San Diego County residents continue to embrace a conservation ethic by creating beautiful, waterwise landscapes. The Vallecitos Water District reports that more District water customers are reducing their outdoor water use and adopting WaterSmart practices.
Three Vallecitos customers are the most recent examples of the landscape makeover trend, creating beautiful landscapes, and winning the regional Watersmart Landscape Contest.
California water regulators took unprecedented action this week, passing an emergency regulation that will bar thousands of Californians from diverting stream and river water as the drought worsens.
The State Water Resources Control Board voted unanimously Tuesday to pass the “emergency curtailment” order for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed. The watershed encompasses a wide swath of the state, from the Oregon border in northeastern California down into the Central Valley.
Faced with dire water shortages and a severe drought, California has moved to enact emergency restrictions that will prevent thousands of farmers and landowners from using water drawn from an enormous system of streams and rivers that services nearly two-thirds of the state.
Gary Bousquet has been appointed director of engineering for the San Diego County Water Authority as the agency begins the development of a major energy storage project intended to provide substantial long-term benefits for the region, it was announced today.
As wells and reservoirs dry up across California amid worsening drought conditions, Ruth Reservoir, which provides water for most of Humboldt County’s population centers, is at 87% capacity — exactly where it should be.
John Friedenbach, general manager of the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District, said Ruth Reservoir has remained resilient through the drought.
Colorado is proposing to ramp up requirements that agricultural water users, ranging from big companies to small mom-and-pop farms, measure the amount of water they divert from streams, rivers and waterways.
The state engineer says a statewide rule is necessary to prepare Colorado for a water-scarce future. Some water users, however, accuse the state of taking a heavy-handed and overly expensive approach that will force landowners to install devices in areas that don’t need them.
With the help of resources such as the San Diego County Water Authority’s WaterSmart Landscape Makeover classes, video on demand, and Sustainable Landscape Guide, many homeowners feel prepared to create a beautiful new sustainable landscape on their own.
But sometimes, it’s a smart idea to call on professionals trained in different aspects of the watershed approach to landscaping. With a little help, you can ensure the success of your project. For your investment, you will likely save time and money by avoiding unsuccessful efforts.
This year’s drought is on the verge of going from bad to worse for thousands of farmers in the Central Valley. Tuesday, the State Water Resources Control Board approved emergency curtailment regulations. The move impacts 5,700 of the 6,600 water rights holders in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed. Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced) says Tuesday’s decision by the board is the wrong approach. He had petitioned the board to vote against the emergency measures.
A “mega-drought” across the Southwest will force the federal government to declare a water shortage on the Colorado River this month. The decision would be historic for the watershed, which serves 40 million people in seven states: California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. The river system provides irrigation that turns desert into farmland and is an important source of drinking water and hydroelectric power. The looming first-ever declaration will be triggered when the country’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead, dips below a certain level.
Lake Oroville, one of California’s biggest reservoirs, reached its lowest-ever point this week, breaking a record set decades ago in the latest troubling sign of the punishing drought conditions afflicting the state.
The lake reached a “new historic low elevation” of 642.73 feet of water, which is down from 645 feet in September 1977, said John Yarbrough, assistant deputy director of the California State Water Project, in a statement.
