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

Opinion: Secure California’s Future Water Supply and Invest in Recycled Water

/in , /by /CalMattersby Jennifer West

Climate change is forcing our state to reimagine our water supply future. How do we do that? Easy — we reuse water.

Just like recycling a plastic bottle, we can safely use recycled water to drink, irrigate parks, support environmental uses, grow crops, produce energy, and much more. More than just a new source of water, water recycling projects provide a degree of local water independence.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature are considering a drought funding package this summer that will use some of the budget surplus to mitigate drought effects and prepare our state for our new water-scarce future.  The governor and the Legislature need to continue their commitment to recycled water by making a significant investment of at least $500 million in the package.

Full Story

Dramatic Photos From NASA Highlight Severity of California’s Drought

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

As the West descends deeper into drought, climate and water experts are growing increasingly alarmed by California’s severely shriveling reservoirs.

On Monday, Shasta Lake — the largest reservoir in the state — held a scant 1.57 million acre-feet of water, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, or about 35% of its capacity.

A series of satellite images captured by NASA show just how dramatically the water level has fallen.

Full Story

Extreme Actions Underway to Ensure Glen Canyon Dam Can Continue to Generate Power

/in , /by /The Salt Lake Tribuneby Brian Maffly

The growing crisis on the Colorado River came into sharper focus last week when the Bureau of Reclamation began emergency releases from Flaming Gorge Reservoir to shore up Lake Powell’s declining levels, now at historic lows.

The move will bolster Powell’s level by 3 feet in hopes of preventing it from dropping to a point where Glen Canyon Dam would not be able to generate electrical power, according to the agency’s Upper Colorado regional director Wayne Pullan.

Full Story

Thieves are Stealing California’s Scarce Water. Where’s It Going? Illegal Marijuana Farms

/in , /by /CalMattersby Julie Cart

One day last spring, water pressure in pipelines suddenly crashed In the Antelope Valley, setting off alarms. Demand had inexplicably spiked, swelling to three and half times normal. Water mains broke open, and storage tanks were drawn down to dangerous levels.

The emergency was so dire in the water-stressed desert area of Hi Vista, between Los Angeles and Mojave, that county health officials considered ordering residents to boil their tap water before drinking it.

Full Story

How to Reduce Home Water Use in an Age of Drought and Climate Change

/in , /by /The Washington Postby Sarah Fowler

Each day, it seems, a new climate-related catastrophe makes headlines.

Salmon are dying in California, because the water they inhabit has been heated to the point that it’s inhospitable to life. The Hoover Dam reservoir is at record-low levels, potentially affecting the water supply to the West Coast. And California is, once again, in a drought.

States and municipalities across the country are asking residents to conserve water as the precious resource is threatened with impending scarcity.

Full Story

Imperial Valley’s Water During the Western Drought

/in , /by /The Desert Reviewby Betty Miller

While much of the western US is experiencing drought conditions, California is one of the hardest hit. As of June 22, 100 percent of the State is experiencing some degree of drought. About 33 percent of the State has been categorized under exceptional drought — the most intense drought classification. But water access varies greatly by region, according to a recent article by CalMatters.

Governor Gavin Newsom expanded two earlier drought emergency declarations on July 8, to cover 50 of the State’s 58 counties. He signed an executive order calling on all Californians to voluntarily reduce water use by 15 percent. The governor’s emergency proclamation did not impose water conservation mandates. Instead, Newsom is leaving water conservation to each region.

Full Story

Opinion: We Are Just 5 Feet Away From the Possibility of Deeper Water Cuts to Save Lake Mead

/in , /by /Arizona Republic by Joanna Allhands

This is escalating quickly.

The July 24-month study for the Colorado River reservoir system is skirting dangerously close to what might be considered a doomsday provision within the Drought Contingency Plan.

If Lake Mead is projected to fall below 1,030 feet any time within two years, the plan states, Arizona, California and Nevada must reconvene to decide what additional steps they will take to keep Mead from falling below 1,020 feet – an elevation that many consider the crash point. The next milestone below that is “dead pool,” where no water leaves the lake.

Full Story

Megadrought Poses ‘Existential’ Crisis in California and the West

/in , , /by /CBS SF Bay Areaby Ben Tracy and John Goodwin

The American West was once seen as a place of endless possibilities: grand vistas, bountiful resources and cities that somehow grew out of deserts. Now, manifest destiny has become a manifest emergency.

A scorching drought made worse by climate change is draining reservoirs at an alarming pace, fueling massive wildfires and deadly heat waves and withering one of the most important agricultural economies in the country.

Full Story

Opinion: Secure California’s Future Water Supply and Invest in Recycled Water

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Jennifer West

Climate change is forcing our state to reimagine our water supply future. How do we do that? Easy — we reuse water.

Just like recycling a plastic bottle, we can safely use recycled water to drink, irrigate parks, support environmental uses, grow crops, produce energy, and much more. More than just a new source of water, water recycling projects provide a degree of local water independence.

Full Story

At Shrinking Lake Mead, a New Coalition says Status Quo on Colorado River is Failing

/in , , /by /Arizona Republic by Ian James and Anton L. Delgado

With the concrete towers of Hoover Dam in the background and the depleted waters of the nation’s largest reservoir below, an unlikely group of allies — conservation activists, businesspeople and officials representing cities and farming communities — on Thursday called for halting all plans that would take more water from the shrinking Colorado River.

The 10 people who spoke at the news conference said they’re part of a new coalition demanding a moratorium on new dams and proposed pipelines, including a proposal to transport Colorado River water to sustain urban growth in Utah.

Full Story