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Las Vegas Turns on Low-level Lake Mead Pumps Designed to Avoid a ‘Day Zero’

/in , /by /The Nevada Independent by Daniel Rothberg

The country’s largest man-made reservoir, Lake Mead, has dropped to such a historically low level that Las Vegas water officials have completed the process of turning on a pump station that will allow Southern Nevada to retrieve water, even under extreme conditions.

The move — to turn on the pump station full bore — is an indication of how low Lake Mead has fallen over the past decade and serves as a bulwark against the possibility of Las Vegas losing physical access to its water as regional issues on the Colorado River become increasingly dire.

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Recent Wet Weather Has Led to Rising Folsom Lake Level, but Will It Last?

/in , /by /CBS Sacramentoby Velena Jones

As California’s wildfire season nears amid another year of drought, Folsom Lake looks much different than it did a year ago when a low water level left an exposed lakebed. Now, splashing, swimming and boats have returned—but will it last?

“We couldn’t do anything at all. We couldn’t go swimming or anything like that. The water was really, really low,” lake visitor Robert Morpanini said of last year’s levels.

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California Bill Would Pay Farmworkers $1,000 a Month to Help Endure Drought, Climate Crisis

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Nathan Solis

As worsening drought conditions in California and the West take a heavy economic toll on agriculture, state legislators are considering a plan to pay farmworkers $1,000 a month to help them cover the cost of necessities.

The bill is meant to assist farmworkers who have fewer crops to tend as climate change limits the window for each growing season and cuts the Golden State’s water supply.

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A Quiet Revolution: Southwest Cities Learn to Thrive Amid Drought

/in , , /by /Yale e360 (Yale Environment 360)by Jim Robbins Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

In the rolling hills around San Diego and its suburbs, the rumble of bulldozers and the whine of power saws fill the air as a slew of new homes and apartments rise up. The region is booming, its population growing at a rate of about 1 percent a year.

This, in spite of the fact that Southern California, along with much of the West, is in the midst of what experts call a megadrought that some believe may not be a temporary, one-off occurrence, but a recurring event or even a climate change-driven permanent “aridification” of the West. The drought is so bad that last year federal officials ordered cuts to water provided to the region by the Colorado River for the first time in history.

Water officials in San Diego, though, say they are not worried. “We have sufficient supplies now and in the future,” said Sandra Kerl, general manager of the San Diego Water Authority. “We recently did a stress test and we are good until 2045” and even beyond.

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Despite April Rains, California Still Faces Significant Drought Conditions as Summer Nears

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

The late-season burst of snow and moisture that blanketed Northern California in April helped make a small dent in drought conditions, experts said, but the majority of the state is still far below where it needs to be as it heads toward the hot, dry months of summer.

Several storms arrived weeks after the final snow survey of the season on April 1, in which state officials reported that statewide snowpack had dwindled to just 38% of average for the date after a bone-dry start to the year.

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Coastal Panel Staff Advises Against Huntington Beach Desalination Plant

/in , , /by /Times of San Diego

A proposed California desalination plant that would produce 50 million gallons of drinking water per day failed a crucial regulatory hurdle on Monday, possibly dooming a project that had been promoted as a partial solution for sustained drought.

The staff of the California Coastal Commission recommended denying approval of the Huntington Beach plant proposed by Poseidon Water, controlled by the infrastructure arm of Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management.

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California, Arizona and Nevada Face Major Water Cutbacks From the Colorado River

/in , , /by /NPR

Because of the megadrought that’s gripping the southwestern United States, the federal government is cutting back how much water it delivers to California, Arizona and Nevada by a lot, about as much as Las Vegas uses in a year. It’s something water managers never thought they’d have to do. Alex Hager reports on the Colorado River from member station KUNC in Greeley, Colo., and joins us now to explain what’s going on. So decades ago, the U.S. built huge dams on the Colorado River specifically to store water as insurance against droughts. Why isn’t that system working now?

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Where Will California North Coast Get Its Water if Drought Becomes Common?

/in , , /by /North Bay Business Journalby Jeff Quackenbush

With parts of the North Coast facing what forecasters say is shaping up to be “extreme drought” this year, the region’s water managers are busy exploring near- and long-term options.

But new large reservoirs like Lake Sonoma and Lake Mendocino aren’t among them.

Even as the first of seven large reservoirs funded by the 2014 $2.7 billion California water bond is set to get under construction elsewhere in the state, agency officials and local lawmakers say the regulatory and political environment has shifted dramatically from decades ago when the Golden State’s big water catchments were constructed.

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The Snowmelt Is On – and That’s Too Soon in Colorado, Say Water Watchers

/in , , /by /The Denver Gazetteby Marianne Goodland

The concern over drought over the past couple of years has focused on the Western Slope and much of southern and southeastern Colorado, but water watchers said on April 19 that a lack of precipitation is now a factor for the Eastern Plains, as well, just when farmers are getting ready to plant.

Colorado’s drought situation is a little better than it was a year ago, but warm temperatures, windy conditions in April and almost no precipitation in parts of the state means the snowpack is melting a couple of weeks sooner than most water watchers would prefer.

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Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center Receives Multiple Awards for Its Excellence

/in , /by

Valley Water has won two prestigious awards for its work to increase Santa Clara County’s local water supply through recycled and purified water.

In February 2022, the Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center (SVAWPC) was named the Tertiary Recycled Water Plant of the Year by the Santa Clara Valley Section of the California Water Environment Association (CWEA).

The accolades continued in March 2022 when the purification center claimed victory at the state competition. The regional and state recognitions come in the plant’s first year of applying.