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Opinion: California Taxpayers on the Hook to Save Two Unhealthy Western Rivers

/in , /by /CalMattersby Dan Walters

The Klamath River begins in Oregon, draining the eastern slope of the Cascade Mountains, and slices through the northwestern corner of California before flowing into the Pacific Ocean. The Colorado River begins in Colorado, draining the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, before meandering southwesterly and emptying into Mexico’s Sea of Cortez – if there’s any water left after California and other states have tapped the river for irrigation and municipal supplies.

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Water Authority Issues Statement on Consensus-Based Plan for the Colorado River

/in , /by /The Vista Press Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Sandra L. Kerl today issued the following statement regarding a new consensus-based plan to conserve water on the Colorado River:

“This consensus-based plan was offered to replace alternatives Reclamation is considering under its draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), released in April to consider changes to the river’s near-term operations. Those existing alternatives, one of which would bypass the Colorado River priority right system so important to California, would potentially mandate reductions to the Lower Basin.

“With the new proposal, Reclamation has announced it is temporarily suspending the SEIS process to allow more time to analyze the Lower Basin proposed plan. As a result, the May 30 deadline for comment letters on the draft SEIS is no longer in effect. As part of its announcement, Reclamation stated it plans to complete the SEIS process later this year.

“The Water Authority applauds the efforts of California, through the Colorado River Board of California, of which the Water Authority is a member, for working closely with the other Lower Basin states to develop a consensus proposal to submit to Reclamation. The Water Authority has been a long-time advocate of collaboration on the Colorado River, and today’s announcement appears to be a positive step in that direction.

“The Water Authority continues to review this proposal, which relies upon voluntary and federally compensated conservation as opposed to mandatory reductions, to make sure it best serves California, protects our region’s Colorado River supplies, and provides equitable, realistic solutions in the near term that will keep the river flowing for all users. If that end is achieved, we can then focus our attention on planning for the river’s long-term operations in a balanced Basin-wide approach.”

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Colorado River Basin States Reach Historic Deal on Water Cutbacks to Stave Off Crisis

/in , , /by /Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

A deal has been reached to conserve at least 3 million acre-feet of water in the Colorado River through 2026, the Department of the Interior announced on Monday. More than half of that would be saved by the end of 2024.

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El Niño is Likely Returning, Bringing Danger for California and the World. ‘We Need to Be Prepared’

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hayley Smith

It’s Earth’s original disrupter — a recurring climate pattern so powerful that it can drive global average temperature to record highs, and generate both cliff-crumbling storms and crop-destroying droughts across the planet.

Now, after a long hiatus, El Niño is showing signs of a strong return in 2023.

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Earlier Snowpack Melt in the West Could Bring Summer Water Scarcity

/in , , /by /Phys.Orgby University of Colorado at Boulder

Snow is melting earlier, and more rain is falling instead of snow in the mountain ranges of the Western U.S. and Canada, leading to a leaner snowpack that could impact agriculture, wildfire risk and municipal water supplies come summer, according to a new study from the University of Colorado Boulder.

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WaterSmart Makeover: Remade for Natural Shade

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Caron Golden Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

It was 2019 when Jennifer Dell purchased and moved into her home on a corner lot in a San Marcos neighborhood. The front yard was “scruffy grass,” as she put it, with a large oval raised planter in the center, made of concrete retaining wall blocks that held — and still holds — three soaring palms.

Dell, who grew up in Vista with four younger siblings, was raised by a mother who was a lifelong gardener and a father who was handy at fixing stuff around the house. She decided she’d learned enough from them to feel confident in taking on what seemed like an overwhelming project — creating a haven of privacy with waterwise landscaping befitting a SoCal garden — and the result was winning the Vista Irrigation District’s 2022 WaterSmart Landscape Contest award.

 

(Editor’s Note: This is the seventh in an occasional series in The San Diego Union-Tribune on winners of the annual WaterSmart Landscape Contest, conducted in partnership with the San Diego County Water Authority. To learn about entering the next contest, visit landscapecontest.com. For details on classes and resources through the WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Program, visit sdcwa.org/your-water/conservation/. Landscape rebates are available through the Socal WaterSmart Turf Replacement Program at socalwatersmart.com. The Vista Irrigation District is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the San Diego County region.) 

 

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Whiplash Again! – Learning from Wet (and Dry) Years

/in , , /by /California WaterBlog by Jay Lund, Deirdre Des Jardins, Kathy Schaefer

“Old superlatives have been dusted off and new ones count to better describe the tragedy, damage, and trauma associated with the State’s latest ‘unusual’ weather experience.” DWR Bulletin 69-83, California High Water 1982-83, p.1

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San Diego County Water Authority Wins Communication Awards

/in , , /by /Times of San Diego Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority reports it was recently honored with two Awards of Distinction from the California Public Information Officers, a professional industry group. The awards for government outreach campaigns are named EPIC, an acronym for Excellence in Public Information and Communication.

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Opinion: Colorado River Water Fight that Pit California Against the West May Evaporate — For Now

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

When California and six other Western states failed to meet a Jan. 31 federal deadline for deciding how to allocate water from the drought-ravaged Colorado River that supplies drinking water to 40 million people — 1 in 8 Americans — it was the Golden State that called the others all wet.

Citing the labyrinthine world of vested water rights, which guarantees it the most water from the 1,450-mile-long river, California objected to a plan backed by the other states — Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah — on the grounds it should not have to bear an equal share of the federal government’s call for an annual reduction in Colorado River water of at least 15 percent.

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Water Authority Team Wins 2023 Skills Competition

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

The San Diego County Water Authority’s Operations and Maintenance Division team won the top prize at the annual ROADEO Skills Competition. The 2023 event was hosted by the San Diego Chapter of the Maintenance Superintendents Association and the American Public Works Association (APWA) in April at Wells Park in El Cajon.

The annual contest gives the region’s public works maintenance professionals an opportunity to put their daily job skills on the line against the best of their peers, both in individual events and in three-person teams.

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