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Los Angeles Moves to Prevent Flooding in Area Near Aqueduct

/in /by /Associated Press (As published by U.S. News & World Report)by Brian Melley

The threat of destructive flooding from a monstrous Sierra Nevada snowpack that supplies Los Angeles with its water led Mayor Eric Garcetti to declare an emergency Monday to protect the city’s aqueduct system and the people who live nearby. Flooding is not a threat in the nation’s second-largest city. But it could swamp the rural Owens Valley hundreds of miles north, which has long had a fraught relationship with the metropolis that surreptitiously bought rights to its water and channeled it south more than a century ago.

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California Drought’s Biggest Lesson? Build More Water Storage

/in /by /Redding Record Searchlight

The winter’s welcome wet spell has brought at least an unofficial end to California’s drought. But has the rain washed away the most obvious lesson of the Golden State’s dry weather? Quite possibly. The Democrats who control state government say the right things about continuing to push water conservation and to move away from unmetered water systems. But when it comes to perhaps the drought’s most obvious lesson — the need to sharply increase water storage capacity — their silence is deafening.

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County Residents Can Get Break On Water Leak Repairs This Week

/in /by /Patch.com (Rancho Bernardo) Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

San Diegans will be able to get a financial break on water leak repairs this week from a San Diego County Water Authority program. From today through Sunday, participating plumbers will offer 10 percent discounts on products and services needed to fix leaks, up to $100. The program is a partnership between the Water Authority and Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association.

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Wet Weather Abates Drought In Southern California

/in /by /AndNowUKnow (Sacramento)by Eva Roethler

The Santa Fe Irrigation District’s (SFID) board voted unanimously, last week, to lift all restrictions on water use by its customers—essentially declaring that the official drought has ended for the 20,000 residents of Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe, and Fairbanks Ranch. Local news source the Del Mar Times noted that the decision came at the tail end of one of the wettest winters in the state’s recent history—during which time five years of drought gave way to concerns over flooding.

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Little Change In Oroville Dam Operations, Feather River Flow

/in /by /Oroville Mercury Register

Little has changed in the operation of Oroville Dam or in the flows in the Feather River. Flows in the part of the river past downtown Oroville are 40,000 cubic-feet per second, according to a Department of Water Resources press release. Another 7,000 cfs is entering the river at the Thermalito Afterbay outlet downstream from town. Most of the water — 40,000 cfs — is coming down the damaged main spillway. Another 6,450 cfs is being released through the Hyatt Powerhouse under the dam.

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Endless Snow Cheers Skiers But Has Downsides in California’s Sierra Nevada

/in /by /The Wall Street Journalby Jim Carlton

David Manahan has a lot of responsibilities as director of the Sierra Expeditionary Learning School here. This year, a major one has been digging out from under the mountains of snow burying sidewalks and classroom entrances of the K-8 charter school.

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Toilet To Tap: California Brewery Makes Beer With Treated SEWAGE Water… And Curious Customers Describe The Taste As ‘Outstanding’

/in /by /Daily Mail (London, U.K.)by Forrest Hanson

A Southern California brewery has successfully tested a beer using treated sewage water. Stone Brewing, a large craft brewing operation headquartered in Escondido, presented its Full Circle Pale Ale to curious customers at an event Thursday in San Diego. The new ale is made using recycled, treated sewage water and is part of San Diego’s plan, ‘Pure Water San Diego,’ to get a third of its water from recycled sources by 2021.

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Big Snowstorms Put Colorado River Drought Plan On Ice

/in /by /Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, Ariz.)by Tony Davis

An unusually snowy winter in the northern Rockies has for now helped put the kibosh on a statewide plan to conserve Colorado River water to stop Lake Mead from falling too low. Future conservation efforts are highly uncertain. For many months, water agencies including Tucson Water have discussed a plan to save 1.2 million acre-feet of river water over three years to delay the threat of shortages to the Central Arizona Project, which brings drinking water to Tucson and Phoenix and irrigation water to Central Arizona farmers.

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Wet Winter Means End Of Drought For Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe Water District Customers

/in /by /Del Mar Timesby Joe Tash Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The drought is over, at least in the Santa Fe Irrigation District (SFID). At its meeting on Thursday, March 16, the district’s board voted unanimously to lift all restrictions on water use by its customers, essentially declaring that for the agency, which serves some 20,000 customers in Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe and Fairbanks Ranch, the drought that has plagued California for the past five years is a thing of the past.

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River Running High As DWR Opens Space In Lake Oroville

/in /by /Chico Enterprise-Record News

Lake Oroville is dropping about 4 feet a day and the Feather River is running high, as the Department of Water Resources empties space in the lake to absorb storm runoff and snowmelt. DWR is releasing 40,000 cubic-feet per second through the damaged main Oroville Dam spillway, and another 6,750 cfs through the Hyatt Powerhouse underneath the dam. As inflow to the lake is ranging from 16,000-25,000 cfs, the lake level has declined since the spillway gates were opened Friday for the first time since Feb. 27.

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