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Sinema’s Last-Minute Push on Democrats’ Climate Bill Added $4 Billion to Combat Western Drought

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Jennifer Haberkorn and Ian James

When Sen. Joe Manchin III and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer landed a surprise agreement on a healthcare, climate and tax bill last month, all but one Senate Democrat accepted the deal rather than risk collapse with further negotiation.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the inscrutable Arizona Democrat who has at times voted against her party’s demands, staked her vote on two changes. Most attention focused on her push to eliminate a proposed tax on wealthy investors.

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Will Lake Mead’s Plummeting Water Levels Leave San Diego High and Dry?

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

San Diegans get more than half their water from the Colorado River. So why haven’t local leaders rung alarm bells as Lake Mead has shrunk to record-low levels?

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California Unveils Water Strategy, Planning for Greater Scarcity

/in , /by /Reutersby Daniel Trotta

California Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled a new water strategy on Thursday that plans for a future with 10% less water and shifts the emphasis from conservation to capturing more water that otherwise flows out to sea.

Climate change has contributed to more severe drought but has also set the stage for more intense flooding when rain does fall, as was demonstrated last week in California’s Death Valley, one of the hottest, driest parts of the United States.

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With California Expected to Lose 10% of Its Water Within 20 Years, Newsom Calls for Urgent Action

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

With California enduring a historic drought amplified by global warming, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday released a new plan to adapt to the state’s hotter, drier future by capturing and storing more water, recycling more wastewater and desalinating seawater and salty groundwater.

The governor’s new water-supply strategy, detailed in a 16-page document, lays out a series of actions aimed at preparing the state for an estimated 10% decrease in California’s water supply by 2040 due to higher temperatures and decreased runoff.

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Newsom Calls for Boosting Water Supply Projects to Curb California Drought, Climate Change

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

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday said California must do more to expand its water supplies by building new reservoirs, desalination plants and recycled water facilities to address worsening droughts and water shortages from climate change.

Newsom released a 19-page plan that directs state agencies to accelerate permitting and offer increased financial assistance to local water projects as the state struggles with its eighth year of drought in the past 11 years.

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Home Grown: Imperial Valley and Yuma Farmers Draft Plan for Water Cuts

/in , , /by /KYMAby Samantha Byrd

A plan is circulating among irrigation districts in Imperial Valley and Yuma to reduce Colorado River use by as much as 925,000 acre-feet.

This after federal officials demanded historic cuts in water use next year, on the order of 2 million to 4 million acre-feet.

One imperial valley grower says the Imperial Irrigation District holds more rights to Colorado River water than any other user in the basin.

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More Evidence That California Weather is Trending Toward Extremes

/in , , /by /UC San Diegoby Robert Monroe

A team led by Kristen Guirguis, a climate researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, found evidence that the risk of hazardous weather is increasing in the Southwest.

The researchers investigated the daily relationships among four major modes of weather affecting California. How they interact governs the formation of weather events such as atmospheric rivers capable of bringing torrential rains and Santa Ana winds that can spread devastating wildfires.

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Rattlesnake Tank Gets Class of 2023 Makeover

/in , , /by /Water News Network

The Fallbrook Public Utility District’s water storage tank uphill from South Mission Road has received a fresh set of painted numbers the past 40 years, but not everyone knows the story behind the annual makeover.

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Seven Stats That Explain the West’s Epic Drought

/in , , /by /The Hillby Zack Budryk

It’s difficult to capture the scale of the drought facing the western U.S., the worst the region has seen in 1,200 years.

The dry period began around 2000 and shows no signs of slowing down, with tens of millions Americans facing shrinking reservoirs and potential power outages amid extreme heat. The most-affected area stretches from Texas to Oregon.

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Bill Would Provide Relief to Farmworkers in Drought-Stricken California

/in , /by /Yale Climate Connections

About a quarter of the nation’s food is produced in California’s Central Valley. And for decades, people have come to the region to find jobs in agriculture.

State senator Melissa Hurtado says her parents immigrated there from Mexico.

“They came to the Central Valley in search of the American dream. What they had heard is that the Central Valley was the place where you can make that happen,” she says. “And this region provided that to them.”

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