Crews have finished placement of the structual concrete cap on the emergency spillway at Oroville Dam, according to the California Department of Water Recources.The cap can be seen in a DWR video released June 10, 2019. The work took place from January to May 2019. It’s been over two years since a hole opened up in the spillway, forcing the evacuation of nearly 180,000 people in California.
Unsafe drinking water is common in Northern Californian cities. So common, in fact, that Governor Gavin Newsom called it a crisis during his State of the State address in February. That’s why water officials in Sacramento County are taking steps to solve the problem for residents of Hood, a small town located 20 miles south of Sacramento. Sacramento County Water Resources recently broke ground on the new Hood Water Treatment Plant, providing a new source of safe and reliable drinking water for the community.
Scientists have found a gigantic freshwater aquifer hidden deep below the ocean. The surprising discovery, from a new survey of the sub-seafloor off the northeast U.S. coast by researchers from Columbia University, appears to to be the largest formation of this type anywhere in the world — stretching from Massachusetts to New Jersey and extending continuously out about 50 miles to the edge of the continental shelf. Researchers said that if it was discovered on the surface it would create a lake covering some 15,000 square miles.
Recently Governor Newsom issued a call for a state portfolio of actions to manage water under rapidly changing climate and other conditions. Portfolio approaches attempt to integrate and balance a variety of actions (supply and demand management, surface water and aquifers) for single purposes (water supply, floods, safe drinking water) and often for multiple benefits, involving multiple interests. A previous essay reviewed the successes and limitations of portfolio approaches to water management in California
Will Utah’s water supply catch up with the state’s rising population, expected to double by 2065? It was one of the several questions posed at Utah State University’s Research Landscapes series focused on Utah’s waterscapes. The event Tuesday at the O.C. Tanner headquarters in Salt Lake City attracted a mix of state and local government officials, businesses leaders, developers and nonprofit organizations. Rep. Timothy Hawkes, R-Centerville, said now is a great point in time to reflect on Utah’s water, as he remembers a time when talking about water would invoke ridicule or hostility.
Growing water-intensive crops like avocados in San Diego County is no small feat. Producing avocados requires the use of innovative farming methods to supply the trees with enough water. It’s the use of innovative farming methods that earned John Burr the title of San Diego County’s Farmer of the Year – an honor he recently celebrated on KUSI-TV with Water Authority Board Chair Jim Madaffer as part of the agency’s Brought to You by Water outreach and education program. Over the past few months, the Water Authority partnered with local agriculture industry leaders like the San Diego County Farm Bureau to highlight the importance of safe and reliable water supplies for more than 5,500 local farms that are part of the county’s $4.8 billion agriculture industry.
On an average day on the Burroughs farm outside of Denair, about an hour’s drive southeast of Modesto, you might witness the surprising sight of cows wandering amidst the almond trees. Chickens might peck their way by. And most definitely there will be plenty of free-spirited birds and bees and insects flickering across the scene, not to mention flowers and grasses unbound on the ground, making for a thick undermat amidst the rows of trees.
An invasive mussel that has taken up residence in Lake Powell on the Colorado River is threatening Utah’s push to develop a $1.8 billion pipeline to deliver water to fast-growing areas. The Army Corps of Engineers has asked the state to provide a plan on how it will prevent the pipeline from transporting quagga mussels from the lake on the Arizona-Utah border, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Friday. The 140-mile (225-kilometer) pipeline aims to transport water to Washington and Kane counties in southern Utah. The line is planned to end at Sand Hollow Reservoir near St. George.
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced Thursday it will increase the 2019 State Water Project allocation to 75 percent from 70 percent. According to DWR officials, this will be the final allocation for the calendar year. The initial allocation in November 2018 was 10 percent. “This winter’s robust storms resulted in above average snowpack and reservoir levels bringing California a much-improved water year from last year,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth in a press release. “The full reservoirs will provide a healthy buffer for if we return to drier conditions next year.” According to the DWR’s website, a full reservoir provides optimal recreation opportunities and serves as a vital “water bank account” to help California cope with future drought conditions.
