California is going into spring with a minuscule amount of snow in the Sierra Nevada, leaving the state in a third year of extreme drought and with depleted reservoirs to draw on during what’s likely to be another hot, parched summer.
The mountain snowpack, as measured by snow sensors across the Sierras, now stands at just 38% of the long-term average.
Flood, fire, and drought fueled by climate change could take a massive bite out of the U.S. federal budget per year by the end of the century, the White House said in its first ever such assessment on Sunday.
The Office of Management and Budget assessment, tasked by President Joe Biden last May, found the upper range of climate change’s hit to the budget by the end of the century could total 7.1% annual revenue loss, equal to $2 trillion a year in today’s dollars.
California and the rest of the American West are facing the worst drought in over 1,200 years. This drought is devastating the agricultural industry and creating conditions that lead to massive wildfires. According to the IPCC, climate change makes it likely that droughts will only continue to get worse. To maintain an adequate supply of fresh water, the region needs to develop technological solutions to dwindling water levels.
This past week, I joined teams of other scientists gathering the most important measurements of the Sierra Nevada snowpack from over 265 sites throughout the state. Typically, this measurement marks the transition from snow accumulation season to the melt season and contains the most snow of any measurement throughout the year. The 2022 results, however, confirmed what those of us monitoring the state’s drought had feared: California’s snowpack is now at 39 percent of its average, or 23 percent lower than at the same point last year.
Devastatingly large wildfires followed by intense precipitation events will grow in frequency as the effects of climate change become more widespread and entrenched, a study published Friday has found.
The American West has long been susceptible to landslides and flooding that afflict areas recently scorched by wildfires. The fire destroys vegetation that stabilizes slopes and prevents large-scale erosion while exposing more of hillsides and riverbanks to the ravaging effects of intense rain.
The holy grail of those involved in California’s decades-long political and legal battle over how the state’s water supply should be allocated has been some sort of master agreement.
There have been countless efforts at negotiating such a peace treaty and some premature declarations of success. However, California’s water wars have continued with skirmishes in the water bureaucracy, in the Legislature, in Congress, in the courts and even in the White House.
With a major warming trend in the forecast and temperatures in Fresno reaching the 80s on Sunday, the Bureau of Reclamation is alerting the public to monitor flow conditions and to exercise caution when on the San Joaquin River due to increased releases from Friant Dam.
The bureau started releases into the river on Friday to help meet contractual obligations to deliver Central Valley Project water to the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors on the west side of the Valley
The San Diego County Water Authority is providing training opportunities to military veterans looking for new careers in public service as part of the Skillbridge Program. The program is helping military veterans transition to career-track training opportunities, including work in the water and wastewater industry.
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Monday calling for increased water conservation after the driest first quarter in California’s history, but the San Diego region will be largely spared.
Newsom called on local water suppliers to move to their Level 2 drought plans, which anticipate shortages of up to 20% and could include restrictions on watering in many parts of the state.
Even with our recent storm, San Diego County is still well below our average for rain this year. And as bad as the drought conditions are here, in Northern California they are even worse.
As a result, Governor Gavin Newsom just issued an executive order that moves the state into a stricter level of water saving, but he’s allowing each local district to set its own rules.
“We’re going to continue with our water conservation practices,” said Jeff Stephenson, Water Resources Manager with the San Diego County Water Authority. “We’ve ramped up our messaging and then directing people to our conservation programs.”
