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New Recycled Water Purification System Coming To Oceanside

/in , , /by /The Coast News by Samantha Taylor

The city is suiting up for construction of a new facility later this year that will purify recycled water to create a new, local source of drinking water for residents by 2022. Pure Water Oceanside is a water purification system that aims to reduce the city’s reliance on imported water, improve groundwater resources, increase local water supply and strengthen the city’s resiliency to drought and climate change in an environmentally sound process.

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Colorado River Drought Plan Gets First Congressional Hearing

/in , , /by /The Associated Press

A plan that outlines how seven states will deal with declining flows in a major river in the U.S. West is getting its first hearing in Congress. The drought contingency plan aims to keep two Colorado River reservoirs from crashing. Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming recently agreed to push for federal legislation to implement the plan. Their goal is to have a bill approved by April 22 so that Mexico’s water contributions also kick in next year, though nothing’s been introduced yet.

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Here’s What The Colorado River Deal Will Do, And Why Some Criticize Arizona’s Approach

/in , , /by /The Arizona Republic (Phoenix)by Ian James

Gov. Doug Ducey has called Arizona’s Colorado River drought plan the most significant piece of water legislation signed in the state in nearly 40 years. The plan was worked out during seven months of negotiations and enables Arizona to join a larger shortage-sharing agreement with California and Nevada that will spread around the burden of expected water cutbacks. Now that all the states have endorsed the agreement, Congress will hold initial hearings on Wednesday and Thursday to consider authorizing the deal.

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Oroville Dam’s Rebuilt Spillway Is Nearing Its First Use Since 2017 Disaster

/in , , /by /KQED (San Francisco)by Dan Brekke

The agency that manages Oroville Dam says the facility’s rebuilt spillway is likely to be pressed into service for the first time as soon as next week. The Department of Water Resources announced Tuesday that Lake Oroville has risen close to the point where the agency will need to release water to maintain empty reservoir space for runoff from incoming storms and spring snowmelt. DWR said it will give the public between 24 and 72 hours advance notice of a release, which can be expected to cause relatively rapid rises on the Feather River downstream of the dam.

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Atmospheric Rivers: California Could Experience More Intense Rains In The Future

/in , , /by /Yale Climate Connectionsby Diana Madson

Imagine a river flowing through the sky – and all of its water dropping down to earth. That’s kind of what happens during many winter storms on the west coast. A so-called “atmospheric river” is a long, flowing band of water vapor – typically a few hundred miles wide – that contains vast amounts of moisture. When it moves inland over mountains, the moisture rises, causing it to cool and fall to earth as rain or snow. Duane Waliser of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory says atmospheric rivers are often beneficial, because they provide about half of California’s fresh water supply. But strong atmospheric river systems can also be dangerous – especially when they stall, or produce rain on top of snow.

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OPINION: California Water Tax Plan Is Back — And Newsom’s Version Is The Worst Yet

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune

Two years ago, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board opposed a bill that would add a maximum 95-cents fee to the monthly bills of all but low-income water customers to help pay for water infrastructure improvements in some 300 communities with about 1 million residents. These residents, clustered in agricultural areas in the Central Valley, have to rely on unsafe water supplies.

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Reservoir Releases Shift From Flood Control To Storage

/in , , /by /KCRA (Sacramento)by Vicki Gonzalez

Water managers are shifting from flood control to water storage at reservoirs across the California. Folsom Lake is at roughly 70 percent capacity, with about twice the amount of inflow as outflow. “We can kind of buffer up and down — give or take — to try and get that target,” said Todd Plain with Bureau of Reclamation. “That target, as time goes on, is moving up as we fill. So, it’s OK to be to be a little bit above average right now.”

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As Trump Tries To Roll Back Clean Water Rules, California Seeks Stronger Protections

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

When grower Brad Goehring looks across his rows of grapes, he can’t help but see a pool of murky water that breaks the rhythm of his vines, which otherwise stretch steadily into the Sierra foothills. The pool is relatively small, maybe half an acre, but vital, according to environmental regulators. They say it helps to clean the runoff from Goehring’s fields and provides a home for critters such as marsh birds. And by law, it can’t be disrupted, which is what makes this mini wetland a headache for Goehring.

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Threat For Flooding, Heavy Snow Renewed Throughout California Through Midweek

/in , , /by /Accuweatherby Faith Eherts

Another round of soaking winter weather is on the horizon for the West Coast, with a series of storms expected to impact the region through midweek. Dry weather has been rare for much of California over the past week, with Sunday acting as a brief respite before more rain arrived overnight. “Unsettled weather will continue across the West Coast this week as more rain and mountain snow targets Northern California, Oregon and Washington,” according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Max Vido.

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High Hopes For Colorado River Compact Plan

/in , , /by /Montrose Daily Press (Montrose, Colo.)by Katharhynn Heidelberg

After roughly seven years of work, Colorado River Compact states have reached an agreement for drought contingency plans that would maintain levels at lakes Powell and Mead. The contingency plans allow Colorado and the other Upper Basin states (New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) to control their own destiny, Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association Manager Steve Anderson said. “It, one, gives us the right to use the storage in the Colorado River Storage Project Act reservoirs to help with the level of Lake Powell. That’s a big win,” he said.

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