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Wall Street’s New Water Market Is the Latest Sign We’re Headed Toward a Mad Max Future

/in , , /by /Gizmodoby Dharna Noor

We need water to cook and wash our bodies and clothes, and especially to drink—without it, we can’t live. Despite this, Wall Street traders are going to start betting on it as a commodity.

This week, with the launch of $1.1 billion contracts tied to water prices in California, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange will launch the country’s first water market. It will allow farmers, hedge funds, and municipalities to essentially make wagers on the price of water and likelihood of water scarcity. Water will be a commodity, like gold or oil.
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California’s Miserable Year Ending in Drought, Fire and Lockdowns

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Greenby David R Baker and Mark Chediak

Most Californians, it’s safe to say, can’t wait for 2020 to end. But the year is getting in a few parting shots on its way out the door.

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Winter’s Dry Start Prompts Low California Water Allocation

/in , , /by /AP News

California’s water managers on Tuesday preliminarily allocated just 10% of requested water supplies to agencies that together serve more than 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland.

The state Department of Water Resources cited the dry start to the winter rainy season in California’s Mediterranean climate, along with low reservoir levels remaining from last year’s relatively dry winter. Winter snow typically supplies about 30% of the state’s water as it melts.

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Dry Weather Mitigated by Monterey County Groundwater

/in , , /by /The Californianby Kate Cimini

The Central Coast and parts south are unusually dry, according to the University of Nebraska – Lincoln’s national drought monitor. That could lead to dry soil, increased irrigation, stunted germination of dryland crops and increased risk of fire, the report says.

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What a Strengthening La Niña Tells Us About SoCal’s Winter Weather Outlook

/in , , /by /NBC 4by Belen De Leon

Winter is usually the wettest season in Southern California, but due to a strengthening La Niña pattern in the Pacific, this winter is looking warmer and drier than normal. La Niña and El Niño are opposite phases of what’s known as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation cycle. La Niña is the cold phase and develops due to below average temperatures in the equatorial Pacific.

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Colorado River Runoff Plunges, Raising Shortage Concerns

/in , , /by /Tuscon.comby Tony Davis

Record and near-record low flows on the Upper Colorado River this summer and fall have dramatically and abruptly worsened the outlook for the entire river and the Central Arizona Project over the next two years. Low flows into Lake Powell led federal officials to sharply reduce their forecasts for how high Lake Mead will be next year. That has ratcheted up the odds that the first major shortage in CAP deliveries will occur in 2022, cutting off some supplies to Central Arizona farmers.

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Opinion: We Can Find Common Ground to Solve Challenging Water Issues

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Cannon Michael and Ann Hayden

Despite a seemingly endless era of upheaval – a surging pandemic, contentious election cycle and racial strife – we still have the responsibility to address pressing issues that cannot wait for calmer times. The future of California’s water is one of those issues. While collaboration and relationship building have been made even more challenging due to distancing required by COVID-19, we believe that water is an issue where we can rise above party lines and entrenched perspectives.

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$15 Million Credit Line Will Help Antioch Build Desalination Plant

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Judith Prieve

Despite a seemingly endless era of upheaval – a surging pandemic, contentious election cycle and racial strife – we still have the responsibility to address pressing issues that cannot wait for calmer times. The future of California’s water is one of those issues. While collaboration and relationship building have been made even more challenging due to distancing required by COVID-19, we believe that water is an issue where we can rise above party lines and entrenched perspectives.

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Farmland Consolidations Could Save Water, Promote Solar

/in , , /by /Bakersfield.comby John Cox

Hopes are rising in the southern Central Valley that the farmland expected to be fallowed in coming years because of drought and groundwater restrictions won’t sit idle but will instead be consolidated to make room for new land uses including solar power generation. Efforts are underway locally to create a system for piecing together parcels that would allow investment at a scale large enough to support substantial photovoltaic solar arrays — or ranching or creation of natural habitat, whatever makes sense financially for landowners.

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Over $10 Million Granted to Preserve Salmon in California

/in , , /by /NBC Bay Area

Over $10 million in grants was awarded to 27 projects dedicated to benefiting the state’s salmon habitats, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced this week. The grants, amounting to $10.7 million, were awarded through the agency’s Fisheries Restoration Grant Program for the restoration, enhancement and protection of anadromous salmonid habitats, and to reverse the declines of Pacific salmon and steelhead throughout California and surrounding states.

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