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Opinion: California Needs Better Water Supply Reliability – Including Improved Conveyance Systems

/in , , /by /The Desert Sunby Tom Coleman and Federico Barajas

As California confronts another extended drought and its impacts, it is more obvious than ever that the state has failed to address its water supply and management challenges for far too long. The immediate fallout of the unprecedented situation we find ourselves in is frightening: local residents with wells running dry; urban water rationing and critical shortages; massive fallowing of some of the nation’s most productive agricultural land and the resulting impacts on food prices; and significant uncertainty about our ability to adapt to the future.

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Calif. Announces $86 Million for Water Resilience Projects

/in , , /by /WaterWorld Magazine Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

California’s Department of Water Resources announced that it has awarded $86 million in financial assistance to meet the immediate and long-term water needs for millions of Californians. The department is providing $44 million to its Small Community Drought Relief Program and $42 million to its Integrational Regional Water Management Program.

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Officials Fear ‘Complete Doomsday Scenario’ for Drought-Stricken Colorado River

/in , , /by /The Washington Postby Joshua Partlow

The first sign of serious trouble for the drought-stricken American Southwest could be a whirlpool. It could happen if the surface of Lake Powell, a man-made reservoir along the Colorado River that’s already a quarter of its former size, drops another 38 feet down the concrete face of the 710-foot Glen Canyon Dam here. At that point, the surface would be approaching the tops of eight underwater openings that allow river water to pass through the hydroelectric dam.

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As Storm Hits California, What About Drought, Wildfires?

/in , /by /CalMattersby Emily Hoeven

Many Californians will wake up this morning to a relatively rare phenomenon: Rain. Today, the freezing-cold temperatures and high-powered winds that have gripped much of the state this week are set to give way to a good old-fashioned winter storm: Both Northern and Southern California are expecting rain, strong winds and heavy mountain snow, with an avalanche warning in effect through Friday for backcountry areas in the Sierra Nevada.

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Smart Meter Monitoring Can Help Conserve Water — but Not Without a Fight, Researchers Find

/in , /by /The Hillby Sharon Udasin

The use of smart meters to enforce water restrictions could encourage widespread conservation — but not without local backlash, a new study has found. Amid California’s ongoing drought, researchers partnered with the city of Fresno in summer 2018 to access and identify water violations via household meter data.

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Lakes Growing Globally as Ice Melts and Reservoirs Expand

/in , /by /Yale Environment 360

Over the last four decades, the area covered by lakes globally has grown by close to 18,000 square miles, an expanse nearly twice the size of Lake Erie. Scientists used satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to map 3.4 million lakes around the world between 1984 and 2019, finding that lake area grew as reservoirs expanded and rising temperatures melted glaciers and permafrost, particularly in Greenland, the Rocky Mountains, and the Tibetan Plateau.

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Nearly 20% of California Water Agencies Could See Shortages if Drought Persists, State Report Shows

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

Most of California’s urban water agencies believe they have enough supplies to last through another seven months of drought, but nearly 20% of them — including many in Southern California — say they could be facing significant shortages, according to a new state report. The California Department of Water Resource’s first annual water supply and demand assessment surveyed the state’s urban water agencies to see how they are managing tight supplies through conservation efforts and improved drought planning.

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Atmospheric River to Bring Precipitation to the U.S. West Coast

/in , , /by /Center for Western Water and Weather Extremes by Scripps Institution of Oceanography

A strong low-pressure system associated with an upper-level shortwave trough will impact much of the US West Coast today through Thursday, with the development of an atmospheric river over Northern California. After the initial AR, a second low-pressure system will develop offshore and travel down the coast, bringing another round of precipitation to the region Friday into Sunday.

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Storm to Bring Widespread Rain to Bay Area Early Thursday, Up to 3 Feet of Snow in Sierra Nevada

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

Boosting what has been a mediocre start so far to the winter season, a storm from the Pacific Northwest is expected to bring widespread rain to the Bay Area early Thursday and blanket the Sierra Nevada with up to 3 feet of new snow. “This is a pretty good event. It’s going to be beneficial across the board,” said Brayden Murdock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey. “We are excited for this one.”

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Tucson Offers to Leave More CAP Water in the Colorado River

/in , , /by /Arizona Daily Starby Tony Davis

Tucson Water is offering to leave “significant volumes” of its annual Central Arizona Project water supply in the Colorado River for the next three years in return for financial compensation from the federal government. But its letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation making that offer didn’t propose a cut to the city’s annual CAP allocation.

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