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Lessons from Orange County, California’s Water Strategy

/in , /by /GreenBiz (Oakland)by John Addison

Water is a serious issue for the cities of the world. Even in a wealthy nation such as the United States, people die from toxic water in Flint, Michigan, confront megadroughts in Los Angeles, face salinated aquifers in Miami and worry in Omaha about oil pipeline spills in the Ogallala aquifer. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in its annual U.S. infrastructure report card gives U.S. drinking water a grade of D. Water is the greatest challenge in resiliency planning. Southern California heavily depends on water from the Colorado River.

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Like Fruit, Vegetables, and Almonds? Scientists Have Bad News.

/in , /by /Mother Jonesby Tom Philpott

So far, this winter has brought ample snows to the Sierra Nevada, the spine of mountains that runs along California’s eastern flank. That’s good news for Californians, because the range’s melted snow provides 60 percent of the state’s water supply. Anyone in the United States who likes fruit, vegetables, and nuts should rejoice, too, because water flowing from the Sierra’s streams and rivers is the main irrigation source for farms in the arid Central Valley, which churns out nearly a quarter of the food consumed here.

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Storm Departs Leaving Cool, Dry Weather

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Debbie L. Sklar

A Christmas Eve winter storm drenching Holiday Bowl fans and dropping varying amounts of rain countywide — and snow in the mountains above 4,000 feet — has departed leaving cool, dry conditions, the National Weather Service said Tuesday. “A very dry, continental air mass has now moved in,” NWS forecaster Joe Dandrea said. “Amounts were anywhere from a trace, to a few hundredths of an inch to as much as a half-inch or more,” he said. “Snow fell down to about 3,500 feet.” Rainfall amounts were about half an inch in Lakeside and Lemon Grove. El Cajon received 0.64 of an inch. Palomar Mountain got 0.77 of an inch.

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Couple Fined After Claiming to Use More Water than the Earth Holds

/in , /by /Redding Record Searchlightby Damon Arthur

A couple with rights to take water from a Trinity County creek has been fined $10,000 for overstating the amount of water they diverted, at one point claiming they used more water than is actually available on Earth. As part of an agreement with the State Water Resources Control Board, the couple has agreed to pay for misstating the amount of water they took from Price Creek, a tributary to the Trinity River. Everyone who diverts water is required to report to the Water Board the amount used.

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2018 Another Dry Year for California

/in , /by /Courthouse News Serviceby Matthew Renda

As the Golden State moves into 2019, it will close the book on an abnormally dry year with hopes that a few rain storms can stave off the prospect of another drought. Two consecutive years of devastating wildfires killing dozens of residents, causing billions in property damage and reducing millions of acres to ash has demonstrated the effects of the prolonged drought stretching from 2012 until 2017. Storms finally brought much-needed precipitation in 2017, replenishing reservoirs and aquifers, but the moisture content in the forest vegetation and the swathes of dead trees in the Sierra Nevada attest to the consequences of the sustained dry weather.

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Wind Replaces Wet as San Diego County Welcomes the New Year

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

2018 went out wet in San Diego County. 2019 comes in windy. Strong winds are expected in the county mountains from early morning New Year’s Day through early afternoon, with some spots seeing gusts of 45 mph. The inland valleys could see 25 mph gusts Tuesday, and 15 mph gusts are possible at the coast. The winds, which are coming out of the northeast, are expected to be much stronger in the San Bernardino and Orange County mountains, where gusts could reach 65 mph. Blustery conditions are forecast for the Rose Parade in Pasadena on Tuesday morning.

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Environment Report: Big Northern California Water Deals Will Trickle Down to San Diego

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

In this week’s Environment Report, let’s focus on an issue that doesn’t always get much attention in Southern California: the rivers of Northern California. Every so often, people get together and divide a river. That’s been happening a lot lately in the final throes of Gov. Jerry Brown’s term. State and federal water officials have worked furiously to redo how we all share the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers and their numerous tributaries. At stake for cities and farms is how much water will be available and at what price. At stake for fish is their very existence.

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Winter Is Shrinking, Scripps Study Finds, Posing New Fire, Water Risks

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Deborah Sullivan Brennan

Across the mountains of the West, the landscape of winter is changing. Deep snowpacks that held fast through winter, then melted in a torrent each spring, are instead seeping away earlier in the year. The period of winter weather is shrinking, too, with autumn lasting longer and spring starting earlier. The findings by Amato Evan, a professor of atmospheric and climate science with Scripps Institution of Oceanography, show changes to Western hydrology that could jeopardize water resources, flood control, fire management and winter recreation.

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OPINION: 2019 Will Be The Year L.A. Starts To Wean Itself From Imported Water

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Mark Gold

It’s been hard to see 2018 as a good year for water in California. In November, voters rejected a bond that would have provided almost $9 billion for water resource infrastructure and protection projects across the state. Congress, with support from Gov. Jerry Brown and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, worked to sidestep important environmental protections for the San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. And the Trump administration rolled back protections for hundreds of miles of streams and rivers in the Southwest as well as thousands of acres of wetlands.

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California’s Droughts Hurt Fight Against Climate Change. Study Tells Us Why

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

Recent droughts across the West have belted drinking-water supplies, withered crops and fanned deadly wildfires. They’ve also squeezed hydroelectric facilities, with the less obvious side effect of hampering efforts to reduce greenhouse gas pollution. A new study out of Stanford University finds that 10 percent of the total carbon dioxide spewed from California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho for power generation this century is the result of states turning to fossil fuels when water was too sparse to spin electrical turbines at dams.

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