You are now in San Diego County category.

Winds Topping 115 Mph Hit Southern California; 1 Killed When Tree Falls on Car

/in /by /The Los Angeles Timesby By Rong-Gong Lin II and Alice Walton

A powerful storm moved into Southern California on Sunday, bringing unusually strong winds of up to 70 mph to Los Angeles and Ventura counties.Officials warned that the storm is forecast to bring heavy rain and a risk of flash floods, especially in recently burned areas that could see mud flow down hillsides.

Strong winds were expected to cause flight problems at Los Angeles International Airport, and forecasters said there was enough instability aloft that there could be a 36% chance of thunderstorms in parts of the L.A. area. Waterspouts and even weak tornadoes are possible.

Full Story

Why the Future of the Delta Tunnels Project Could Be Determined In 2016

/in /by /ABC 10(Sacramento)by By Sami Gallegos

On the edge of the Central Valley is the center of California’s water system: the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, where the state’s two largest rivers meet.

A plan to restore the Delta by channeling water down south has long been a priority for Governor Jerry Brown’s administration. Despite its various names and strategies, the project has been riddled with controversy since Brown first assumed office in the late ’70s.

Full Story

California Almonds, Partly Blamed For Water Shortage, Now Dropping In Price

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby By Dale Kasler, Phillip Reese and Ryan Sabalow

They were blamed for planting too many trees, using too much water and worsening the effects of California’s epic drought. The state’s almond farmers responded by expanding their orchards in a bold wager that the sky-high prices the world was paying for almonds justified both the water use and long-term investment.

Now those farmers are dealing with a steep drop in prices – and wondering if the great almond boom that transformed Central Valley agriculture is starting to fizzle. Almond prices in California have dropped significantly in the past few months. A farmer who could sell a pound of almonds for nearly $5 last summer is now getting as little as $3.10.

Full Story

Drought-Depleted Folsom Lake Is Rising, but It’s Still Far From Its Level-Best

/in /by /The Los Angeles Timesby By Rosanna Xia

Hopping from one rock to another, Sue Ann Arens led her two boxers one recent afternoon up and down the uneven slopes of Folsom Lake, which years of drought have stripped bare. Their daily walks along Sacramento’s backyard reservoir had become a hike through the lake bed.

Well-worn trails threaded through clusters of brush in areas usually covered by water.By the next afternoon, Arens had to change course. A morning storm had submerged part of her trail. In the distance, water rippled over an island that had surfaced last year when the lake hit bottom.

 

Full Story

More Water Storage Capacity Is a Must

/in /by /Valley News (Fallbrook)by By Marie Waldron

We are all hoping the current El Niño will bring an end to the drought. Whether or not we’ll continue to receive normal or above-normal precipitation is still a question, though an end to the drought may be unlikely this year. Whatever the outcome this year, future droughts are certain.

In 2014, California’s voters passed Proposition 1, a $7.12 billion water bond. While the bond contained $2.7 billion earmarked for water storage projects including dams and reservoirs, few if any such projects are currently underway.

Full Story

BLOG: A Backup Plan for the Delta Smelt

/in /by /Water Deeply (New York)by By Robin Meadows

Luke Ellison is holding something most of us will never get to see: a delta smelt. Graceful, iridescent and about as long as my finger, these fish are so rare in the wild that just six adults were found during a sample survey of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta last spring. And the Delta is the only place in the world where this endangered species lives – in the wild, that is.

Delta smelt also live in enormous round outdoor tanks and smaller tanks inside dimly lit trailers filled with the sound of running water.

Full Story

OPINION: Stop the Delta Tunnel Water Madness

/in /by /San Jose Mercury News

Every Bay Area resident has a vested interest in the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s decision on whether to support Gov. Jerry Brown’s $17 billion plan to build two tunnels under the Delta.

The governor’s top lieutenants came to San Jose for a formal presentation to the water board Tuesday to make their case — knowing that the board had just fired CEO Beau Goldie, who was a cheerleader for the tunnels from the start. The district already has contributed nearly $14 million toward studies, and Goldie had expected ratepayers to provide at least $500 million more.

 

Full Story

Desert Crop Production for Export Prompts Outcry

/in /by /The Press Enterprise (Riverside)by By Janet Zimmerman

In eastern Riverside County, almost to the Arizona border, is the Palo Verde Valley, where scorching summers, mild winters and access to Colorado River water have made it an agricultural hot spot, especially for alfalfa.

Some of the hay crop grown in the valley is used for domestic cattle and the rest is sold to other countries where land or water shortages preclude industrial-scale growing operations. The same is true in the Coachella Valley, the high desert of San Bernardino County and other Inland growing areas.

Full Story

OPINION: Let’s Talk More about Water

/in /by /The Huffington Postby By Peter Neill

As many readers know, I have long emphasized the coming global water crisis and its relationship to a healthy ocean. And in my forthcoming book, THE ONCE AND FUTURE OCEAN: Notes Toward a New Hydraulic Society, I offer a greater amplification of this synergy and how it might inform a new paradigm for valuation, organization, and behavior in the 21st century.

Full Story

Lake Mendocino Nears Winter Capacity; Lake Sonoma Close Behind

/in /by /The Press Democratby By Glenda Anderson

Recent rainstorms have swelled Lake Mendocino, reopening the reservoir to motor boats for the first time since August, swallowing islands raised by the drought and bringing fresh hope to ranchers and water officials.

 

By Thursday afternoon, the lake had reached 98 percent of capacity for this time of the year, when some space is reserved in the reservoir to help with flood prevention.

 

Once the level hits 100 percent, dam managers must increase releases to keep it at that level, unless they are given permission to hold back additional supplies.

Full Story