlines Climate Action Spending in Budget Proposal

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Deborah Sullivan Brennan

Gov. Gavin Newsom called for $22.5 billion in state spending to combate climate change next year, offering a suite of solutions that mirror climate action and decarbonization efforts now underway in San Diego.

In a presentation Monday on his proposed budget for fiscal year 2022-23, Newsom announced a projected surplus of $45.7 billion and unveiled his proposals to use the windfall to combat COVID-19, climate change, homelessness, high costs of living and crime.

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