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Could California Handle Another Year of Drought? State Officials Weigh in on Current Situation

/in , , /by /ABC10by Carley Gomez

In a multi-agency meeting on the state of California’s drought conditions, state officials painted a broader picture on water allocation, lack of available water and what the Golden State is facing in the months and years to come.

Officials expect record low water levels across the state, especially for Oroville and San Luis Reservoir. Jeanine Jones with the California Department of Water Resources said the state is at 58% of average reservoir storage as a whole for this time of year. As of Monday, Aug. 9, Lake Oroville came in at 34% of average and Folsom Lake came in at 35% of average.

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Opinion: Voters Played Role in Marin Municipal Water District Shortage

/in , , /by /Marin Independent Journalby Dick Spotswood Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The welcome arch across Modesto’s main street proclaims, “Water, wealth, contentment, health.”

In essence, water, the first word, directly leads to the following benefits. The same formula applies to Marin. Now it’s the scarcity of water that endangers our county’s ability to enjoy the benefits of wealth, contentment and health.

The entire American West is enduring a drought of epic proportions. The globe’s climate will only get warmer in the next 50 years. Marin is late preparing for that eventuality. Doing so isn’t impossible but it comes with a hefty price tag and can’t happen overnight.

Semi-arid San Diego County has already accomplished what Marin needs to do. They have a sufficient water supply that will last until 2045. Marin may run dry next year.

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As Lake Powell Woes Worry West, Experts Call For Yet More Reduced Use

/in , , /by /Montrose Press by Katharhynn Heidelberg

If the Colorado River were a bank account, it would be running toward the red.

The river, the lifeblood for several Western states, is being squeezed by overuse and plunging supply — as temperatures stay on the upswing year after year, and thirsty soils rapidly absorb the bulk of moisture from a dwindling annual snowpack.

The conclusion is “inescapable,” Colorado River District Manager Andy Mueller said Monday.

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California Just Recorded Its Hottest July Ever. Charts Show It’s Part of a Trend

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kellie Hwang

California just closed the books on its hottest July on record, a whopping 5.3 degrees above normal.

It was the latest in a rash of record-setting months over the past year, as the state saw its hottest July, June, October, September and August in history, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NOAA data shows that the average monthly temperature in July was 80 degrees, 5.3 degrees above normal, or the average temperature from 1901 to 2000. June’s average temperature was 75 degrees, 6.8 degrees above normal.

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‘We’re in Uncharted Territory’: Lake Oroville Levels Reach Historic Low, Impacting Recreation

/in , , /by /KCRA3by Stephanie Lin

In a year already plagued by pandemic and wildfires, Californians are also entangled with the crippling effect of drought.

“Every year, there seems to be a disaster and issues,” lamented California State Parks Public Safety Chief Aaron Wright, who responded to help Oroville through the Camp Fire and many other crises.

In 2017, hundreds of thousands of lives were threatened when massive flooding damaged the Oroville Dam. Today, changing weather conditions have created a stark contrast from years ago: Hot temperatures and low rainfall have left miles of dusty, cracked shorelines exposed.

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Lafco Presents Options for Ramona to Gain Local Control With a Community Services District

/in , /by /Ramona Sentinelby Julie Gallant

A proposal to transition Ramona from an unincorporated town run by the county into a community overseen by a Community Services District is being explored by the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission.

Priscilla Allen, a LAFCO analyst, introduced Ramona Community Planning Group members to the idea at the group’s Aug. 5 meeting. The plan is based on Ramona’s growing population and trend toward urbanization, Allen said.

The creation of a Community Services District is included in 14 recommendations being submitted by LAFCO staff to the San Diego LAFCO Commission.

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Senate Approves Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill With Funds for California

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Jennifer Haberkorn

The Senate on Tuesday approved an expansive bill to rebuild the nation’s aging roads and bridges, with $8.3 billion specifically targeted to water infrastructure projects in the West and billions more to fund national projects to mitigate the impact of wildfires.

After months of negotiation among President Biden, Democrats and a group of moderate Republicans to forge a compromise, the Senate voted 69 to 30 in favor of the legislation. In the end, it had support from 19 Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

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L.A. Water Recycling Imperiled After Beach Sewage Spill, Hurting Drought Conservation

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Robert J. Lopez

Problems at a Los Angeles sewage treatment plant that caused a massive spill into Santa Monica Bay last month have severely reduced the region’s water recycling ability, forcing officials to divert millions of gallons of clean drinking water at a time of worsening drought conditions, The Times has learned.

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Ways to Save Water During the Drought — and Whether It’s Worth Doing at All

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Jessica Roy

In case you hadn’t heard, California is once again in a drought.

But don’t take our word for it. The pictures tell a chilling (or, rather, incrementally heating) story. Boat slips on dry land. “Bathtub rings” around lakes. Juvenile salmon cooked to death in warming rivers. And the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a report on Monday that outlines just how much damage has been done and who’s to blame: “It is a statement of fact, we cannot be any more certain; it is unequivocal and indisputable that humans are warming the planet.”

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Dry California Tourist Town to Guests: ‘Please Conserve’

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Olga R. Rodriguez and Haven Daley

Tourists flock by the thousands to the coastal town of Mendocino for its Victorian homes and cliff trails, but visitors this summer are also finding public portable toilets and signs on picket fences pleading: “Severe Drought. Please conserve water.”

Hotels have closed their lobby bathrooms and residents have stopped watering their gardens in the foggy outpost about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of San Francisco after two years of little rain sapped many of the wells Mendocino depends on for potable water.

Mendocino’s water woes were compounded in recent weeks when the city of Fort Bragg a few miles to the north — its main backup water supplier — informed officials that it, too, had a significant drop in its drinking water reserves after the Noyo River recorded its lowest flows in decades.

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