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What Newsom’s Drought Actions Mean for San Diego

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diego / Morning Reportby MacKenzie Elmer Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

It rained almost two inches over Monday night in certain parts of the San Diego region, but the drought is not over. In fact, Jeff Stephenson, water resources manager at San Diego County Water Authority, said residents should consider turning off their sprinklers for the next seven days.

Of the six levels of emergency actions taken during a drought, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday moved California from the first to the second level. That means local water suppliers must act like supplies have dipped by at least 10 to 20 percent, as CalMatters explained.

But he isn’t requiring everybody to cut water use by the same amount across the board. This time he’s letting cities and jurisdictions trigger their local plans for action during drought prepared back in 2020.

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Here’s How Much the Latest Rainstorms Affected Water Levels in California’s Reservoirs

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Danielle Echeverria

The storms that rolled across the Bay Area and much of California on Sunday and Monday delivered some of the highest rainfall totals of the calendar year so far, as meteorologists predicted — but that still isn’t much, they said Tuesday.

“On a bigger picture, this is one of the biggest storms we’ve had of 2022,” said Matt Mehle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “But we’ve only had a handful of systems actually bring any precipitation to the Bay Area in January and February.”

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Arizona Will Endure Another Hot, Dry Spring as Drought Persists

/in , /by /AZ Big Mediaby Emily Sacia

People in Arizona hoping for a break this spring from the drought gripping the state will be disappointed, with climatologists calling for minor to exceptional drought conditions, what one calls the state’s “new normal.”

The spring outlook released this month by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted the largest drought coverage seen in the U.S. since 2013, with as much as 60% of the continental U.S. facing drought conditions.

“This outlook that NOAA is saying, that we’re going to develop or have worsening drought, it’s not surprising, it’s not unexpected,” said Erinanne Saffel, Arizona’s state climatologist.

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City Opposes 8% Metropolitan Water District Rate Increase

/in , /by /Pasadena Now

Interim City Manager Cynthia Kurtz sent an opposition letter to the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) over rate increases.

“Pasadena does not support rate increases of 8% and 8% for each of the next two years,” Kurtz wrote in the March 21 letter. “Over the past decade, Metropolitan staff has continuously communicated to its member agencies to expect rate increases of 3-5% per annum. And, Metropolitan has stayed that course and managed to operate within those parameters despite some of the most challenging drought years in recorded history.”

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Gov. Newsom Outlines a Peace Agreement on California Water. Will the Fighting Finally End?

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration unveiled a $2.6 billion environmental peace treaty on the Central Valley’s overtaxed rivers Tuesday. The deal calls for farms and cities to surrender billions of gallons of water while contributing funds to help restore troubled fish habitats.

Newsom’s top aides called the 34-page memorandum of understanding a compromise measure that will leave more water in the rivers — but not as much as many environmentalists believe is needed to prop up ailing populations of salmon, steelhead and other fish. And some key water users, such as the city of San Francisco, haven’t yet signed onto the plan.

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California Plan Would Pay Farmers to Grow Less to Save Water

/in , /by /AP Newsby Adam Beam

California would pay farmers not to plant thousands of acres of land as part of a $2.9 billion plan announced Tuesday aimed at letting more water flow through the state’s major rivers and streams to help restore the unique habitat in one of North America’s largest estuaries.

The agreement, signed Tuesday between state and federal officials and some of California’s biggest water agencies, would result in about 35,000 acres of rice fields left unused — or about 6% of the state’s normal crop each year, according to the California Rice Commission.

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As California Pins Much of Its Decarbonization Hopes on Energy Storage, SDG&E Opens a New Battery Facility

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Rob Nikolewski

They don’t look like much — 126 cubes, each holding 16 modules of batteries — simply sitting on an expanse of flat land owned by San Diego Gas & Electric off Route 163.

But it’s no exaggeration to say that California’s hopes of decarbonizing its power system depend on developing a vast number of utility-scale energy storage facilities across the state, such as the one SDG&E opened earlier this month in Kearny Mesa.

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Newsom Calls for More Aggressive Water Conservation Amid Third Year of Drought

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Hayley Smith and Jonah Valdez

On the heels of the driest ever start to the year in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday issued a sweeping executive order calling on local water suppliers to implement more aggressive conservation measures as reservoirs dwindle and residents backslide in their efforts to cut back.

Specifically, the order requires that urban water suppliers activate “Level 2″ of their locally customized contingency plans, meaning they must prepare for a shortage of up to 20%.

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Newsom Imposes New California Water Restrictions — Leaves Details to Locals

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Rachel Becker

As a dry summer looms, California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered water suppliers across California to step up their local drought responses, but fell short of requiring water rationing or setting a statewide conservation target.

Despite pressure from experts urging a strong mandate, the order leaves the exact conservation measures up to the urban water providers and major water wholesalers that supply the vast majority of Californians. It does not affect agricultural water providers, or the small water systems that are especially vulnerable to drought.

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Gavin Newsom Proposes Ban on Watering Decorative Grass in California: What That Means

/in , , /by /SF GATEby Amy Graff

Amid California’s worsening drought conditions, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday called on local water agencies to introduce new water-use restrictions and for state regulators to ban watering decorative grass at businesses and institutions, the governor’s office said in a statement.

In the executive order, the governor asks the California State Water Resources Control Board to consider making it illegal to water non-functional grass at commercial, industrial and institutional buildings. The restriction would not include residential lawns or grass used for recreation such as sports fields and parks, the governor’s office said.

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