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How Do You Track an Atmospheric River? Climb Aboard This Highflying Reconnaissance Jet

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

The interior of the plane looked like a cross between a private luxury jet and a space mission control room.

The Gulfstream IV cruised at 43,000 feet, high above a seemingly peaceful layer of thick clouds that stretched to the horizon.

Crew members in blue jumpsuits stared at computer screens that revealed their hidden target miles below: a powerful atmospheric river that was churning across the Pacific Ocean toward California, bearing torrential rains and fierce winds.

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San Diego Can Expect More Water After Recent Rains

/in , /by /Patchby Rachel Barnes and Emily Rahhal

Recent rains could mean a more flexible water budget for San Diego as state authorities announced increased water deliveries throughout California.

The state will allocate additional water deliveries to some 29 public water agencies, delivering 30 percent of requested water supplies after initially projecting only five percent delivery.

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States Miss Deadline to Address Colorado River Water Crisis, Pressure Builds on California

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

The seven states that depend on the Colorado River have missed a Jan. 31 federal deadline for reaching a regionwide consensus on how to sharply reduce water use, raising the likelihood of more friction as the West grapples with how to take less supplies from the shrinking river.

In a bid to sway the process after contentious negotiations reached an impasse, six of the seven states gave the federal government a last-minute proposal outlining possible water cuts to help prevent reservoirs from falling to dangerously low levels, presenting a unified front while leaving out California, which uses the single largest share of the river.

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Saving San Diego’s Rain for a Non-Rainy Day

/in , , /by /NBC 7 San Diegoby Joe Little Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

“I love the rain,” the Encinitas woman said as she walked through her backyard. “Anytime it rains I get excited about my plants.”

Robin Reid-Anderson has dedicated years to creating a backyard that’s sustainable in San Diego’s dry Mediterranean environment.

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New York Investors Snapping Up Colorado River Water Rights, Betting Big on an Increasingly Scarce Resource

/in , , /by /CBS Newsby Ben Tracy, Andy Bast, and Chris Spinder

With the federal government poised to force Western states to change how they manage the alarming shortfall in Colorado River water, there is one constituency with a growing interest in the river’s fate that’s little known to some: Wall Street investors.

Private investment firms are showing a growing interest in an increasingly scarce natural resource in the American West: water in the Colorado River, a joint investigation by CBS News and The Weather Channel has found. For some of the farmers and cities that depend on the river as a lifeline, that interest is concerning. 

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Water Authority Board Welcomes Seven New Directors

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

The San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors welcomed seven new members from across the region at its first regular Board meeting of the year on January 26, expanding the agency’s leadership and policy making skills during a critical period for water in the West.

Each of the Water Authority’s 24 retail member agencies are represented by at least one member of the 36-member Board of Directors, which sets the Water Authority’s strategic direction.

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Local Water Agencies Allocated More Water

/in , /by /The Malibu Timesby Judy Abel

The latest rain storms have made a dent in filling reservoirs prompting the State Water Project to allocate more water to local agencies. Deliveries from northern California could increase to 30-percent, up from just 5-percent in recent months when reservoirs were near deadpool conditions. Officials emphasize the drought though is not over.

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Drenched by Higher-Than-Normal Rain, Lake Shasta Water Level Rises 60 Feet During January

/in , /by /Record Searchlightby Damon Arthur

Higher-than-normal rainfall during the past month has dramatically changed Lake Shasta, with the water level of California’s largest reservoir rising 60 feet since the end of December.

Gone are vast areas of shoreline that became parking lots and campgrounds as the lake dried up and the water level dropped during the past several years of low rainfall in the North State.

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The River’s End: Amid Colorado Water Cuts, Mexico Seeks to Restore Its Lost Oasis

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

When the Colorado River reaches the U.S.-Mexico border, it pushes up against Morelos Dam. Nearly all the remaining water is shunted aside into an immense canal and flows toward the farmlands and cities of Baja California.

South of the dam, the last of the river disappears in the desert.

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How Much Water Flows From the Sierra to the Central Valley? NASA Reveals

/in , , /by /yourcentralvalley.comby Marcela Chavez

Experts from NASA say a previously unmeasured underground source accounts for about 10% of all the water that enters the highly-productive Central Valley farmland each year.

The NASA study shows an average of four million acre-feet of water is delivered through the soil and fractured rocks under California’s Sierra Nevada mountains to the Central Valley annually.

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