NASA recently released startling satellite images of Lake Mead, which the agency notes is now at its lowest since April 1937, when the reservoir was still being filled for the first time.
A measurement taken on July 18 put Lake Mead at just 27% of capacity. That effect you see in the image above — with the lighter color on the cliffs where the water level once was — is known as the “bathtub ring.”
California’s deepening drought has resulted tens of millions of tree deaths, increasing the risk of wildfires and threatening the state’s surviving trees.
“It’s obviously a concern and sad as well,” said Luis Garcia, who recently moved to the east foothills above San Jose’s Alum Rock Park.
Cal Fire estimates more than 173 million trees have died either from bark beetles or directly as a result of the drought over the past 20 years.
American Canyon is making urgent calls for water conservation and suing Vallejo over a water disagreement as it tries to eke out every drop amid a historic drought.
The city’s water supplies are on the edge. Demand in recent years is about 2,800-acre feet of water annually. City officials estimate a potential 470 acre-foot deficit this year if demand remains the same.
As I drive across my family’s farm in the San Joaquin Valley, it feels as if I’m traveling on a chessboard. I cross one square with crops and then another without crops — our fields that must lay fallow. Our farm’s crops have been decimated by the drought.
Last year, reduced water deliveries in the state led to 395,000 acres of cropland being idled, according to UC Merced researchers, and about 8,750 agricultural workers lost their jobs.
The Salton Sea Independent Review Panel has 3 viable ideas to restore the Salton Sea.
In a press release, the Independent Review Panel announced that there were 18 concepts submitted through “Request for Ideas” in 2017 and 2021. Of those 18 ideas, three made it to the top of the list. And one is to import water from the Sea of Cortez, a large body of water in Mexico.
State Fish and Wildlife Department officials have awarded a $1 million grant to the San Diego Association of Governments for planning the restoration of the Buena Vista Lagoon at the Oceanside-Carlsbad border.
The $1 million announced last month comes on top of $3 million the state Wildlife Conservation Board awarded in December to SANDAG, which oversees planning and contracting for the proposed cleanup of the stagnant 220-acre lagoon.
San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Sandra L. Kerl is taking the reins as board chair of California Urban Water Agencies (CUWA), a nonprofit corporation that supports development of sound water policy statewide.
The Water Authority is one of 11 member agencies of CUWA that are collectively responsible for serving drinking water to about two-thirds of California’s population. As the united voice for the state’s largest urban water purveyors, CUWA provides a technical perspective to promote common understanding and consensus-based solutions for urban water issues.
All Californians play a role in preserving and enhancing our water supplies for a drought-resilient future. California again is in a familiar state of drought, although not all communities are affected equally.
Some regions are in extreme water shortage; others are not. We must address these differences. That starts with all Californians understanding where their water comes from and what they can do to use it wisely.
Here’s a look at the status of California’s reservoirs during another drought:
There has not been much good news about California’s water supply lately, but there could be some relief on the way. The North-of-Delta Offstream Storage project, often referred to as the planned Sites Reservoir, was authorized by Congress in 2003. The long delayed project got a financial boost in March when the federal government signaled its intent to loan the project nearly $2.2 billion — about half of the cost to design, plan and build it.
Successfully installing WaterSmart Living irrigation starts long before you get out your tools. You need to complete an assessment of your landscape plan’s specific water needs, draw a complete plan showing the layout, then select your irrigation and purchase your irrigation equipment. If your soil needs amendments (and it almost certainly does), you must get this done first. With all of this important prep work complete, you can start to implement the design.
