You are now in California and the U.S. Home Headline Media Coverage category.

Nacimiento Reservoir Low But Officials Say San Luis Obispo Remains Water-Secure

/in , , /by /KCBXby Rachel Showalter

Officials say the City of San Luis Obispo is water-secure for now, despite several years of drought conditions.The City of San Luis Obispo relies on water from Santa Margarita Lake, Whale Rock Reservoir and Nacimiento Reservoir. Mychal Boerman is Deputy Director of Water for the city. He said Nacimiento’s water capacity is at 13 percent, due to low rainfall years and continuous use of the reservoir for Salinas Valley farming

Full Story

Fresno County Towns With No Drinking Water Drown in Debt While Hope Fades for New Well

/in , /by /The Fresno Beeby Jesse Vad

The longer it takes for two new wells to be dug in Cantua Creek and El Porvenir in western Fresno County, the deeper in debt the towns are mired.

Now, with the drought, those well projects are in a race against dropping groundwater levels as farmers, cut off from surface water supplies, are leaning more heavily on the aquifer.

Full Story

Rain Helps in California Fire Fight, Lightning Sparks Others

/in , /by /AP News

Thunderstorms that dropped light rain gave some breathing room to crews struggling to quench California’s massive wildfires but lightning sparked several new blazes in the drought-stricken north, fire officials said.

The storms that rolled through Thursday night into Friday were followed by weekend forecasts of clear weather and a warming trend in fire areas into next week.

Full Story

It Isn’t Your Imagination. This Summer in California Is the Hottest Ever Recorded

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

Drought. Wildfires. And, for the country as a whole, temperatures worse than the Dust Bowl.

In a further bit of evidence of the reality of climate change, California has just experienced its hottest summer on record, according to data released this week by the federal government.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the average temperature in California reached 77.3 degrees from June to August. That topped the previous record of 76.5 degrees in summer 2017.

Full Story

California OKs New Spending on Drought, Wildfire Prevention

/in , , /by /Associated Pressby Adam Beam

California lawmakers on Thursday voted to spend more than $2 billion to prevent wildfires and address a severe drought, closing the book — for now — on a $262.5 billion operating budget that began the year with a record deficit because of the pandemic and ended with a record surplus in spite of it.

Full Story

Opinion: Depleted by Drought, Lakes Powell and Mead Were Doomed from the Beginning

/in , , /by /Washington Postby Becky Bolinger

For the first time, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation issued a water shortage for Lake Mead starting in 2022. Located between southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona, Lake Mead provides water and generates electricity for the more than 20 million people in the lower Colorado River Basin.

Full Story

California’s Sustainable Farms, Models for Agriculture in Warming World, Need Help Surviving It

/in , , /by /KQEDby Liza Gross

The bustle of birds and insect pollinators is the first thing you notice at Full Belly Farm in Guinda, about 100 miles northeast of San Francisco in the Capay Valley, where Judith Redmond and her partners started farming four decades ago.

Full Story

California’s Vital Canals are Crumbling. A Plan to Fix Them Just Died in the Legislature

/in , , /by /Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

The major arteries of California’s water-delivery system are crumbling, but a proposal in the state Legislature to spend $785 million fixing them is dead for the year.

The legislation, SB 559 was pulled off the table this week by its chief author, state Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger), after an Assembly committee stripped the funding and made other changes to the legislation. Hurtado’s decision turns SB 559 into a two-year bill that could be revived next year.

Full Story

California Groundwater Pumping Project Can Proceed, for Now

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Maya Earls

Environmental groups failed to justify blocking the federal government from funding groundwater pumping in the Sacramento River Valley pending a preliminary injunction hearing, a federal court in California ruled.

There’s no evidence that pumping will immediately occur without injunctive relief, according to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

Full Story

Biden’s Interior Secretary Backs West Side Reservoir, More California Water Storage

/in , , /by /The Modesto Beeby John Holland

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland talked about dealing with drought, including a reservoir planned near Patterson, in a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday.

She was joined by Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock, who has urged increased federal spending on such efforts.

Full Story