The 2007 guidelines for the Lower Basin Water Shortage are set to soon expire. As leaders prepare for mapping out the next 20 years, public input is a top priority.
Bureau of Reclamation officials have already started planning how they will operate the river and reservoirs for the next 20 years and are looking to incorporate public opinion.
A winter of record snowfall in California, coupled with a triple-digit heat wave, is continuing to inundate Sierra trails and fill valley reservoirs with snowmelt run-off.
In a video posted on social media by a KCRA 3 viewer, ankle-deep water could be seen rushing over the rail to Wapama Falls in Yosemite National Park last week.
One out of every six homes in the Las Vegas Valley Water District’s jurisdiction has been hit with a new fee aimed at curbing the biggest water users and conserving Southern Nevada’s small share of the Colorado River.
And it’s already making a dent when it comes to saving water in the nation’s driest metropolitan area.
The Pleasanton City Council is set for an initial discussion on proposed increases to the city’s water rates, starting at 30% on Nov. 1, during a special meeting Tuesday night.
The public meeting will be held at the city’s Operations Services Center on Busch Road instead of the usual council chambers at the Pleasanton Civic Center.
June 2023 was record hot for some parts of the U.S., while other locations were roiled by severe weather and poor air quality, according to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Heat waves led to record high temperatures in Puerto Rico, the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes, Texas, and Louisiana.
Thick smoke from Canadian wildfires created air quality issues for millions of people in portions of the Northeast and Great Lakes this June. On June 7, around 100 million people across 16 states were under air quality alerts while New York City reported the worst air quality of major cities worldwide.
Most of California is in recovery mode after a years-long drought plagued the Golden State from 2020 until 2022, which depleted the state’s reservoirs and groundwater resources. Thanks to the historic wet winter season, many areas, such as Los Angeles, Merced and Alameda countries, are no longer in a drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. However, with the summer season in full swing, temperatures across the state have begun to increase and the hotter weather brings renewed potential drought concerns for many across the state.
Under the broiling hot sun of California’s Imperial Valley, a canal cuts the land in two. On one side, gravelly beige sand is dotted with scrub and shimmering waves of heat blur the mountains in the distance. On the other, sprawling fields of crops blanket the valley floor in a mat of bright green squares.
When last we visited, Lake Mead sat at elevation 1,054.28 feet above sea level. It’s now at 1,058.34, which is up ~13 feet from when I took the above photo last December. I hope they moved those chairs. The good news is the current forecast calling for the combined storage of Lake Mead and Lake Powell to end the water year up nearly 5 million acre feet from a year ago. The bad news is that total identifiable water use reductions in this year of chaotic crisis fire drill total just 1.2 million acre feet, according to the Bureau of Reclamation’s July 14, 2023 forecast.
Residents of San Diego and Orange counties say they are less affected by extreme weather than other parts of the state. Still, a strong majority says extreme weather is a big problem or somewhat of a problem for the region. People in the two counties also have less confidence than residents elsewhere in government’s ability to respond to weather-related problems.
The Otay Water District announced the winner of this year’s WaterSmart Landscape Contest, and “Nana’s Garden,” created by El Cajon resident Lois Scott, earned the title. Scott was recognized by the Otay Water District on July 5 with a certificate of recognition, a gift certificate to a local nursery of her choice, a yard sign, and other promotional items.
