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Keep The Snow Shovel, Umbrella Handy For Next Couple Of Days In Sierra, Sacramento

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Bill Lindelof and Nashelly Chavez

Gusty winds that blew into the Sacramento area Tuesday afternoon are expected to accompany rain into Wednesday. The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for the Central Valley and foothills, effective until 7 a.m. Wednesday, with a forecast for south winds of 15 to 30 mph and gusts up to 45 mph. Tuesday’s storm brought rain to Sacramento and snow to the Sierra. As of 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, downtown Sacramento had recorded 0.36 inches of rain since midnight, with 0.38 reported at Sacramento Executive Airport, said Johnnie Powell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Sacramento International Airport recorded 0.72 inches, while 0.51 inches was reported in Roseville.

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Is California’s Drought Ending? Powerful Storms, More On The Way

/in /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by Paul Rogers

A series of powerful storms is set to soak California over the next week, bringing heavy rains, flooding risk in some creeks and 10 feet or more of new snow to the Sierra Nevada — the latest sign that the stranglehold of the state’s five-year drought is significantly weakening. At least three storms are forecast to crash in from the Pacific Ocean, weather forecasters said Tuesday, dumping 3 to 4 inches of rain on most Bay Area cities by next Monday, and 8 to 10 inches in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Marin hills and Big Sur coast.

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California’s Stormwater Regulations Are Themselves a Toxic Mess

/in /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

Thousands – perhaps tens of thousands – of California businesses are polluting streams, bays and the ocean, but state environmental regulators don’t know how many companies are doing how much damage. In places like Logan Heights or National City, industry-filled neighborhoods send metals and toxic chemicals into the water, helping to ruin it for humans and poison it for marine life. An entire regulatory system exists to prevent this – to keep businesses honest, residents safe and fish alive. That system is a mess.

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L.A. County Is Looking To Local Sources For Water. Is A South Bay Desalination Plant The Answer?

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Matt Stevens Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

On a picturesque summer afternoon, West Basin Municipal Water District officials chose to woo regulators with a stroll by the beach in El Segundo, stopping to admire an unadulterated strip of California coastline.  “It is beautiful,” said Diane Gatza, West Basin’s water resources engineer. A few hours later, environmental advocates held a town hall two miles away in Manhattan Beach. “The reason we’re here is West Basin Municipal Water District is proposing a … desal plant,” said Bruce Reznik, head of Los Angeles Waterkeeper.

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Water Rates Going Up 6.9% For Residential, 8.3% For Growers

/in /by /Valley Roadrunner (Valley Center)by David Ross Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Your water rates are going up after January 1. Here’s why. Valley Center Municipal Water District (VCMWD) customers in 2017 will be hit by a series of water rate and fixed charge increases after the first of the New Year that are all higher than the annual rate of inflation, but which reflect real price increases that the district must make up since deficit spending is not a viable option.

 

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Newly Elected Helix Water Board Member Resigns

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Karen Pearlman

Newly elected Helix Water District Board member Luis P. Tejeda has announced his resignation effective immediately. In an email letter to Board President Joel Scalzitti, Tejeda said he was stepping down because new business opportunities could present a conflict of interest in his role as a board member. Tejeda, who earned 5,636 votes in the district’s Division 1 area, beat Dan McMillan (5,451 votes), incumbent John Linden (3,963) and Aaron Zajac (795) in November. Division 1 customers live north of Interstate 8 in El Cajon, and include the Fletcher Hills and Bostonia neighborhoods.

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Drought Improvement Should Accelerate With Series of Storms Expected in Northern California

/in /by /KTLA

The slow but steady improvement in California’s drought picture should accelerate in the new year with a series of storms that are expected to dump rain and snow in Northern California. The northern half of the state has already seen impressive rains this fall and winter, filling reservoirs and replenishing the Sierra snowpack, a key source of water for California cities and farmlands.

 

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New Water Bill Holds Promise

/in /by /The Porterville Recorderby Don Curlee

The $10 billion Congressional water bill that was approved last month transfers federal control of some water supplies in California to water authorities at the state level and provides funds for some badly needed structures is being applauded by farmers both north and south. President Obama signed the bill Dec. 16.  Sweeping victories by Republicans in the November elections that gave them majorities in the House and Senate as well as the presidency have brought dramatic changes in the ways California’s water resources — much of them stored or conveyed in federally financed structures — will be allocated.

 

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Chilly Weather Brings Rare Dusting Of Snow To Bay Area Peaks

/in /by /KTVU (Oakland)

The start of 2017 brought a rare dusting of snow to some locations in the Bay Area.  Rain fell overnight Sunday and the cold temperatures meant snow fell in elevations as low as 1,500 feet. Our cameras captured white caps on Mount Diablo in Contra Costa County and St. Helena in Napa County. At noon, it was snowing at Robert Louis Stevenson State Park, on Mt. St. Helena. The parking lot, at 2250 feet elevation, is only about half way up the mountain. That assured that the colder, cloud hidden summit was being pelted by much heavier snow.

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Storms Offer Hope For Easing The Drought

/in /by /Inland News Today (Riverside)

A wet and snowy December may set the stage for what’s ahead this winter – or not. California’s winter is notorious for weather extremes. Some January’s have delivered abundant precipitation while others have been bone dry.
The latest map shows less of the state under extreme drought conditions mostly in the Central Valley and portions of Southern California. The water content of the Sierra Nevada mountain snowpack is at 72 percent of average for this time of winter. The snowpack usually is at its deepest and most water-laden around April 1st.

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