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California’s Water Conditions Much Improved – For How Long?

/in /by /Western Farm Press (Clarksdale, Mississippi) by Todd Fichette 2
What a difference a couple of years make as California reservoirs that were once teetering on empty are now overflowing. Water conditions are much improved in California in 2017 after several years of drought in recent years dried up lakes and streams across the state. Record rain and snow that fell on the state during the winter filled reservoirs and added over 70 feet of snow pack that is now melting under the blistering heat of summer. In places like Millerton Reservoir and Pine Flat Reservoir runoff has filled the lakes to capacity.
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Residents Wary Over Delta Tunnels Effect On Waterways, Livlihoods

/in /by /CBS San Francisco Bay Area

The state’s plan to take water from the Sacramento River north of the Delta and tunnel it down to pumping stations in the south has people who live in the area up in arms. Many believe the fix is in to send more water to San Joaquin Valley farmers and Southern California. “It’s a water grab,” said Tim Neuharth, a Delta pear farmer on the Sacramento River and owner of a private beach resort at a spot called Steamboat Landing.

 

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House Passes California Drought Bill

/in /by /The Hill (Washington, D.C.)by Timothy Cama & David Henry

The House passed a bill on Wednesday that California Republicans say will help the state fight future droughts. The legislation, from Rep. David Valadao (R) and 14 other California Republicans, looks to expand water storage and improve water delivery as a way to get more water to the state’s Central Valley during times of drought.The bill overhauls federal regulations and permitting procedures that supporters say have hamstrung California and other states in the West that have faced persistent drought concerns.

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California Water Bill Passes House, But Democrats Vow To Fight It In The Senate

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sarah D. Wire

Some of California’s decisions about how to use its water would be relegated to the federal government under a bill passed by the House on Wednesday. Republicans say the bill will bring more water to the parched Central Valley. California’s Democratic senators have promised to fight the bill in the Senate because it weakens California’s ability to manage its own resources. The Gaining Responsibility on Water Act, sponsored by Central Valley Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), was approved in the House by a 230-190 vote largely along party lines.

 

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How Conservation Helps Keep Water Costs Down

/in /by /News Deeply by Mary Ann Dickinson

By many accounts, California’s efforts to manage the strains placed on its water supplies by the recent and unprecedented five-year drought can be considered an unqualified success. Urban water agencies stepped up to meet the challenge posed by a bold state order: Reduce use by 25 percent. Their creative approaches and sustained efforts helped avoid significant damage to local economies and community well-being throughout the state.

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California Water Bill Passes House, but Democrats Vow to Fight it in the Senate

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sarah D. Wire

Some of California’s decisions about how to use its water would be relegated to the federal government under a bill passed by the House on Wednesday. Republicans say the bill will bring more water to the parched Central Valley. California’s Democratic senators have promised to fight the bill in the Senate because it weakens California’s ability to manage its own resources. The Gaining Responsibility on Water Act, sponsored by Central Valley Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), was approved in the House by a 230-190 vote largely along party lines.

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Draining the Delta Like Owens & Tulare Lakes

/in /by /Manteca Bulletinby Dennis Wyatt

So who had the original sin in California water development — Los Angeles or the San Joaquin Valley?
While LA’s campaign — devious or otherwise — of snapping up almost all of the Owens Valley groundwater rights and diverting eastern Sierra streams to the point that it dried up Owens Lake that covered 17.5 miles long and 10 miles wide with a depth up to 3 feet until 1913, is still part of California’s water war narrative today, Tulare Lake doesn’t even rate a whisper.

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Sacramentans are Still Supposed to Water Only Twice a Week

/in /by /KCRA 3 (Sacramento)by Sarah Heise

The California drought has been declared over for several months, but some may be surprised to learn there are still watering restrictions in effect in Sacramento. “Conservation in Sacramento remains a way of life,” the city’s website read. The city of Sacramento is continuing a policy of holding residents to watering only two days per week this summer, despite the state lifting its emergency drought order. “Yards can survive on two days per week of watering,” the city’s website said.

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PODCAST: Big Decisions Loom On “Twin Tunnels” Delta Water Project

/in /by /Valley Public Radio News (Clovis)by Joe Moore

It could be California’s biggest water infrastructure project in two generations – a plan to build two massive, 35 mile-long tunnels deep beneath the Sacramento San Joaquin River Delta. Dubbed California WaterFix, it would send water from Northern California to farms and cities in the south, bypassing the fragile delta ecosystem. After years of study and fierce debate, the plan could be headed for a turning point in the coming months.

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Watering Rules Ease for Some

/in /by /Stockton Recordby Alex Breitler

Residents in unincorporated urban areas such as Lincoln Village and parts of Colonial Heights can finally water their lawns a bit more liberally after county supervisors on Tuesday eased water conservation rules that date back to the drought. Most notably, residents can now water three days a week rather than just two. “I can tell you there are several people in my district who were very happy with this decision,” Supervisor Chuck Winn told county staff on Tuesday.

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