You are now in California and the U.S. Home Headline Media Coverage category.
IID Awarded $9.5 Million in Federal Funds for Upstream Reservoir Storage Project
The U.S. Department of the Interior notified the Imperial Irrigation District Friday, April 6, that the District has been awarded $9.5 million in grant funding for fiscal year 2023 for its Upstream Reservoir Storage Project, according to a recent IID press release.
The District will use the federal funds for the new operational storage reservoir which will be located upstream of IID’s water delivery system near the All-American and East Highline Canals, according to the release. Its primary purpose is to maximize IID’s water management efficiency within the Imperial Valley.
Wet Winter Improves Colorado River Forecast; Big Cuts Still Coming
An already wet winter in the mountains that feed the Colorado River got even better in March, providing a significant boost to the amount of water that forecasters expect to flow downstream into Lake Powell this summer.
The latest prediction from the National Weather Service’s Colorado Basin River Forecast Center shows that the river will swell to 177 percent of its average volume during the all-important April-through-July period as the snow melts and flows into the river and its tributaries.
Outflows Continue From Lake Oroville
Since the beginning of December, Lake Oroville’s elevation has shot up by around 200 feet thanks to a constant stream of winter storms.
The lake reached a level that has prompted the California Department of Water Resources to let water out over the course of the past month in what the department claims is an effort to control flooding downstream.
New Underground Basins Planned to Help Socal Store Water for Next Drought
With all the rain Southern California had this winter, local water agencies are working harder to capture and keep all that water for when the drier years return.
In San Bernardino, you might not notice the latest project because much of it will be underground.
The Santa Ana River flows from the San Bernardino Mountains to the Pacific Ocean in Orange County. While much of that water does end up in the ocean, plenty is stored in aquifers and reservoirs.
In Heated Alpine Meeting, Sweetwater Officials Pledge to Restore Some Damage, Reopen Loveland Reservoir—but Won’t Rule Out Future Extreme Draining
A crowd of more than angry residents turned out at the Alpine Community Planning Group hearing on March 23, where Sweetwater Water Authority officials addressed concerns over damage at Loveland Reservoir after SWA drained it to dead pool status. Audience members and planning group members peppered SWA officials with questions in the at times contentious session.
7 Charts That Explain California’s Wild Winter of 2023
If there ever was a winter to check off squares on your Wild Weather Bingo card, 2023 was it.
More than 30 atmospheric river storms. 97 mph wind gusts. Destructive tidal surges. Bomb cyclones. Flash floods. Levee breaks. The Fujiwhara Effect. Snow piled more than 240 inches deep at Mammoth Pass. One of the rainiest days on record in San Francisco.
Science Tackles the West’s Megadrought
Taps ran dry in Rio Verde on New Year’s Day.
Water had to be trucked in for household use in the affluent suburb outside Scottsdale, Arizona. The approximately 1,000 residents of the large, suburban stucco homes of Rio Verde were forced to take shorter showers and eat from paper plates.
Tribe, US Officials Reach Deal to Save Colorado River Water
A Native American tribe in Arizona reached a deal Thursday with the U.S. government not to use some of its Colorado River water rights in return for $150 million and funding for a pipeline project.
The $233 million pact with the Gila River Indian Community, announced in Phoenix, was hailed as an example of the kind of cooperation needed to rescue a river crucial to a massive agricultural industry and essential to more than 40 million people in seven Western U.S. states and Mexico. Officials termed it “compensated conservation.”
Feds Give Millions to Desert Water Projects, Warn a Wet Year is Not Enough
Water districts serving the California desert will receive nearly $18 million in federal infrastructure funds, officials announced this week, including for Imperial County’s first major reservoir and critical repairs to the aging All-American Canal.
The grants and loans come days before a likely federal announcement on possible cuts or other changes to Colorado River allocations through 2026 across seven Western states.
