You are now in California and the U.S. Home Headline Media Coverage category.

Spillway Boat Ramp Reopens Friday At Lake Oroville

/in , , /by /Chico Enterprise-Record (Chico, Calif.)by Oroville Mercury Register

The Lake Oroville Dam spillway boat ramp will officially reopen to the public (at least, on a partial basis) on Friday — more than two and a half years after it was closed in the aftermath of the spillway incident in February 2017. “We are thrilled to announce the reopening of the largest boat ramp facility at Lake Oroville,” said California’s Department of Water Resources director, Karla Nemeth, in a press release. “We want to thank the public for their patience during the Oroville spillway’s reconstruction.” DWR officials also recently gave the OK to reopen public access to the top of the Oroville Dam in late June.

Full Story

New State Law Will Require Additional Review Of Water Transfers In The Mojave Desert, Targets Cadiz Water Project

/in , , /by /California Water News Daily

Legislation authored by Sen. Richard Roth (D-31st District-Riverside) and signed last week by California Governor Gavin Newsom is expected to require additional review of the Cadiz Water Project by various state agencies effective Jan. 1, 2020. Adding a new section to the State’s water code known as the “wheeling” statutes, SB 307 will require the State Lands Commission to assess transfers of water from groundwater basins to ensure the transfer won’t, according to Governor Newsom’s bill signing message “unreasonably affect the environment and water dependent ecosystem in the surrounding watersheds.” The law does not regulate all statewide water transfers, only those from the Cadiz area of the Mojave Desert and the groundwater basins involved in the Cadiz Water Project.

Full Story

The Future Of Water Security | Serving Up Science

/in , /by /WKAR (Lansing, Mich.)by Sheril Kirshenbaum & Karel Vega

Water is critically important to agriculture as well as many aspects of our lives. On this week’s segment Sheril and Karel speak with Dr. Jay Famiglietti, director of the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada about the future of water.

How much of Earth’s water is fresh water and why is that so important?

Famiglietti: It’s important because that’s the that’s the stuff that that helps us survive and flourish. And it turns out to be just a very small fraction of all the water that covers the earth. But ninety seven percent is ocean water, saline water, and only three percent is freshwater. Of that three percent, most of that is frozen.

Full Story

How The Pacific Ocean Influences Long-Term Drought In The Southwestern U.S.

/in , , /by /UW News (Seattle, Wash.)by Hannah Hickey

The Southwest has always faced periods of drought. Most recently, from late 2011 to 2017, California experienced years of lower-than-normal rainfall. El Niño is known to influence rain in the Southwest, but it’s not a perfect match. New research from the University of Washington and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution explores what conditions in the ocean and in the atmosphere prolong droughts in the Southwestern U.S. The answer is complex, according to a study published Aug. 6 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. “What causes droughts that last for decades in some parts of the world, and why does that happen? Can we predict it?” said first author Luke Parsons, a UW postdoctoral researcher in atmospheric sciences.

Full Story

Winnemem Chief Asks Delta Tunnel Amendment Negotiators: When Will Tribal Water Rights Be Discussed?

/in , , /by /Daily Kosby Dan Bacher

Despite the fact that new Delta Tunnel project supported by Governor Gavin Newsom has not been approved, the Department of Water Resources is proceeding forward with negotiations with its water contractors over the State Water Contract Amendment for the Delta Conveyance. DWR held two meetings, the first on July 24 and the second on July 31. Most of the meeting time on July 24 was not open to the public. DWR was caucusing in its room as the State Water Contractors were caucusing in their room — and those sessions were not open to the public.

Full Story

San Bernardino Basin Has Record Recharge

/in , , /by /Highland Community News (Highland, Calif.)by Hector Hernandez Jr.

Nearing the end of the San Bernardino Basin area’s first water year with above average precipitation since 2010-11, San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District reported more than 20 billion gallons of water captured, a new record for captured groundwater recharge. This milestone was reached the last week of July, with two months left in the water year, and represents enough groundwater to serve 180,000 families for one year, according to a conservation district press release. This is a 30-year record with 1987 being the last year this much groundwater was stored into the region’s aquifers. Prior to that, 20 billion gallons of storage had not been achieved since the late 1940s.

Full Story

Mapping The Strain On Our Water

/in , , /by /The Washington Postby Bonnie Berkowitz and Adrian Blanco

The United States has enough water to satisfy the demand, but newly released data from the World Resources Institute shows some areas are out of balance. The WRI’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas researchers used hydrological models and more than 50 years of data to estimate the typical water supply of 189 countries compared to their demand. The result was a scale of “water stress” — how close a country comes to draining its annual water stores in a typical year. Of course, many years are not typical, and unpredictable weather patterns of a changing climate can have drastic consequences.

Full Story

The California Coast Is Disappearing Under The Rising Sea: Our Choices Are Grim

/in , /by /Phys.orgby Rosanna Xia

The California coast grew and prospered during a remarkable moment in history when the sea was at its tamest. But the mighty Pacific, unbeknownst to all, was nearing its final years of a calm but unusual cycle that had lulled dreaming settlers into a false sense of endless summer. Elsewhere, Miami has been drowning, Louisiana shrinking, North Carolina’s beaches disappearing like a time lapse with no ending. While other regions grappled with destructive waves and rising seas, the West Coast for decades was spared by a rare confluence of favorable winds and cooler water. This “sea level rise suppression,” as scientists call it, went largely undetected.

Full Story

Award-Winning, Time-Saving Tool Created by Sweetwater Authority Employee

/in , , /by /Water News Network

For his initiative in designing and creating a new tool designed to improve safety and efficiency on the job, Sweetwater Authority employee Julio Salazar won the Association of California Water Agencies Joint Powers Insurance Authority H.R. LaBounty Safety Award. The award recognized Salazar for creating a ‘Large AMS Stabilizing Tool.’ Salazar’s design resulted in making the process of replacing 1.5 inch and two inch angle meter stops, or AMS, easier, more ergonomic, and safer. “Our water professionals are industry leaders, finding new ways to work smarter and safer,” said Tish Berge, general manager. “Sweetwater Authority could not be more proud of Julio’s tool and much deserved recognition.”

Full Story

OPINION: Desalination Loses More Urgency In Hyper-Wet Winter

/in , /by /Ventura County Star (Camarillo, Calif.)by Tom Elias

Desalination began to lose its urgency among Californians and their public officials two years ago, after the drought-busting winter of 2016-17, when heavy rain and snow ended dry conditions in most of the state. The idea of drawing potable water from the sea became even less of a priority this year, when an autumn of record-level fires gave way to one of the state’s wettest winters on record. Reservoirs are brimming. Instead of desperately seeking new sources of water, Californians were moaning about the billions of excess gallons that washed into the Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay. Depleted aquifers began their path to replenishment, too, with snow levels in the water-producing Sierra Nevada Mountains far above normal.

Full Story