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El Niño’s Drenching Rains, Heavy Snow Take February Hiatus in California

/in /by /USA Todayby Doyle Rice

The drenching rains and heavy snow from El Niño that forecasters predicted would put a dent in California’s lengthy drought are taking a hiatus this month.

A rather welcome, soggy January turned into a hot and dry February, raising doubts the climate pattern can deliver a much-needed respite to California’s now 5-year-old drought. The Department of Agriculture and Stanford University found the extreme dryness killed 29 million trees and left another 29 million at risk.

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Farm Groups Mostly Praise Latest Feinstein Water Bill

/in /by /Capital Press (Salem, Ore.)by Tim Hearden

Farm groups are offering guarded praise for a new drought-response bill by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein that would provide funding for water storage and encourage more capturing of storm waters during wet winters.

The San Francisco Democrat proposes devoting $1.3 billion to long-term projects, including $600,000 in federal funds to augment potential Proposition 1 projects as the proposed Sites Reservoir near Maxwell, Calif., or the planned Temperance Flat Reservoir near Fresno.

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BLOG: El Niño Was Supposed to Bail Out Parched California, so What Happened?

/in /by /Mashable (New York, NY)by Andrew Freedman

California’s rainy season wasn’t supposed to play out like this.
With one of the strongest El Niño events ever observed peaking in the tropical Pacific Ocean, this was supposed to be an unusually stormy — possibly even destructive — winter, with a parade of storms rolling into central and southern California, one after the other.

At least this is the picture conjured up by many media outlets, and the expectation of people who experienced flooding and mudslides during last powerhouse El Niño event in 1997-98.

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BLOG: Calif. Water Board Releases Groundwater Grant Program Draft Guidelines, Meetings

/in /by /Water World

The State Water Resources Control Board has released its Proposition 1 Groundwater Grant Program Draft Guidelines and scheduled a series of public meetings throughout the state to accept public comment on the draft.

Proposition 1 includes $900 million for grants and loans for project that prevent or cleanup the contamination of groundwater that serves or has serves as a source of drinking water. The State Water Board is responsible for administering $800 million of those funds. The Proposition 1 Groundwater Grant Program Draft Guidelines establish the process for submitting project solicitations and evaluating projects.

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OPINION: Hasty Water Policies Don’t Mix Well With Long-Term Planning

/in /by /Voice of San Diegoby By San Diego County Water Authority Board Chair Mark Weston

When I started in the water industry more than 40 years ago, providing water to the San Diego region was relatively simple. Imported water deliveries from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California seemed plentiful and reliable, and the San Diego County Water Authority reliably conveyed those MWD supplies to local water districts.

The drought of 1987-92 ended that mirage. At that drought’s peak, the Water Authority faced 50 percent cutbacks from MWD, which provided virtually all of our region’s water. The 50 percent reduction was averted thanks to the Miracle March rains of 1991 – but we did endure a 31 percent supply cutback for more than a year.

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Fact & Fiction: Ending California’s Drought

/in /by /Politifactby By Chris Nichols

California’s soggy start to winter had many predicting the end of the state’s record drought.
Myths and overstatements popped up like weeds after winter rain.

Some said El Niño’s powerful storms could wash away the drought by spring. Others said the state couldn’t officially declare an end to the drought until reservoirs filled up. And then there were questions about whether an official drought-ending declaration could only come from California Gov. Jerry Brown.

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Heat Records Eclipsed in L.A. Tuesday, but Rainy Weather is on the Way

/in /by /The Los Angeles Timesby By Veronica Rocha

It’s time to dust off the umbrellas. After temperatures soared in recent days, reaching the low 90s on Tuesday, the National Weather Service said the rest of the week will bring cooler temperatures, strong winds and rain. For those in the Sierra, expect heavy snowfall.

A southerly moving low-pressure system is forecast to roll in Wednesday, when temperatures in Southern California probably will cool to a high of about 70.

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Study: NASA Satellites Show Areas Growing Drier, Wetter

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

By studying more than a decade of measurements recorded by NASA satellites, scientists have documented a striking pattern in places around the world: many wet regions have grown wetter, while a number of dry regions have grown drier.

Researchers examined data from NASA satellites between 2002 and 2014 and found areas that have become wetter included the upper Missouri River basin, the northern Amazon and parts of Africa, as well as other parts of the tropics. Areas throughout the mid-latitudes became drier: in the Middle East and North Africa, parts of India and China, and across much of the southern and western United States, where drought-plagued California and the southern High Plains stood out for especially large losses of water.

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The Latest: More Record Highs in Heat-Scorched California

/in /by /Associated Press

Temperatures have again broken records in California, where a lingering heat wave is on the verge of finally easing.

The National Weather Service says the high in downtown Los Angeles hit 90 degrees on Tuesday, breaking the old record of 88 for the day that was set in 1977. San Diego’s high of 89 was eight degrees above the 1981 record. The airport in San Francisco recorded 72, beating a 2007 high.

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The California Drought is Costing You in Ways You Might Not Realize

/in /by /Valley Public Radio (Fresno)by By Jeffrey Hess

California’s prolonged drought has visible consequences such as depleted reservoirs and mandatory water conservation rules. But one of the more expensive effects could be buried deep in your electric bill.

The Pacific Institute updated its study on the hidden costs of drought and estimated that Californians have paid an additional $2 billion dollars in electrical bills over the last four years.

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