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How Much Rain Does California Need to Get Out of the Drought? A Lot Still

/in , , /by /AccuWeatherby Zachary Rosenthal

If you flashback to October, it might seem hard to believe that California’s Sierra Nevada would be experiencing a below-normal snowpack at this point of the winter. During October, the region was regularly pummeled with atmospheric rivers and major winter storms, with those storms dropping feet of snow in the mountains.

But as of early February, despite that strong start, the region has had its driest period of winter in recorded history. It has been more than 32 days and counting since the last snowfall at the U.C. Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab, breaking the previous record of 31 set in 1990.

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The Beginning of the End of Lawns, One Rebate at a Time

/in , , /by /Sonoma Index-Tribuneby Chase Hunter

When Kim Chapman and her husband Don Gross were tired of their lawn, and the brown grass and the water bills that accompanied it, they got paid to remove their grass. They were one of 150 households who have benefited from the City of Sonoma’s turf removal rebate since it launched in 2013.

The program has been able to drastically reduce the amount of water used by residents who remove their lawns, since nearly half of a home’s water bill can come from maintaining lawns, Sonoma City Water Manager Mike Brett said.

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Sen. Nielsen Bill Seeks to Help Sites Reservoir Project

/in , , /by /Colusa County Sun Heraldby Robert Summa

State Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Red Bluff, and Sen. Andreas Borgeas, R-Fresno, introduced a bill last week that would have a significant impact on the Sites Reservoir project in Colusa County.

The bill, Senate Bill 890, is meant to ensure millions of acre-feet of water is stored during wet years instead of being flushed out to sea, a release from California Senate Republicans said.

Sites Reservoir is an off-stream facility proposed north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that captures storm water flows from the Sacramento River for release primarily in dry and critical years, the Appeal previously reported.

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Interior Official: Federal Funds ‘Coming at Just the Right Time’ to Help Utah Drought

/in , /by /Desert Newsby Kyle Dunphey

Standing at the foot of the southern Wasatch Mountains in Spanish Fork, Tommy Beaudreau, deputy secretary of the Interior, said the recently passed bipartisan infrastructure package will make Utah more drought resilient, while easing tensions between Western states and Washington, D.C.

Less than a mile down the road, construction crews worked to install two massive pipelines — one that will replace the Salem Canal and one that is the final piece of a lengthy project to divert a portion of the state’s Colorado River allotment to southern Utah County.

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Solar Panels to Be Installed Above California Canals

/in , /by /EcoWatchby Climate Nexus

Solar panels are coming to two California canals. The “Project Nexus” follows research from the University of California-Merced finding substantial benefits for water quality and delivery, in addition to the benefits of renewable power generation.

This first-of-its-kind pilot project will install solar arrays over two canals (one 25-feet wide and one 110-foot-wide) in the Turlock Irrigation District, allowing operators to monitor and evaluate the arrays’ impacts on water quality and evaporation and learn more about the potential maintenance and logistical issues involved with installing and operating solar panels over the canals.

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What Is the Future of Snow? Grappling With Climate Change and Warmer Winters

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

Between the Winter Olympics and our dry January, I’ve been thinking a lot about snow over the last few weeks. Last month, Reno saw no measurable precipitation for the first time since such records were kept. The dry streak has continued past January. And although there have been longer periods of dryness in the region, it’s enough to be noticeable, matched with warm temperatures that make it feel more like spring than winter.

Maybe it’s the weather whiplash that makes it feel especially noticeable. The water year started out strong.

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‘It Could End Up That This Winter Is Actually Contributing to the Drought’: Record-Long Snowless Streak Measured in the Sierra

/in , , /by /KCRAby Heather Waldman

First, it was a few days, then a few weeks and now over a month without measurable rain or snow in Northern California.

On Wednesday, Feb. 9, UC Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Lab shared on its social media platforms that the site had broken a concerning record. There have now been 33 days straight without snow or rain at the CSSL site in Donner Pass.

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A Peek Into California’s Energy Future: Grid Operator Releases 20-year Outlook

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

A long-range outlook released by California’s grid operator offers a glimpse at what the state’s electric system may look like in 20 years — a portfolio with dramatically more renewable energy sources in the power mix, accompanied by a price tag of about $30.5 billion in transmission costs alone.

The California Independent System Operator, known as the CAISO for short, manages the electric grid for about 80 percent of the Golden State and a small part of Nevada. Every year, the organization conducts an annual transmission analysis and then updates its 10-year planning horizon.

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Water Supplies From Glaciers May Peak Sooner Than Anticipated

/in , /by /The New York Timesby Raymond Zhong

The world’s glaciers may contain less water than previously believed, a new study has found, suggesting that freshwater supplies could peak sooner than anticipated for millions of people worldwide who depend on glacial melt for drinking water, crop irrigation and everyday use.

The latest findings are based on satellite images taken during 2017 and 2018. They are a snapshot in time; scientists will need to do more work to connect them with long-term trends. But they imply that further global warming could cause today’s ice to vanish in many places on a shorter timeline than previously thought.

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Recent Snowstorms a Good Start, but More Needed

/in , /by /Santa Fe New Mexicanby Scott Wyland

Snow falling in the mountains and valleys was a welcome sight in a state struggling with drought.

Heavy late-December snowstorms made that month the wettest it has been in at least two years, and snowfall from the more recent storms seems to be breaking La Niña’s dry winter curse. But experts caution the somewhat-promising start to winter is just that — a start.

It’s too soon to know whether the spate of precipitation will be fleeting or will multiply into more storms, building the snowpack needed for a healthy spring runoff to feed rivers and defying La Niña, a weather pattern that typically makes the Southwest drier than normal in the winter and spring.

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