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WaterSmart Makeover: Welcoming a Sense of Whimsy

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

Cathy and Mike Godfrey’s most recent front yard landscape project was not their first rodeo. The couple, who bought their Carlsbad house in August 1997 and are empty nesters with two adult daughters, are avid gardeners and DIYers.

Twenty years ago, Cathy dug 40 holes to sink posts for the white picket fence that encircles their small front yard. They reduced the scale of the lawn (mostly to discourage neighborhood dogs being walked from pooping on their property) and, for a tropical look, added palms and decorative plants like red fountain grass, which Cathy said they regretted.

(Editor’s Note:This is the second in an occasional series 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.)

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Colorado River Compact: As Colorado River Flows Drop and Tensions Rise, Water Interests Struggle to Find Solutions That All Can Accept

/in , , /by /Water Education Foundation (Western Water)by Nick Cahill

When the Colorado River Compact was signed 100 years ago, the negotiators for seven Western states bet that the river they were dividing would have ample water to meet everyone’s needs – even those not seated around the table.

A century later, it’s clear the water they bet on is not there.

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From the Archives: San Diego Aqueduct Dedication 75 Years Ago Marked New Era in Region’s Quest for Water

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Merrie Monteagudo Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Seventy-five years ago, on Dec. 11 1947, the 71-mile San Diego Aqueduct was dedicated and put into operation, bringing water from the Colorado River to San Diego. By 1949, 85 percent of all water consumed in San Diego was Colorado River water. Today, after conservation, desalination, and other efforts to add to local water supplies, some 70 percent of the region’s water supply still flows through the aqueduct system.

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Storm Blankets Sierra Nevada in Heavy Snow, Brings Rain Across California

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

A storm blanketed the Sierra Nevada in heavy snow and soaked much of California with rain, bringing a wet start of winter weather after three years of record drought. The storm brought 3 to 4 feet of fresh snow in parts of the Sierra Nevada over the weekend. From the San Francisco Bay Area to Southern California, between 1 inch and 4 inches of rain fell in many areas.

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Doheny Desalination Plant in Dana Point Clears Final Regulatory Hurdle

/in , , /by /The Orange County Registerby Brooke Staggs

State officials on Friday cleared the final major regulatory hurdle for the Doheny desalination plant, which aims to use ocean to help shore up drinking water supplies for drought-ridden Southern California. The California State Lands Commission unanimously granted South Coast Water District a 20-year lease for land off Doheny State Beach, in Dana Point.

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Planned Upper Colorado River Basin Program Reboot Could Pay Water Users to Conserve

/in , , /by /KUNCby Alex Hager

As climate change continues to shrink the Colorado River’s largest reservoirs, a group of four states that use its water are set to lay out plans to reboot a conservation program. The Upper Colorado River Commission – comprised of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico – plans to announce details of an extended “System Conservation Pilot Program” through which water users could be paid to cut back on their use.

The soon-to-be-launched program aims to use a pool of $125 million from the Inflation Reduction Act for payouts to “mitigate the impacts of long-term drought and depleted storage,” according to presentation slides obtained by KUNC.

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Drought-Ravaged L.A. Seeks Surprising Source of Water: A Contaminated Superfund Site

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

As drought and climate change ravage California’s once-reliable supply of drinking water, officials in Los Angeles are setting their sights on a relatively new, almost untapped resource for the city’s 4 million residents: the Superfund site in their own backyard. Nearly 70% of the city’s 115 wells in the San Fernando Valley groundwater basin — the largest such basin under the purview of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power — have been sitting unused for decades after dangerous contaminants seeped into the aquifer.

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What Historic Klamath River Dam Removal and Restoration Project Aims to Accomplish

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby David Caraccio

A decision to demolish four dams and restore the Klamath River, which crosses the California-Oregon border, was celebrated Thursday by officials from both states, Native American tribes and the federal government. The plan approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will open up hundreds of miles of salmon habitat. It will be the largest dam removal and river restoration project in the world.

 

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La Niña Forecast to Fade by April, Easing California Drought

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Newsby Brian K. Sullivan

The odds that the drought-enhancing La Niña will fade by the end of California’s rainy season are rising, offering some hope of an easing of parched conditions across the US West.  The Pacific Ocean has a 71% chance of returning to normal temperatures between February and April, bringing an end the La Niña weather pattern that has persisted for three years, the Climate Prediction Center said in a Thursday forecast.

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Here’s Where California Reservoir Levels Stand After December’s Storms

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Jack Lee and Yoohyun Jung

December kicked off with a parade of storms across California, and while the plentiful precipitation is likely good news for California, data shows storage levels at the state’s major water supply reservoirs have not budged much. “We are just now moving into the rainy season,” said Jeanine Jones, interstate resources manager for California’s Department of Water Resources, referring to the months between November and March when much of California’s precipitation is recorded.

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