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To Survive Severe Drought This Summer, California Should Learn From Cape Town’s Water Crisis

/in , /by /TIMEby Aryn Baker

In my household we shower every few days. We don’t flush every time. After a dinner party, I empty my guests’ water glasses into the houseplants. It’s been four years since I lived through Cape Town’s water crisis, but hard-earned habits die hard. My water conservation routines may sound like too much information, or even borderline unhygienic, but as the threat of water scarcity looms large around the world, they may well be worth adopting.

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How the Desert Gets Water, Imperial Irrigation and Coachella Valley Water Districts

/in , /by /NBC Palm Springsby Carmela Karcher

The Colorado River provides water to seven states in the western part of the country and serves about 40 million people, including Southern California.

But as of Tuesday, the Bureau of Reclamation is urging three major water districts, including the Imperial Irrigation and Coachella Valley Water Districts, to cut back by mid-August.

So, how does a desert even get its water in the first place?

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Major Water Cutbacks Loom as Shrinking Colorado River Nears ‘Moment of Reckoning’

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

As the West endures another year of unrelenting drought worsened by climate change, the Colorado River’s reservoirs have declined so low that major water cuts will be necessary next year to reduce risks of supplies reaching perilously low levels, a top federal water official said Tuesday.

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said during a Senate hearing in Washington that federal officials now believe protecting “critical levels” at the country’s largest reservoirs — Lake Mead and Lake Powell — will require much larger reductions in water deliveries.

(Editor’s Note: Sandra L. Kerl, general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority, issued a statement on U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton’s testimony today before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on the severity of the drought on the Colorado River and need for near- and long-term innovation and investment: https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/san-diego-county-water-authority-general-manager-issues-statement-on-colorado-river-conditions-and-sustainability/)

 

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Did California Learn Anything From the Last Drought? ‘Gambling’ With Water Continues

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

The governor of California stood in a patch of dry brown grass as he made his proclamation:

“We’re in a new era. The idea of your nice little green grass getting lots of water every day — that’s going to be a thing of the past,” he said. “We’re in a historic drought, and that demands unprecedented action.”

But it wasn’t Gavin Newsom speaking — it was the state’s previous governor, Jerry Brown, and the year was 2015.

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The Cruelest Summer Yet? California Is Facing Drought, Heat, Power Outages and Fires — All at Once

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

The Cruelest Summer Yet? California Is Facing Drought, Heat, Power Outages and Fires — All at Once

Even with the upheaval of the pandemic mostly behind us, the menace of drought and rising temperatures is threatening to derail the return to normal.

This year’s extraordinarily dry, warm weather, which is expected to continue in the coming months, is stoking fears of a multitude of problems: increasing water restrictions, extreme heat, power outages, wildfire and smoke — potentially all of the above in one vicious swoop.

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To Create a Water-Saving Landscape, First Get to Know Your Soil Conditions

/in , , /by /Times of San Diego by Water News Network Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Every individual landscape sits in one of San Diego County’s 16 watersheds. The watershed approach to landscaping considers every garden its own mini-watershed, holding onto or cleaning the water falling on it and nurturing a diverse habitat of plants and insects.

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Feds Float Drastic Measures to Stanch California’s Water Crisis

/in , , /by /Palm Springs Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

A top federal water official told Congress on Tuesday that shortages on the Colorado River system have taken an even grimmer turn, with a whopping 2 million to 4 million acre feet of reduction in water use needed by 2023 just to keep Lake Mead functioning and physically capable of delivering drinking water, irrigation and power to millions of people.

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton testified early Tuesday to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Committee that levels at the reservoir have dropped to an all-time low of 28% of capacity, with no relief in sight.

“There is so much to this that is unprecedented,” Touton said. “But unprecedented is now the reality and the normal in which Reclamation must manage our system, for warmer, drier weather is is what we are facing.”

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Residents Urged to Intensify Action Against Drought by City of Oceanside

/in , , /by /NBC 7 San Diego Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Oceanside urged residents Monday to cut back their water use, following a similar move by the City of San Diego in response to the State Water Board and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order requiring water suppliers to implement mandatory restrictions.

“The Water Utilities Department is complying with state regulations as the drought progresses,” said Rosemarie Chora, the city’s Water Utilities Division manager. “As summer approaches, we ask residents and businesses to do their part and be mindful of water usage.”

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State Budget Proposes to Buy Water Rights From Farmers

/in , /by /The Sun Gazetteby Reggie Ellis

State lawmakers are proposing to set aside $2 billion to buy up water rights and repurpose farmland to rebalance the water supply amidst the state’s second drought in the last decade.

Most of the money being proposed in the 2022-23 budget, $1.5 billion, will be used to buy land with senior water rights to secure surface water from state and federal water projects as drinking water for disadvantaged communities struggling with contaminated groundwater and enhance stream and river conditions for habitats. Senior water rights are those that predate the state’s regulation of water use in 1914, which often supersede other rights to water supply during dry years.

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How Does More Rain in Northern California Equal Less Flows in the San Joaquin River?

/in , /by /SJV Waterby Jesse Vad

Water has been flowing down the San Joaquin River since the beginning of April. But, ironically, late spring rains could halt the flow.

The water coming out of Millerton Lake just above Fresno is flowing because of a contract within California’s complicated water rights system.

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