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A Frenzy of Well Drilling by California Farmers Leaves Taps Running Dry

Vicki McDowell woke up on a Saturday morning in May, thinking about what she would make her son for breakfast. He was visiting from Hayward, and she wanted to whip up something special. Biscuits and gravy. Fried potatoes. Eggs.

She walked to the kitchen sink to wash her hands. Turned on the faucet. Nothing happened. Worried, she tried the bathroom sink. Still nothing. She flushed the toilet. It gurgled.

In the verdant San Joaquin Valley, one of the nation’s most productive farming regions, domestic wells like McDowell’s are drying up at an alarming pace as a frenzy of new well construction and heavy agricultural pumping sends the underground water supply to new lows during one of the most severe droughts on record.

Charts Show Where California Reservoirs Totals Stand After the Latest Rainstorms

A recent new round of heavy rain and snow following a dry November soaked a thirsty California landscape – but it wasn’t enough to significantly improve the state’s water levels, according to data from the California Department of Water Resources.

State, Federal Agencies Announce $200M Investment in Lake Mead

State water agencies in Arizona, California and Nevada announced a $200 million investment in Colorado River conservation projects on Wednesday, in a last-ditch effort to keep the basin’s biggest reservoir from dwindling to dangerously low levels.

The cross-border collaboration, which also includes the Department of the Interior, will aim to add 500,000 acre-feet of additional water to Lake Mead — the Colorado River’s largest reservoir — in 2022 and 2023, by facilitating initiatives that promote water conservation in the Lower Colorado River Basin, according to the partners.

That additional water, which is enough to provide for 1.5 million households each year, would boost the reservoir’s level by 16 feet, a news release from the agencies said.

As Drought Worsens in Parts of Southern California, San Diego Helps With Supplies

The San Diego County Water Authority has stepped up to provide additional water supplies to drought-ravaged areas in three Southern California counties.

Under an agreement with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, San Diego will provide water from an underground storage facility in Kern County to serve parts of northern Los Angeles County, Ventura County and San Bernardino County.

California’s Major Reservoirs Are Still Far Drier Than Average

The just-passed atmospheric river gave California a lot of precious, badly needed water. But how well did our all-important reservoir systems do? For California, water storage, above and underground are the key to California’s economic fate.

As of midnight Monday, California’s major reservoirs keep getting more water from the weekend’s storm as the runoff finds its way into them.

Major New Reservoir Proposed for Santa Clara County Faces Key Vote

After more than four years of planning, study and political debate, a proposal to build a $2.3 billion reservoir in Santa Clara County — the largest reservoir constructed in the Bay Area in more than 20 years — will reach a make-or-break moment Wednesday.

The California Water Commission, a 9-member panel appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, is scheduled to vote on whether the project, which would be located near Pacheco Pass, will continue to be eligible to receive $496 million in state funding.

 

Bay Area Farmers Happy to Get Latest Round of Precipitation

Farmers in the Bay Area were excited that the latest storm brought another round of much-needed rain in the hopes it will bring them closer to the end of what has been a difficult drought.

Many in the agricultural and farming industries of the Santa Clara Valley are relieved the region took in substantial rainfall over the past few days.

Opinion: Initiative to Fund and Fast Track Water Projects is Badly Needed

California is in the grip of its fourth drought since 2000. To cope with worsening droughts, over the past few decades Californians have made impressive gains in water efficiency. Total water diversions in California for agriculture and cities – roughly 30 million acre feet per year for agriculture and 8 million acre feet per year for cities – have not increased even while California’s population has grown and irrigated farm acreage has increased. But conservation alone cannot guarantee Californians have an adequate supply of water.

Agencies Partner to Boost Water Supplies for Southern California

The San Diego County Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California have reached an agreement that will provide water to parts of Southern California facing extraordinary supply constraints due to cutbacks on the State Water Project.

Under a deal approved today by Metropolitan’s Board of Directors and previously authorized by the San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors, Metropolitan will secure additional groundwater in 2022 from the Semitropic Water Bank in Kern County.

Southern California Spared Major Fires as Storms End an Unprecedented Season

The storms pounding California this week are expected to bring an end to a wildfire season that shocked fire crews with its unprecedented, climate-change-driven behavior.

For the first time ever, wildfires burned from one side of the Sierra Nevada to the other, destroying multiple towns including the Gold Rush-era community of Greenville and the mountain hamlet of Grizzly Flats.