You are now in California and the U.S. Home Headline Media Coverage category.

California Braces for Flooding, Snowmelt From a Warm Atmospheric River Set to Slam State

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

Another atmospheric river system has set its sights on California, raising considerable concern about flooding and structural damage as warm rain is expected to fall atop the state’s near-record snowpack this week, forecasters say.

“It now appears increasingly likely that a potentially significant and very likely warm atmospheric river event will probably affect some portion of Northern or Central California sometime between about late Thursday and Saturday,” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said during a briefing Monday.

Full Story

Snowpack Update: Water Stored for Colorado River at 134% of Normal With a Month to Go

/in , , /by /8 News Nowby Greg Haas

Snow scientists identify April 6 as the typical date to best evaluate the snowpack levels for the runoff to the Colorado River each year.

This year, with a month to go, things are looking good. And it’s about a lot more than just how deep the snow is right now.

Full Story

Despite Storms, Water Challenges Persist

/in , , /by /Ag Alertby Christine Souza

New snow blankets the landscape of Shasta Lake, California’s largest reservoir. Last week, California water officials announced that the statewide Sierra Nevada snowpack was recorded at 190% of seasonal average on March 3. Meanwhile, at a water conference, state officials warned they expect warming conditions to persist and called for partnering on water supply solutions.

Full Story

Feds Suspend Measures That Were Meant to Boost Water Levels at Drought-Stricken Lake Powell

/in , /by

Starting Tuesday, the US Bureau of Reclamation will suspend extra water releases from Utah’s Flaming Gorge reservoir — emergency measures that had served to help stabilize the plummeting water levels downstream at Lake Powell, the nation’s second largest reservoir.

Federal officials began releasing extra water from Flaming Gorge in 2021 to boost Lake Powell’s level and buy its surrounding communities more time to plan for the likelihood the reservoir will eventually drop too low for the Glen Canyon Dam to generate hydropower.

An Unusual ‘Superbloom’ is Happening in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Here’s Why

/in , /by /NBC7 San Diegoby Renee Schmiedeberg and Joe Little

The deserts of San Diego County are alit with wildflowers.

Record rains have fallen over most of San Diego County, and as of recently, the same is true of the desert.

It’s been an unusual bloom in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Why? Uncommon summer monsoons in September of last year triggered the first fall blooms, pulling blankets of violet sand verbena up over the desert dunes, according to Jim Dice, Reserve Manager at the University of California, Irvine’s Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center in Borrego Springs.

Full Story

Phoenix Residents Are Rejecting Traditional Lawns to Save Water, and the Results Are More Attractive and Cheaper Than Grass

/in , /by /Business Insiderby Adrianna Nine

Few homes in Phoenix and its surrounding communities have the thick grass and carefully manicured shrubs and trees of lawns found in other parts of the US.

Desert residents are uniquely poised to recognize the environmental harms associated with conventional lawns and lean into more climate-friendly landscaping. Within the past decade, Phoenicians have become a catalyst for the growing anti-lawn movement.

Full Story

Recent Storms Sent 7 Billion Gallons of Raw Sewage From Mexico Into U.S., Mayor Says

/in , /by /Fox 5 San Diegoby Salvador Rivera

Imperial Beach’s new mayor, Paloma Aguirre, is dealing with an old problem in her city: beach closures forced by raw sewage from Mexico.

A recent string of powerful storms in the region has forced lots of raw sewage, trash, tires and other debris across the southern border into California.

Full Story

Save Water and Money with Free Water Efficiency Survey

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

Forecasts of a hotter, drier climate for the Southwest U.S. make every effort to save water critical. A new program now available intends to do just that for residents in parts of Southern California. The San Diego County Water Authority, in collaboration with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, are offering free indoor and outdoor residential water efficiency use surveys.

Full Story

Two Storms Could Bring More Rain to San Diego County, With the First Arriving Friday Night

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins

A 1,000-mile-wide atmospheric river that’s forming in the subtropics will brush San Diego County with light rain Friday and Saturday and bring heavy precipitation to the rest of Southern and Central California, further aiding reservoirs and muting the risk of wildfires, the National Weather Service said on Monday.

The storm is part of a major pattern change that also is expected to produce a second warm, moist atmospheric river that will flow through roughly the same areas on March 14, possibly bringing heavier rain to San Diego, which is experiencing its first wet year in three years.

Full Story

Odds of El Niño Returning to California Are Increasing. Would It Bring Even More Rain?

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

The stubborn La Niña climate pattern that gripped the tropical Pacific for a rare three years in a row is waning, and the odds of an El Niño system forming later this year are getting stronger, according to recent meteorological reports.

The El Niño-La Niña Southern Oscillation, sometimes referred to as ENSO, has a major influence on temperature and rainfall patterns in different parts of the world, with La Niña often associated with drier-than-normal conditions in California, especially the southern part of the state.

Full Story