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Deepening Drought Holds ‘Ominous’ Signs For Wildfire Threat in the West

/in , , /by /NPRby Eric Westervelt

After one of the most destructive and extreme wildfire seasons in modern history last year, a widening drought across California and much of the West has many residents bracing for the possibility this season could be worse.

Anemic winter rain and snowfall has left reservoirs and river flows down significantly, even as the state experiences its driest water year in more than four decades. Today, wildfire fuels in some parts of California are at or near record levels of dryness.

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Butterfly Releases Return to Water Conservation Garden in May and June

/in , , /by /East County Magazine

Butterfly season is back.  The Water Conservation Garden invites you to release your very own butterfly each Saturday in May and June from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at its Dorcas E. Utter Butterfly Pavilion and Native Habitat Garden.

 

You can expect safe, physical-distancing and “magical butterfly releases to create memories and instill a growing love for these incredible insects and their habitat,” according to a press release from the Garden.

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Can Hydropower Help Solve the Climate Crisis? This $63-Billion Plan is Banking On It

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sammy Roth

Conservationists in California and across the West are deeply skeptical of hydropower, and it’s not hard to see why. There’s a long history of government agencies damming spectacular canyons, choking off rivers, obliterating fish populations and cutting off access to Indigenous peoples. It’s a history detailed in books such as “Cadillac Desert,” and experienced by anyone who has spent time fishing, kayaking or swimming in the region’s reshaped waterways, or hiking alongside them.

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Opinion: Drought-Tolerant San Diego Won’t Go Thirsty in the Dry Stretch Ahead

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Michael Smolens Quoted: San Diego County Water Authorty

San Diego takes droughts very seriously. That’s why the region is well-positioned to weather an extended dry spell with enough water.

Local officials don’t shrug at the drought conditions across the state that have triggered emergencies in a couple of northern counties. For one thing, the wildfire threat can be as dangerous here as anywhere.

San Diego may be more drought-tolerant than in the past when it comes to water, but it may never be fire-resistant.

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Positioned for the Future: San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Sandra L. Kerl

/in , , /by /California Water & Power (California Municipal Utilities Association) by Matt Williams Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

There have been many surprises and unanticipated outcomes in the long wake of the pandemic. Like most workplaces, the San Diego County Water Authority had to quickly adapt a year ago, and that process continues to evolve under the leadership of General Manager Sandra L. Kerl. In a conversation with California Water & Power, Kerl discusses how her organization has embraced change and continues to prepare for the future.

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Fish or Farmers? Newsom Drought Declaration Would Trigger New War Over California Water

/in , , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler and Ryan Sabalow

When a bipartisan group of state legislators held a press conference last week to demand that Gov. Gavin Newsom declare a statewide drought emergency, they assembled at a withered farm field east of Fresno, complete with piles of dead trees in the background.

The choice was no accident. With California already experiencing drought-like conditions, Central Valley farmers and their elected representatives are the ones putting the most political pressure on Newsom to make it official.

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‘New Normal’ for U.S. Climate is Officially Hotter – and’ New and Experts See Trouble for California Experts California

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kellie Hwang

The official “new normal” for the U.S. climate is warmer than ever before — and the changes are ominous for California, experts say.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday released its new climate averages, based on the 30-year period from 1991 to 2020. The averages, known as “climate normals,” are updated every 10 years, and they show most of the known the country, including California, heating up.

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Fresno County Leaders Declare Local Drought Emergency. One Says Drought is ‘Man-Made’

/in , , /by /Fresno Beeby Yesenia Amaro

The Fresno County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday passed a resolution proclaiming a local drought emergency.

The vote on the resolution during Tuesday’s special meeting was unanimous. The resolution comes after Fresno leaders joined officials from three other Central Valley counties on Friday to declare a regional drought emergency and urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to do the same statewide.

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Opinion: How San Diego County’s Water Supply Investments Protect Our Economy and Quality of Life From Drought

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Croucher Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Increasingly ominous signs suggest that we are entering another multiyear drought in California. The State Water Project recently reduced projected water deliveries for 2021 from 10% of requested supplies to 5 percent, and on April 21, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a regional drought emergency in the Russian River watershed in Northern California.

But it’s a different story in San Diego County.

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Napa Prepares City Water Use Curbs in Pursuit of 15% Consumption Cut After Dry California Winter

/in , , /by /Napa Valley Registerby Howard Yune

Irrigation curbs, car washing restrictions and the shutoff of fountains may return in the city of Napa amid shrinking water supplies on the tail of a dry California winter.

Tuesday night, the City Council is scheduled to vote on a “moderate water shortage” declaration intended to cut consumption by 15%. Approval would mark the return of water-use restrictions last rolled out in the mid-2010s when a six-year drought led California to mandate across-the-board cutbacks statewide.

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