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Judges Urge Mediation in Water Contract Fight

Calling an appeal between California environmentalists and federal agencies over expired water contracts a “bizarre position,” a Ninth Circuit panel Tuesday encouraged the parties to mediate the issue instead.

“This case is in a bizarre position – we’re dealing with 2012 contracts that have already expired, we’re told there are new ones with new environmental assessments,” Circuit Judge Barry Silverman said. “On top of all that we have Mother Nature playing tricks with the drought.”

West Likely to Be Stormier With Climate Change

The types of storms that have been bringing heavy snow and rain to the West this winter, triggering landslides and floods while easing stubborn droughts, are likely to become stronger and more frequent, according to the results of a conclusive new study.

The drenching storms have been falling from atmospheric rivers — high-altitude streams of moisture that carry much of the West’s water from the Pacific Ocean in sometimes-violent spurts that can lead to floods

City Atty. Mike Feuer, Turf Rebate Recipient, Steers Clear of DWP Records Lawsuit

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has spent months fighting to keep certain information about its turf removal rebate program from being released, arguing in court that customers’ names and addresses should remain confidential.

If the utility ultimately prevails, one of the beneficiaries of its legal battle could be City Atty. Mike Feuer, who received a lawn removal rebate from the DWP in 2014.

Drought’s Hardest-Hit Sectors May Need Years of Support

Dying native fish, rural communities with dry wells and some other sectors hardest-hit by California’s drought may still need extra support long after the current dry spell ends, an analysis of the state’s drought response said Friday.

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office also urged officials to study the effectiveness of the state’s more than $3 billion in drought programs to learn lessons for managing the next drought.

City Attorney Defending Turf Grant Privacy Got One

The City of Los Angeles has spent months fighting to keep certain information about its turf removal rebate program from being released, arguing in court that customers’ names and addresses should remain confidential.

Turns out, one of the grant recipients is City Attorney Mike Feuer himself, who received a lawn removal rebate in 2014.

California’s Water Supply at Risk From Warmer Winters

Any sign of precipitation in the forecast is a welcome sight for Californians these days. But with temperatures expected to be above normal this winter, California’s snowpack may not reach the heights it could.

Getting snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains is crucial to the state’s water supply. But scientists say as the climate continues to warm, more precipitation will fall as rain instead of snow.

State Water Strategy: Crush the Little Guy

The water wars in California are getting uglier.
If you doubt that consider the plight of the Bryon-Bethany Irrigation District. They were slapped — along with other water districts — with a curtailment order on June 12 by the State Water Resources Control Board for water diversions based on pre-1914 appropriative water rights. The targeted districts including Byron-Bethany had the audacity to sue the state on June 26.
Two weeks later, Sacramento Superior County Court Judge Shelleycane Chang ruled the state orders constituted an invalid taking of property.

Many of California’s Larger Reservoirs Still Starved for Rain

With several Bay Area reservoirs nearly full, at capacity or overflowing, you might think we’re in good water shape.  But, when it comes to the state’s really big reservoirs, which we depend on most— think again.

Majestic Mount Shasta’s huge crown of snow gleams in the sun. Fifty miles south, Lake Shasta, California’s largest reservoir by far, is only just over half full; but better than it was in the fall.

As Drought Becomes the Norm, Where Can U.S. Turn for Lessons in Adaptation?

It’s official: the southwestern United States will likely never be the same again. A new analysis of the past 35 years of weather patterns concluded that what is now considered a normal year of rain and snow in the Southwest is one-quarter drier than it was before the 1970s.

And the climate conditions that bring the region most of its rain and snow will become even more rare in the future, according to a federally funded study posted online Thursday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

White House Proposes Millions for Big Water Innovations

Go ahead and turn up those Jock Jams, Obama, because your administration is doing something unprecedented before you become un-presidented: submitting a budget proposal with $267 million specifically devoted to water innovation.

OK, it’s more exciting than it sounds. The water tech section of the budget focuses on making desalination affordable, monitoring water use in real time, helping farmers grow food with less water, and forecasting floods and droughts with more precision, Fast Company reports.