After years of drought and months of speculation about how much precipitation a strong El Niño weather pattern would bring, the results are in:
We’ve had a roughly average year. On about this date last year, Gov. Jerry Brown stood in a dry field near Lake Tahoe and announced that he would require California’s urban water districts to cut use by 25 percent. Snowpack on that day was roughly 5 percent of normal.
State drought surveyors will trudge through deep snow Wednesday to manually measure what could be close to a normal Sierra Nevada snowpack for this time of year.
A year ago, Gov. Jerry Brown stood on the same spot — then a dusty patch of ground with no snow — to announce that the dire drought required residents to cut back water use by 25 percent.
In a symbolic moment in California’s slow but steady drought recovery, a state surveyor on Wednesday found several feet of snow in the same Sierra Nevada meadow that was bare and brown just a year ago.
The depth of the snowpack was declared to be just below average, a huge improvement from last year, but still far from enough to declare the drought over.
Saudi Arabia’s largest dairy company will soon be unable to farm alfalfa in its own parched country to feed its 170,000 cows. So it’s turning to an unlikely place to grow the water-chugging crop — the drought-stricken American Southwest.
Almarai Co. bought land in January that roughly doubled its holdings in California’s Palo Verde Valley, an area that enjoys first dibs on water from the Colorado River. The company also acquired a large tract near Vicksburg, Arizona, becoming a powerful economic force in a region that has fewer well-pumping restrictions than other parts of the state.
With the wettest winter in five years having taken the hard edges off the historic drought and a key Sierra snowpack reading Wednesday expected to show big gains, Californians can look forward to substantial relief from mandatory statewide water restrictions.
Independent filmmaker, Franck Tabouring is trying to save the Salton Sea in his own way. Tabouring has created a short film filled with thought provoking images called, “The Useless Sea.”
“You’ll be surprised but I’ve talked to many people who’ve growed up in California have lived there their entire lives, and when I mention, ‘Have you heard of the Salton Sea?” They’ve never heard of it,” said Tabouring. Tabouring personally discovered the Salton Sea while scouting desert locations for another film project.
A desalination plant proposed near San Juan Creek could produce as much as 15 million gallons of drinking water daily and create a reliable source for South County-area reserves in the wake of an earthquake or drought, officials said.
South Coast Water District officials said plans for the $90 million plant – studied for more than a decade – are moving forward despite the fact the district would be the sole agency building it. The plant – with a 2019 opening date – would likely provide 75 percent of the district’s water needs, district general manager Andrew Brunhart said.
With the wettest winter in five years having taken the hard edges off the historic drought and a key Sierra snowpack reading Wednesday expected to show big gains, Californians can look forward to substantial relief from mandatory statewide water restrictions.
Assemblymember Chris Holden’s Water Efficient Landscaping Bill, AB 2525, passed the Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee with a 9-3 vote. AB 2525 creates the California Water Efficient Landscaping (WEL) Program that encourages Californians to upgrade their landscape and irrigation equipment for more efficient ones. It also prioritizes participation of families that qualify for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
A month that’s been called miraculous for California’s water supply is marching toward the finale of the rainy season, but as it was heading out the door, storms in Tahoe dumped half a foot of snow on ski resorts Monday night into Tuesday.
Without other definitive wet systems on the horizon, the powder — which continued to lightly fall into Tuesday evening — is likely March’s last hurrah, forecasters said.
