No one really knows how much snow fell on the infamous Donner Party when the pioneers were trapped atop the Sierra Nevada for months and dozens died near Lake Tahoe in the winter of 1846-47.
But this season has now etched its way into the history books as the second snowiest in the 77 years of record-keeping at the Central Sierra Snow Lab — more than 56.4 feet (677 inches, 17.2 meters) with no end in sight.
The California Department of Water Resources announced Monday that it slowed outflows from Lake Oroville from 35,000 cubic feet per second to 27,500 cfs.
According to a press release issued Monday by DWR, the reduction began at 6 p.m. Monday.
In response to comments by California Governor Gavin Newsom, touring the Salton Sea on Monday, March 20 with California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot, according to a press release from the Salton Sea Partnership, the Salton Sea Partnership issued the following statement:
“The governor’s visit to the Salton Sea is heartening, and we’re encouraged by Secretary Crowfoot’s commitment to fill the position vacated in August by Salton Sea Management Program head Arturo Delgado in a matter of days.
The Supreme Court on Monday appeared closely divided on whether to side with the Navajo Nation in the tribe’s high-stakes fight against the Biden administration and four states to protect its right to water from the drought-stricken Colorado River.
While the court could decide the case on narrow procedural grounds, some of the more moderate conservative justices questioned whether a ruling for the Navajo would obligate the federal government to build a vast network of pipelines and pumps to deliver water to the tribe or upset the delicate balance struck by the 40 million people who rely on the massive waterway that travels among seven states and Mexico.
Fix a Leak Week is an opportunity for all water users to repair leaks and save our most precious resource. The week (March 20-26) is a reminder every March to check indoor and outdoor plumbing systems for costly, wasteful water leaks.
Increasing awareness of opportunities to repair leaks is supported by the San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies, and by other regional WaterSense partners throughout North America.
The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant supplies about 50 million gallons of water to the San Diego region every day, enough to fill 75 Olympic swimming pools.
Currently the seven-year-old plant, built at a cost of more than $1 billion, is in the process of implementing a $274 million upgrade to its intake-discharge system. The result will be a new pumping facility that will keep the water flowing while greatly lessening the operation’s environmental impact.
After weeks of atmospheric rivers slamming into Northern California, triggering flooding and landslides, the jet stream has shifted the latest blast of subtropical moisture toward Southern California, forecasters said.
But it won’t be a complete miss on Tuesday. The northern edge of the river will bring moderate rain to parts of the Bay Area and 2 inches or more to the waterlogged Santa Cruz Mountains and the flooded communities in Monterey County.
La Niña is finally over after three years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
This winter has not acted like a typical La Niña winter with California getting drenched, especially in Southern California where La Niña typically signals a drier than average winter.
NOAA’s U.S. Spring Outlook indicates the abnormally wet winter will further improve drought across much of the western U.S. as the snowpack melts in the coming months. Winter precipitation, combined with recent storms, wiped out exceptional and extreme drought in California for the first time since 2020, and is expected to further improve drought conditions this spring.
Significant flooding in the western U.S., especially in California, followed another series of strong Pacific storms that battered the region in March, and piled on to an already historic snowpack.
A changing climate in California could very well mean longer periods of drought, then wetter and more intense storms when the rains finally arrive.
It’s not an ideal scenario when trying to manage precious water in the Golden State.
Learning how to manage California’s water for the greatest benefit — even as these new challenges come to the agriculture-intense San Joaquin Valley — is one of the reasons Tom Corringham led a team of researchers to Bakersfield College on Thursday and Friday.
