The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors on Thursday announced the hiring of David J. Edwards as the agency’s new general counsel after a nationwide search. He starts his post on Oct. 3, replacing Mark Hattam, who is staying on staff for a few months before retirement to help with the transition.
In the third year of drought, water agencies are providing opportunities, including rebates and resources, to increase water-use efficiency. A free webinar August 31 is geared for people who manage or own properties with large landscape areas
Most Californians agree the state’s drought situation is very serious, but only a minority of voters say they and their families have been significantly affected by the current water shortage, according to a new poll.
The survey of more than 9,000 voters statewide found that 71% said the state’s water shortage is “extremely serious,” while 23% described it as somewhat serious.
The western United States is, famously, in the grips of its worst megadrought in a millennium. The Colorado River, which supplies water to more than 40 million Americans and supports food production for the rest of the country, is in imminent peril. The levels in the nation’s largest freshwater reservoir, Lake Mead, behind the Hoover Dam and a fulcrum of the Colorado River basin, have dropped to around 25% of capacity.
As Mexico and the seven western states that rely on water from the Colorado River Basin struggle to contend with current repercussions of a more than two-decade drought—including federally imposed cuts to water supply in the coming year—they must also plan for a drier future exacerbated by the effects of climate change.
A research team at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has found that flood damages triggered by atmospheric river storms may triple from $1 billion a year to over $3 billion a year by the end of the century unless action is taken to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
The Klamath Irrigation District in southern Oregon has reversed course and now says it has complied with a U.S. government order to stop delivering water to farmers in the drought-stricken area.
The district’s directors initially defied the federal government’s order to shut off water to the Klamath Project, but the Klamath Irrigation District has since closed a canal after federal officials threatened to withhold millions in drought assistance, the Capital Press reported Wednesday.
Some utilities that draw water from the Colorado River said they will start conserving more in light of the region’s shrinking supply. A group of seven water authorities that serve cities in Colorado, Nevada, and California outlined their plans in a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Wednesday.
Cities in the Colorado River basin often tout their ability to reduce per capita water use, as many have been forced to stretch a finite quantity of water across rapidly growing populations.
Workers at Lake Mead on Wednesday did something not seen in many years. They actually raised a boat launch ramp. The ramp at Hemenway Harbor was briefly closed as crews adjusted the pipe mat and dock for account for rising water level.
Bureau of Reclamation officials said Monday that the lake has been rising because of “recent storm events and runoff into the tributaries that enter Lake Mead.”
Other factors include reduced releases from Hoover Dam and a “decrease in downstream demand,” according to the bureau. Officials did not provide additional information on the decreased demand.
The lower water levels people might be seeing at Lake Hodges are not drought-related, but instead are due to the ongoing work repairing the 100-year-old Lake Hodges Dam. The emergency work on the dam began in May and is expected to be completed by October.
