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Experts Signal Cautious Optimism Amid Mixed Drought Recovery in West

/in , , /by /Courthouse News Service by Natalie Hanson

While California’s water outlook saw marked improvement in the short term, climatologists say years of worsening conditions across the West will take far more than this winter’s storms to recuperate.

Veva Deheza, executive director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Integrated Drought Information System, said in a briefing Tuesday that about 25% of the West remains in drought — compared to 74% at the start of the water year this past October.

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Mammoth Snow Year Has Lifted Half the West Out of Drought and Promises to Raise Parched Lake Powell by 60 Feet

/in , , /by /Fortuneby Brittany Peterson and The Associated Press

Nearly half of the U.S. West has emerged from drought this spring, but the welcome wet conditions haven’t entirely replenished the region, scientists said Tuesday.

Hydrologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said deep snowpack across much of the West will bring short-term relief, but the equally deep “bathtub rings” at Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs are a reminder of the long road to bringing supply and demand in balance.

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The Science Behind Atmospheric Rivers

/in , , /by /Earth.orgby Christiana Jansen

Atmospheric rivers are essential for the transportation of precipitation occurring in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. The rapidly changing climate is causing shifts in these long, flowing regions of the atmosphere, resulting in an increasing number of extreme weather events that bring about destruction across the world.

 

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Unincorporated San Diego County Communities Want More Say in Regional Decision-making

/in , /by /Ramona Sentinel by Julie Gallant Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

A proposal by a Ramona Community Planning Group member to add an advisory board member to represent the county’s unincorporated communities on the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) could soon move forward in the approval process.

On Tuesday, May 23, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors will consider a resolution to add another adviser to the Board of Directors for SANDAG, a regional planning agency that considers transportation, housing and fire evacuation safety issues in addition to making funding decisions for related projects.

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Long Beach May Look for Ways to Hold Upriver Areas Accountable When Sewage Spoils Beaches

/in , /by /Long Beach Post by Jason Ruiz

As temperatures reached the 80s and people flocked to the shore for beach cleanups on Earth Day last month, an order to stay out of the water dampened what could have been a very busy beach weekend after months of wet weather in Long Beach.

The beach closure was prompted by the second sewage spill of 2023 that resulted in 250,000 gallons of raw sewage entering the Los Angeles River near Downey and making its way toward Long Beach where the river’s mouth dumps its contents into the ocean.

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Joint Venture Inked for ‘Landmark’ Southern California Water Reuse Program

/in , , /by /Water Finance and Management by WFM Staff

A joint venture of AECOM and Brown and Caldwell (AECOM-BC Team) has been chosen to provide program and project management support and engineering design services for the Pure Water Southern California program, one of the largest water reuse programs in the world.

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Outreach Efforts Honored at 2023 CAPIO EPIC Awards

/in , , /by /Water News Network Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority received two Awards of Distinction for outreach programs at the 2023 California Public Information Officers (CAPIO) “EPIC Awards” competition for California public agency communication programs.

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What to Know About the Colorado River

/in , , /by /CPR Newsby Michael Elizabeth Sakas and Rachel Estabrook

The Colorado River has shaped life as we know it in the southwestern United States. Its water has allowed for explosive population growth and agricultural development in some of the driest parts of the country. But due to overallocation and climate change, the river is drying up.

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Mangoes and Agave in the Central Valley? California Farmers Try New Crops to Cope With Climate Change

/in , , /by /Cal Mattersby Alastair Bland

In a world of worsening heatwaves, flooding, drought, glacial melting, megafires and other calamities of a changing climate, Gary Gragg is an optimist.

As California warms, Gragg — a nurseryman, micro-scale farmer and tropical fruit enthusiast — looks forward to the day that he can grow and sell mangoes in Northern California.

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Three Scenarios Predicted for Lake Powell Water Levels

/in , , /by /Newsweek by Robyn White

Three possible scenarios have been mapped out for Lake Powell as the summer months approach.

Lake Powell’s water levels could rise to 3,615.62 feet by the end of July, according to a 24-month report on maximum probable inflow released in April by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. This is the best-case scenario mapped out by the bureau.

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