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Even With Drought, A California River Will Begin Flowing Year-Round For The First Time In 60 Years

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Associated Press

A decade ago, environmentalists and the federal government agreed to revive a 150-mile stretch of California’s second-longest river, an ambitious effort aimed at allowing salmon again to swim up to the Sierra Nevada foothills to spawn. A major milestone is expected by the end of the month, when the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation says the stretch of the San Joaquin River will be flowing year-round for the first time in more than 60 years. But the goal of restoring native salmon remains far out of reach. The original plan was to complete the task in 2012.

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Smaller County Cities Could Muddy San Diego’s Plan For Pure Water

/in /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

San Diego’s recycled water project is facing roadblocks at a crucial time, partly thanks to an unusual problem: the city is running short on sewage. San Diego is aiming to make reused sewer water drinkable and widespread within a matter of years. The project is branded Pure Water. The city operates an outdated sewage treatment plant at Point Loma. For years, the city has avoided spending $2 billion to upgrade the plant by promising to build Pure Water.

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A Word From The Local Candidates As Election Day Nears

/in /by /The Fallbrook/Bonsall Village News Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

On Election Day, November 8, area voters will determine the following: Which candidates will take possession of the contested open seats (Division 1 and Division 4) on the Fallbrook Public Utilities District board. Which candidates will seize the contested open seats (Division 2 and Division 5) on the Rainbow Municipal Water District board. Which candidates will occupy the two open seats on the Fallbrook Union High School District board. Which candidates will commandeer the two open seats on the Bonsall Unified School District board.

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Negotiations Moving Forward On Plan To Avert Colorado River ‘Crash’

/in /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Ian James

The largest reservoir in the country now stands at just 37 percent full. Lake Mead reached its lowest point on record this year, and federal water officials estimate the odds of the reservoir slipping into shortage conditions in 2018 at nearly 50-50. The reservoir’s decline reflects a fundamental deficit in how the Colorado River has been divided up for decades. The old system of allotments that sustains farms and cities is doling out much more water than the river can provide, and the strains on the river are being compounded by 16 years of drought and rising temperatures.

 

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California Drought Worries Rise As La Niña Reemerges In Forecast

/in /by /SFGate (San Francisco)by Peter Fimrite

As the days darken, all eyes are on the Sierra Nevada, then the sky, with a glance back at the mountains, to the Internet for forecast information, over to the thermometer — all in a fidgety search for a sign, any sign, that this winter will be wet. It is an increasingly desperate and often futile exercise that farmers, skiers, water officials, meteorologists and residents tired of water rationing slog through each fall in an attempt to decrypt the capricious California climate.

 

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OPINION: Water Conservation Rebates Shouldn’t Be Taxed

/in /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Bob Baker and Art Levine Mentioned: Dan Denning, San Diego County Water Authority

Last week, along with more than 100 other elected and municipal water leaders, we asked the White House to support local efforts to promote water-use efficiency, reuse and green infrastructure solutions in our communities. As cities and towns across the West have risen to the challenge of conserving water in the face of historic drought, consumer rebate programs have grown significantly and have been imperative to our success. However, these rebates may be considered taxable income by the Internal Revenue Service, a clear financial disincentive and one that could seriously undermine conservation efforts.

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Send More Money For Water Recycling, LA Mayor Begs State

/in /by /MyNewsLA.com (Los Angeles)by Ken Stone

More financial assistance is needed from the state to boost water recycling and further other water conservation projects in Los Angeles, city Controller Ron Galperin said Friday in a letter penned with Mayor Eric Garcetti. The state’s $15 million cap on each city for the state water board’s Recycled Water Funding Program has limited the amount of money the city can put into such projects, the elected officials wrote in a letter to the Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Water Resources. They urged the state agencies to consider avoiding these types of caps for future grant programs.

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SSJID: Plan Is About Taking Water, Period

/in /by /Manteca Bulletinby Glenn Kahl

It’s about taking water and not about fish. South San Joaquin Irrigation District General Manager Peter Rietkerk made it clear that is the district’s view of the State Water Board move to mandate unimpaired flows of 40 percent on the Stanislaus, Merced, and Tuolumne rivers between February and June. Rietkerk spoke before the Ripon Rotary Club at its Wednesday noon meeting at Spring Creek Country Club.

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California’s Dire Drought Message Wanes, Conservation Levels Drop

/in /by /NPRby Nathan Rott

Remember the California drought? It was all over the news a year ago, when the state took the unprecedented step of mandating statewide water cutbacks. The Sierra Nevada snowpack was at its lowest recorded level. Rivers and reservoirs were getting shallower and shallower. Wells in rural towns were literally running dry. That drought is still very much a thing. More than 62 percent of California remains in severe to exceptional drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. And without a wet winter the state could be facing a sixth-consecutive year of severe drought.

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California Today: The Drought Isn’t Going Away. What You Can Do.

/in /by /The New York Timesby Mike McPhate

The drought is not going away. Adam Nagourney, the Los Angeles bureau chief, traveled to a Central Valley farming community that became a national symbol of the drought. He wrote on Wednesday about a setback in Californians’ efforts to conserve water that has some experts worried. While the situation has improved since last year, meteorologists say we are a long way from replenishing our groundwater supplies and reservoirs. And the drought shows no sign of ending.What does this all mean for Californians?

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