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After Two Years, Final Round of Drought Aid Distributed

/in /by /Capital Public Radio (Sacramento)by By Ben Adler

It turns out “emergency drought relief” can take up to two years to distribute. On Wednesday, California regulators awarded the final pieces of the $680 million drought aid package Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers approved in March 2014.

 

As the harshness of California’s drought first came into focus two years ago, the state’s leaders scrambled to respond. They put together a package that included emergency aid for farmers, farm workers and communities running out of drinking water.

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Water Leak Forces Shutdown of California Aqueduct

/in /by /The Associated Press (As published by Visalia Times-Delta)by By Scott Smith

A break in the California Aqueduct has halted the flow of water in the canal that supplies millions of Southern California residents, but there’s no concern that taps will run dry, officials said Wednesday.

 

Reservoirs below the break hold enough water to supply customers until a work crew repairs the damaged canal lining, said Ted Thomas, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Water Resources.

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Dry Week a ‘Break in the Action’ In El Nino Winter

/in /by /The Santa Clara Valley Signalby By Luke Money

Don’t let this week’s sunny skies and balmy temperatures fool you — El Nino isn’t gone, it’s just taking a bit of a breather, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service said Wednesday.

 

While last week’s saturating storms have been notably absent this week, meteorologist Emily Thornton said the expectation is still that Southern California will see more rain than usual this winter.

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When It Pours in Dry LA, Water Quickly Runs Out To Sea

/in /by /Market Place (Los Angeles)by By Sarah Gardner

Winter rains finally hit water-starved southern California in January. The first bands of El Niño storms delivered around three inches to Los Angeles alone, and more is expected. But nearly all that water went straight into the Pacific Ocean. After four years of punishing drought, that may seem like a colossal waste, but the people who built this sprawling West Coast metropolis wanted it that way.

 

To understand, rewind to the early 20th century, when rain was seen as a threat to the city’s rapid economic development. A series of deadly floods hit the city, killing hundreds of people, destroying homes, railroad lines, bridges and roads. Woody Guthrie sang about one of those disasters in “The New Year’s Flood.”

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One of the Early Lessons of El Niño – Catch That Water

/in /by /The Orange County Register by By Aaron Orloski

El Niño-driven rainstorms can be captured for precious water resources, or they can create millions of dollars of damage to cities, businesses and homeowners. It just depends on timing.

 

When the first storms dumped several inches of rain on Southern California last week, water coursed off the driveways, parking lots and streets of Inland Empire cities like Riverside and San Bernardino and into a network of gutters, where it drained, eventually, into the Santa Ana River.

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San Diego Misses Water Savings Target for December

/in /by /City News Service (As published by KPBS) Quoted: Dana Friehauf

Residents and businesses in the San Diego region consumed 18 percent less water in December than the same month in 2013, below the state target of 20 percent for the area, the County Water Authority reported Wednesday.

 

Despite the decline in conservation, which continues a local and statewide trend, San Diegans have reduced usage 24 percent overall since June.

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San Diegans Sloughing Off On Water Cuts? State Target Not Met In December

/in /by /Times of San Diegoby By Ken Stone Quoted: Dana Friehauf

Residents and businesses in the San Diego region consumed 18 percent less water in December than the same month in 2013. But that was below the state target of 20 percent for the area, the County Water Authority reported Wednesday.

 

Despite the decline in conservation, which continues a local and statewide trend, San Diegans have reduced usage 24 percent overall since June.

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San Diegans Reduce Water Consumption

/in /by /CBS8 (San Diego) Quoted: Dana Friehauf

Residents and businesses in the San Diego region consumed 18 percent less water in December than the same month in 2013, below the state target of 20 percent for the area, the County Water Authority reported Wednesday. Despite the decline in conservation, which continues a local and statewide trend, San Diegans have reduced usage 24 percent overall since June.

 

“Much less water is used outdoors in the wet winter months, and that makes it much harder to achieve significant water savings,” said Dana Friehauf, water resources manager for the Water Authority.

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After Wet Week, Where’s El Niño?

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby By Robert Krier

El Niño, have you abandoned us?

After a super stormy stretch last week, San Diego County has warmed up and dried out. And the forecast for the coming week calls for a few spritzes locally, but that’s about it.

 

Has El Niño, the periodic phenomenon that shifts the storm track and holds promise of drought relief for parched California, left us in the lurch?

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OPINION: Keep Up the Fight for Water

/in /by /The Porterville Recorder

Congressman Kevin McCarthy, the majority whip in the House of Representatives, explained how the fight to get more water for farmers played out in the last session — a fight which ended with no resolution.

 

We encourage him to keep up that fight.

 

The congressman placed the defeat of a water bill at the feet of California U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, saying the long-time senator pulled her support at the 11th hour, leaving no time for negotiations and thus, killing the bill. Feinstein blamed Republicans for the bill’s demise, saying she had never agreed to any part of the proposed legislation which would have moved more water out of the San Joaquin Delta to the Central Valley and also paved the way to develop more storage of water in the future. McCarthy said she pulled her support at the last moment, saying he was “blind-sided” by her action.

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