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Bills In Congress Would Implement Drought Plan In West

/in , , /by /Associated Press

Two members of Arizona’s congressional delegation introduced legislation Tuesday on a plan to address a shrinking supply of water from a river that serves 40 million people in the U.S. West. Republican Sen. Martha McSally and Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva vowed to move identical bills quickly through the chambers. Bipartisan lawmakers from Colorado River basin states signed on as co-sponsors. Arizona, California and Nevada in the lower basin and Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in the river’s upper basin spent years crafting drought contingency plans. They aim to keep two key Colorado River reservoirs from falling so low that they cannot deliver water or produce hydropower.

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‘A California Water Supply Dream’: Record Snowpack Measured In Sierra Nevada, Lake Tahoe Region

/in , , /by /Capital Public Radio (Sacramento)by Ezra David Romero

California received some good news on Tuesday for the state’s water supply: The Sierra Nevada snowpack is well above normal, at 162 percent of average. This amount of snow is thanks to the more than 30 “atmospheric rivers” that brought storms this winter and spring. Chris Orrock, with the California Department of Water Resources, says the cold storms have helped preserve the snow. “The snowpack is nice and cold. It’s a little different than 2017, where it was warmer winter … and [the snowpack] melted quicker,” Orrock said while reporting measurements at Phillips Station near Lake Tahoe. His crew found 106.5 inches of snow at the spot. As it melts and ends up in reservoirs, the snowpack provides about 30 percent of the state’s water supply, and water managers use the snowpack-measurement data to plan releases from the state’s reservoirs.

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California Turns To Dam’s Spillway For 1st Time Since Crisis

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Rich Pedroncelli and Olga R. Rodriguez

An epic winter of rain and snow has refilled California’s reservoirs and pressed into service a spillway at the nation’s tallest dam Tuesday, a $1 billion structure that drained excess water for the first time since it crumbled two years ago and drove hundreds of thousands to flee the threat of catastrophic flooding. Water flowed down the spillway and into the Feather River as storms this week and melting snowpack are expected to swell the lake behind Oroville Dam in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, said Molly White, principal engineer with the California Department of Water Resources.

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One More ‘Atmospheric River’ As Rainy Season Continues

/in , , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)by Mark Gomez

A series of storms this week in the Bay Area, including a weak ‘atmospheric river’ system Friday expected to bring widespread rain to the region, should allow San Francisco and San Jose to reach their annual rainfall totals. Since the start of the water year Oct. 1, San Francisco has received 23.27 inches of rain, just shy of its annual average of 23.65 inches. San Jose has received 14.82 inches (annual average is 14.90) and Oakland 18.57 inches (20.81 average).

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March Blossomed Across San Diego County

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Robert Krier

Forget March madness. For nature lovers and hikers on the thousands of miles of trails in San Diego County, there was March gladness. Wildflowers flourished. Poppies populated the green hillsides, and lilacs and lupines scented the air. Butterflies flitted in swarms from Carlsbad, to Escondido to Borrego Springs. The bugs will be back later this spring, although some may not be as dainty and welcome as the painted lady butterflies that still have plenty of nectar to feast on. “This is an incredible year – absolutely,” said Richard Miller, the chapter director of the San Diego Sierra Club. “This year we’re seeing flowers we have rarely seen before – like 10 years or more.”

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OPINION: Why Taxing Water Is Wrong

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Arant Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

This year presents an ideal opportunity to solve a critical public health issue that our state must address, and one we cannot afford to miss. While most California residents have access to safe drinking water, there are some people living in disadvantaged communities do not. This is primarily because the water systems within these communities are unable to adequately fund the operation and maintenance of treatment facilities capable of providing water in compliance with state and federal standards. Everyone agrees with the urgent need to provide families in these communities access to safe drinking water and is supportive of Gov. Gavin Newsom making it a top priority for the state.

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California Governor’s Plan To Create New Drinking Water Tax Faces Resistance

/in , , /by /CNBC (Los Angeles)by Jeff Daniels

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, wants to create a tax on water customers to fund a safe drinking water program in disadvantaged communities. But a rival proposal by a lawmaker from his own party seeks to tap into the state’s record budget surplus instead. One million Californians live without clean water for drinking or bathing, according to Newsom. He recently called attention to hundreds of water systems in the state that are out of compliance with primary drinking water quality standards because of contamination by lead, arsenic or uranium.

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U.S. Sues California Over River Flow Standards

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Bettina Boxall

The federal government Thursday added to the pile of lawsuits challenging new state requirements to boost river flows in order to help struggling fish populations. The U.S. Department of the Interior, which manages California’s largest irrigation supply project, argues that the flow standards will interfere with its operation of the New Melones Dam and reservoir on the Stanislaus River. The federal complaint, filed in both state and federal court, is the 11th lawsuit launched against the State Water Resources Control Board since it voted in December to require greater flows in the Stanislaus and two other tributaries of the San Joaquin River.

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OPINION: The Salton Sea Is A Disaster In The Making. California Isn’t Doing Anything To Stop It

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Times Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

California’s largest internal body of water is steadily drying up, exposing a lake bed that threatens to trigger toxic dust storms and exacerbate already high levels of asthma and other respiratory diseases in Southern California. Yet there is something about the Salton Sea that leads many lawmakers to ignore the urgency and put off remediation programs. It’s just so far south — off the mental map of officials who represent more densely populated urban areas to the north, like Los Angeles. It is hydrologically unconnected to the Bay Area and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which supplies water for so much of the state’s agricultural and residential use. It is a disaster in the making, yet it is an afterthought.

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California’s Water Infrastructure To Be Tested This Spring As Massive Winter Snowpack Melts Away

/in , , /by /SF Gate (San Francisco)by Mike Branom

As waterlogged storms repeatedly pounded California this winter, social media was filled with variations on a distinct photo theme. The subject was a freshly-plowed road, wedged in between towering white walls of snow measuring 10, 20 feet tall. As long as vehicles had safe passage, a wintry trench would be fine – that snow had to go somewhere, after all. But with an early-spring heatwave in the forecast, it’s time to start thinking about what a massive amount of snowmelt will mean for the state – that water has to go somewhere, after all.

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