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Obama Seeks More Coordination on Dealing with Drought

/in /by /San Jose Mercury Newsby By Darlene Superville

President Barack Obama on Monday directed the federal government to come up with a less reactionary and more long-term strategy for dealing with drought.

 About 12.5 percent of the continental U.S. was experiencing drought as of mid-March, said Alice Hill, a key Obama aide on this issue.That translates into more than 39 million people, or about one-eighth of the U.S. population, living with drought in the lower 48 states, mostly in the West and with much of California suffering through its fifth year of dryness.
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Will El Niño’s Water Bounty in Northern California Provide for Dry Southern Cities?

/in /by /San Gabriel Valley Tribune (Monrovia)by By Steve Scauzillo

The so-called March Miracle has unleashed the largest allocation of water from Northern California in four years, more than doubling the flow of imported water from the State Water Project into Central and Southern California.

By increasing the official allocation from the State Water Project from 5 percent in 2014 to 45 percent today, the state Department of Water Resources has sent signals the drought is easing, although far from vanquished.

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How ‘March Miracle’ Replenished California’s Reservoirs, Snowpack

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby By Matt Stevens and Shelby Grad

Up to another foot of snow is expected in the Sierras over the next two days as yet another storm moves through.

Dubbed by some as the “March Miracle,” the storms have helped replenish reservoirs and created a winter wonderland as April approaches. Snow levels in the northern Sierra are now above average. The snow is not enough by any measure to end the drought, but it’s making a dent.

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Will El Niño’s water bounty in Northern California provide for dry southern cities?

/in /by /Pasadena Star-Newsby By Steve Scauzillo

The so-called March Miracle has unleashed the largest allocation of water from Northern California in four years, more than doubling the flow of imported water from the State Water Project into Central and Southern California.

By increasing the official allocation from the State Water Project from 5 percent in 2014 to 45 percent today, the state Department of Water Resources has sent signals the drought is easing, although far from vanquished.

 

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California Drought Continues, Despite March Deluge

/in /by /The Washington Postby By Angela Fritz

No doubt — it’s been a great month for California.

A more favorable, wet El Niño pattern has finally kicked in after a pathetically dry February. Across the northern half of the state, major cities including San Francisco and Sacramento have already seen more rain in the first 10 days of March than they normally do in the entire month.

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OPINION: Practical, Plus High-Tech Solutions Can Ease California’s Water Crisis

/in /by /The Sacramento Bee by By Thomas G. Del Beccaro

The impact of California’s water policies is far-reaching. More than just a question of the length of showers, they directly contribute to high unemployment and poverty. The solution to our water crisis can boost employment and reduce poverty – and it’s high time we get practical about it.

In the last 15 years, I have traveled to 54 of California’s 58 counties. It is heartbreaking to see the effects of our policies in places such as East Porterville, where residents go without water, or the divisions that these policies cause over property rights, reservoirs and dams.

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OPINION: Tunnels Don’t Add Up, Now We Know Why

/in /by /Merced Sun-Star

For years now, Gov. Jerry Brown has been telling us that he will save the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta – the greatest freshwater estuary on this side of the continent – by taking water out of it.

Environmental scientists have hustled out to make his case. Wildlife experts have joined the “Oyez” chorus. And state water managers insist it is our only option. Among the biggest and most enthusiastic backers is the largest irrigation district in the world, Westlands Water District, and the largest urban water supplier in the world, Metropolitan Water District.

 

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Panel: El Niño Won’t Solve Water Woes

/in /by /The Bakersfield Californianby By J.W. Burch IV

On a day that brought with it two inches of rain in Wofford Heights and a quarter inch of rain at Meadows Field, experts gathered to discuss the effect El Niño will have on Kern County this year.

 

The “El Niño: Miracle or Just Mediocre” discussion was held Tuesday by the Water Association of Kern County, along with KBAK.

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OPINION: Hopes Rise as Winter Rain Brings Green Spring

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby By Dan Walters

The National Weather Service distributed a remarkable photo the other day – a satellite view of California showing just how green it has become after heavy winter rains.

The occasion was St. Patrick’s Day, but the photo’s true meaning was the vernal equinox’s age-old promise of renewal. California is green again, except for its deserts and its snow-covered mountains, and its reservoirs are, for the first time in years, holding healthy amounts of water – so much, in fact, that releases are being increased to make room for melting snow.

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Rancho Bernardo Residents Drank More Water in February

/in /by /Rancho Bernardo-4S Ranch Patchby By Mirna Alfonso Quoted: Dana Friehauf

Water consumption in San Diego County jumped 5 percent last month compared with February 2013 because of record-setting warm temperatures, the San Diego County Water Authority reported today.

Despite the hike, customers in the region have still cut back their use a total of 21 percent since the state implemented water saving rules last June, according to the Water Authority. The state-mandated goal for San Diego County is a 20 percent reduction from 2013 usage levels.

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