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California Water Supplies Pass ‘Stress Test’

The vast majority of California’s urban water districts report they have enough supplies to withstand three more years of drought, clearing them from an imminent return to state-mandated cutbacks under a new program of locally controlled conservation. The State Water Resources Control Board in May dropped a statewide mandate to cut urban water use by 25% from 2013 levels, after California got a reprieve from its five-year drought by more abundant rain and snow this past winter.

California Water Districts: We Can Handle Three More Years of Drought

State officials will not force most California water districts to reduce water use this year, even as they caution that the five-year drought persists and note that drought-fueled wildfires continue to wreak havoc. The State Water Resources Control Board in May asked California’s 411 urban water districts to evaluate how much water they would need in the next three years if drought continued – and whether their supplies would meet that demand. Districts that certified their supplies are adequate do not face mandatory water-use cuts. Those with inadequate supplies must set conservation goals proportional to their anticipated shortfall.

 

Sea Level Rise Would Redraw the Map

Many San Diego properties would have a lot more ‘ocean’ in their ‘oceanfront’ if climate predictions come true. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration keeps track of various climate scenarios, and maps what areas would be affected.

Lake Mead Likely to Skirt Shortage Line for Another Year

Despite sinking to a record low in early July, Lake Mead should be just full enough on Jan. 1 to avoid an unprecedented federal shortage declaration for at least one more year. Decisive projections released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation call for the reservoir east of Las Vegas to start 2017 with a surface elevation of about 1,079 feet above sea level. That’s roughly 4 feet above the line that would force Nevada and Arizona to cut their Colorado River water use. Under guidelines adopted in 2007, the bureau uses its August projections for Lake Mead to determine whether to declare a shortage.

OPINION: Investors Call on Tech to be Smart About Water

Recently, Bloomberg reported that investors in massive data centers are making water availability a critical measurement in their decisions — especially in drought-ridden California. Data centers, giant buildings packed with servers that power our virtual world, generate tremendous amounts of intolerable heat. Traditionally, the centers have large cooling systems that require millions of gallons of fresh water. That’s a big problem because water is increasingly in short supply. For the last five years, California has had severe water shortages, forcing Gov. Jerry Brown to issue a series of emergency restrictions.

BLOG: Northern California Towns Are Running Out of Water

Paskenta population 112, is an out-of-the-way place where rustic ranches grace grass-covered hills rolling west toward Mendocino Pass. Since the lumber mill closed in 1992, the Tehama County community 130 miles (210km) north of Sacramento has been settling into bucolic tranquility. A water crisis has triggered a rude awakening. Thomes Creek, the sole source of water for the Paskenta Community Services District, is dropping. A pump that taps the underflow from a pool in the creek is a mere 6ft (1.8m) below the current water level, said Janet Zornig, the district’s manager.

 

Most Water Agencies Can Ease Up on Conservation Under New Standards

California may be in its fifth year of drought, but on Tuesday, state water regulators effectively turned back the clock to 2013. Staff members of the State Water Resources Control Board announced that 343 of the state’s 411 water districts reported having enough water to meet their customers’ demands — even if the next three years are unusually dry. To blunt the impact of drought, the state required water providers to reduce their consumption compared to 2013 levels. Each provider was assigned a so-called conservation standard, which was expressed as a percentage.

Close Call: Feds See 2018 Shortage in Lake Mead Water Supply

Amid punishing drought, federal water managers projected Tuesday that — by a very narrow margin— the crucial Lake Mead reservoir on the Colorado River won’t have enough water to make full deliveries to Nevada and Arizona in 2018. A federal report shows the surface level of the lake behind Hoover Dam is expected to remain high enough this year to avoid a shortage declaration in 2017. But it’ll still be a mere 4 feet above a 1,075-foot elevation action point. For 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation projects the lake level could fall short — by less than 1 foot.

Metropolitan Makes $6.67 mil. Solar Investment at Water Treatment Plant

The Metropolitan Water District‘s board of directors voted Tuesday to invest $6.76 million to develop a 1-megawatt solar power generating facility on six acres at the district’s Joseph Jensen Water Treatment Plant in Granada Hills. The solar installation is expected to produce 2.3 million kilowatt-hours of clean, renewable energy a year, enough to power about 325 homes, according to the MWD. As part of Tuesday’s action, Metropolitan’s board awarded a $4.88 million contract to Riverside-based Sol Construction Co. to construct the solar facility. Construction is slated to begin next month, with plans to start up the solar plant in late 2017.

OPINION: Desalination Plant’s Value to Ratepayers Is Clear (By Mark Weston)

More than two decades ago, the San Diego County Water Authority heard a clarion call from the region’s ratepayers – a call demanding better water supply reliability. A call to never again let our region – our communities, our friends, our neighbors, our businesses – be vulnerable to crippling water shortages, as when the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California cut water supplies to our region in 1991 by 31 percent for more than a year.