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OPINION: Sierra Is White with Snow, but More Drought Solutions Needed

/in /by /The Modesto Beeby By Roger Bales

Yes, it’s nice to see snow, and those Californians dreaming of a white Christmas saw that dream come true in the Sierra. But dreaming isn’t going to solve the state’s long-term water problems.

 

For that, we need shared strategy and cooperation.

The drought brought unprecedented change to the Sierra Nevada headwaters. Tree mortality rates are up to 50 percent in some mixed-conifer forest areas. A record number of acres have experienced high-intensity wildfires.

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More Rain on the Way in Northern California

/in /by /The Associated Press (As published by The Sacramento Bee)

There’s a run on umbrellas, people are flocking to the slopes and the big wave surfers are celebrating the swells.

 

There’s been nearly a dozen days of rain in Northern California already this month and more is to come in the upcoming days and weeks. This is great for skiers, farmers and water users but the rain is hardly the end of the four-year dry spell. State water managers say California’s snowpack needs to be at 150 percent of normal on April 1 to signal an end to drought.

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Mission Accomplished: Sacramentans Cut Water Use in Drought By 30 Percent In 2015

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby By Dale Kasler

It seemed like a tall order: California drought regulators were demanding that urban residents slash water consumption by 25 percent, and even more in the Sacramento area.

 

Sacramento residents met the state’s mandate. The region reduced water use by 30 percent in calendar 2015, according to data released Thursday by the Sacramento Regional Water Authority.

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Turf Rebate Recipients Will Have to Decide How to Report Funds on Federal Taxes

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby By Taylor Goldenstein

Southern Californians who received cash rebates for replacing their lawns with drought-tolerant landscaping will soon get a federal tax form in the mail reporting the amount, but water officials said Thursday it is still not clear whether the reimbursement will be taxable.

 

Officials from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — which funded a $340-million incentive program — say they are sending 1099 forms to turf rebate recipients of $600 or more and leaving reporting up to participants and their tax advisers.

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Feinstein Water Plan Would Fund Recycling, Desalination and Storage

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby By Sarah D. Wire

California’s congressional delegation continued to wrangle over how to respond to the Golden State’s water crisis Thursday when Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) released what she called a “discussion draft” of proposed legislation.

 

Feinstein said in a statement that the bill addresses long-term and short-term water concerns.

“In my 23 years in the Senate, this has been the most difficult bill to put together. The maxim that whiskey’s for drinking and water’s for fighting is alive and well in California,” she said.

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KPBS Drought Tracker Update: Dry in San Diego, Stormy Up North

/in /by /KPBSby By David Wagner

 

San Diego has stayed pretty dry after an early burst of El Niño-driven storms drenched Southern California in early January. But recent storms in Northern California have kept rain and snow levels climbing steadily.

 

So far this wet season, statewide rain and snowfall have been just about average. The latest update from the KPBS Drought Tracker shows that average trend holding strong.

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California Has ‘A Shot Out Of the Drought’ If El Niño Rain Persists

/in /by /The Los Angeles Timesby By Joseph Serna

With a couple of weeks of rain and snow behind them and more on the horizon for the Sierra Nevada in Northern California, state water officials expressed cautious hope that this El Niño season could lift California out of its historic drought.

 

“The recent rains have put us on a good trajectory to perhaps have a shot out of the drought if it were to continue at the current rate,” said Doug Carlson, a spokesman with the California Department of Water Resources.

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Will State Water Resources Board Protect the Delta?

/in /by /The Sacramento Bee by By Jonas Minton

When a company sells tainted ice cream, we ask, “When did the FDA know about the contamination?” When a train carrying crude oil derails, we ask, “When did the NTSB know the safety equipment was not installed?”

We ask because those are the agencies that need to be held accountable for protecting us.

 

But agencies are made up of individuals who make conscious choices about whether they will act. Most take their responsibility very seriously. The state Air Resources Board, for instance, helped uncover the Volkswagen diesel fraud.

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It’s Official: 2015 ‘Smashed’ 2014’s Global Temperature Record. It Wasn’t Even Close

/in /by /The Washington Postby By Chris Mooney and Joby Warrick

Last year shattered 2014’s record to become the hottest year since reliable record-keeping began, two U.S. government science agencies announced Wednesday in yet another sign that the planet is heating up.

 

2015’s sharp spike in temperatures was aided by a strong El Niño weather pattern late in the year that caused ocean waters in the central Pacific to heat up. But the unusual warming started early and steadily gained strength in a year in which 10 of 12 months set records, scientists said.

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Could Insurance Markets Help Water Utilities Respond to Drought?

/in /by /Circle of Blueby By Brett Walton

Last Friday, the California Water Resources Control Board extended for eight months an emergency water conservation mandate that Governor Jerry Brown first ordered on April 1, 2015. The goal of the regulation, issued in response to California’s worst-ever drought, was to reduce urban water use by 25 percent compared to 2013, a year before water reserves began to plummet.

 

By and large, the mandate worked. Californians, despite bristling at the top-down order, followed the governor’s directive. Through November, the 411 urban water suppliers that are covered by the regulation had reduced water use by 26 percent. Homeowners tore out lawns, stopped washing cars, and took shorter showers,

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