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Farmers Were Paid $32M To Pump And Not Farm. Was It A Waste Of Money?

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow

In a move that could have ramifications across the arid West, a government watchdog agency accused federal water regulators of wasting taxpayer funds when they gave Klamath Basin farmers more than $32 million to stop growing crops and to pump groundwater instead of drawing from lakes and rivers.The funds were spent in a failed bid to protect endangered fish and wildlife near the California-Oregon border, the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of the Interior said in a report this week.

 

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What A Potentially Short And Weak La Niña Means For SoCal’s Ongoing Drought

/in /by /89.3 KPCC (Pasadena)by Natalie Chudnovsky

La Niña, a phenomenon marked by the cooling of water in the equatorial Pacific, is a major driving force behind weather around the globe. Just last month, the forecast was neutral, which meant chances of Los Angeles getting its average of 15 inches of precipitation looked good. But the new report points to a 70 percent chance of La Niña development in the fall, sloping to 55 percent in the winter. That might mean a drier, warmer winter in the southern tier of the U.S., which doesn’t bode well for SoCal as it enters its sixth year of drought.

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Don’t Expect Much Snow From The Soaking Storm Approaching California

/in /by /SFGate (San Francisco)by Kristin Hanes

California has been trying to fill its reservoirs for 5 years, and it will get a little help from a storm expected to hit later this week. Right now, Lake Shasta is only at 60% capacity and Lake Oroville is at 44%, with other reservoirs across the state even lower. “So, there’s plenty of room in our reservoirs to accommodate runoff from the storms expected to arrive this weekend,” says Doug Carlson with the Department of Water Resources. “But really, the ground has become so dry that much of the rainfall is expected to be soaked up like a dry sponge.”

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Strange Bedfellows Form Coalition To Increase Water Supply

/in /by /Capital Public Radio (Sacramento)by Amy Quinton

California’s drought has brought about a strange partnership that includes corporations like Coca-Cola and environmental groups like the Nature Conservancy.  They’re partnering on projects aimed at helping increase water supply in California. The California Water Action Collaborative, or CWAC, has announced four projects to help create a sustainable water supply as the state enters its sixth year of drought. The projects include flooding farms to recharge groundwater, removing invasive species in watersheds and thinning trees in dense forested areas of the Sierra Nevada. The groups will also look at ways to implement the California Water Action Plan.

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Seaside Courier Recommends Candidates For Consideration

/in /by /Seaside Courier (Encinitas) Mentioned: Mark Muir

The editorial board of the Seaside Courier has studied the various candidates in key coastal North County races and has prepared its candidate recommendations for the Nov. 8 elections. We are not making recommendations in all races, and in other races we are not supporting a full slate of candidates. We are only asking that you give consideration to voting for the following candidates for the following stated reasons. Encinitas needs Paul Gaspar as its next mayor.

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19 inches of rain expected to dump on northwestern California this week

/in /by /SF Gateby Kristin Hanes

The same storm that’s expected to dump 1 inch of rain on San Francisco later this week is going to really let loose in Northwestern California. Over 19 inches of rain could fill empty river and stream beds and head toward the Shasta, Whiskeytown and Trinity reservoirs, which need the water. Jan Null, a meteorologist with Golden Gate Weather Services, says this moisture is a result of the Pacific storm Typhoon Songda. He says while this amount of rain is unusual for October, it’s really not that unusual for that part of California.

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Coastkeeper Says Water Board Sends Wrong Message

/in /by /San Diego Readerby Dave Rice Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Despite the state’s ongoing exceptional drought, a recent report shows conservation efforts are easing, particularly along the southern coast. In April 2015, governor Jerry Brown signed an executive order targeting a 25-percent reduction in water use. Initially, those efforts were met, with the state using 27 percent less water in August 2015 than the same month in 2013. By August 2016, however, water use rose to the point that there was just a 17.7 percent reduction over the 2013 baseline. In the state’s south coast region, which includes much of San Diego County, conservation was even lower at 15.4 percent.

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The Ocean Isn’t the Answer in California

/in /by /Bloomberg L.P. (New York)by Justin Fox Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Whenever there’s a drought in California, a seemingly obvious source of new water supply beckons. The state abuts a giant ocean. Why not just take the salt out of some of that seawater? It’s the high-tech, forward-looking thing to do, right? It’s also the really expensive thing to do. Of all the options for increasing the state’s water supply considered in a report out Thursday from the Pacific Institute, an environmental think tank based in Oakland, California, desalination costs the most per acre-foot (325,851 gallons, 1.2 million liters) of water produced:

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City To Learn About Environmental Impact Of “Pure Water” Plan

/in /by /San Diego Patch Mentioned: Carlsbad Desalination Plant

An environmental impact report on San Diego’s nearly $3 billion plan to recycle wastewater into drinking water will go before the City Council’s Environment Committee Wednesday. Supporters of the so-called “Pure Water San Diego” program say it will provide residents and businesses with a stable, local supply of potable water that won’t be affected by drought or the uncertainties of future imports. The product will be purified and mixed with water from traditional sources before it’s delivered to customers.

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BLOG: Ten Experts To Watch On Urban Water Policy And Infrastructure

/in /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Eline Gordts

Five years of drought have brought both big challenges and big changes to California’s urban water systems. Amid yearlong mandatory water cuts, residents of California’s cities have made massive efforts to conserve water at home and at work. Many water agencies have stepped up programs to treat and reuse water. Policymakers have made headway in regulations for water recycling. But there’s ample room for growth. Experts around the world are watching how Californian cities think, research and innovate to create a path of sustainable growth in a future with fewer water resources.

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