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Running Dry: Explaining Reservoirs’ Importance in California

/in , /by /KCRA3by Dirk Verdoorn

California’s water supply can vary greatly from year to year to the need to manage what we get is a high priority in the Golden State. The Central Valley Project was devised in 1933 as a way to manage water and transport it areas considered more water-rich to the more water-scarce areas in the Central Valley by a series of canals, aqueducts and pump plants. Reservoirs play an important role in the project, feeding the canals that transport water from the far southern end of the valley.

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California Drought: Recycled Water Investment Paying Off For North Marin Water District

/in , /by /KPIX 5by John Ramos

This is shaping up to be a long, dry summer and water managers across the state are looking for new sources to meet their demand.  But one small district in Marin County placed a bet on a drought-proof supply of water that may pay off big this year.

The town of Novato relies on Lake Stafford for its summer water supply and like most reservoirs this year, it is dangerously low. However, the local water district actually has more water than it can even use – but there’s a catch: most of it is recycled.

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San Diego County Has ‘Sufficient’ Water Supplies as Drought Grips State

/in , /by /Patch.comby City News Service Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Despite a drought emergency declaration in northern and central California, the San Diego County Water Authority said Tuesday the region was well positioned to outlast drought conditions until 2045. On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded a drought emergency declaration from Sonoma and Mendocino counties to 41 counties.

San Diego Spared as Newsom Declares Drought Emergency in 41 of California’s 58 Counties

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Reuters Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday issued an expanded “drought emergency proclamation” for 41 of the state’s 58 counties, citing above-average temperatures and dry conditions for April and May.

So far, Southern California has been spared the worst of the drought, and the San Diego County Water Authority has said it has supplies to withstand several dry years.

“Gov. Newsom’s latest drought emergency declaration is a grim reminder of the growing water supply challenges across California — and of the value of three decades of our collective dedication to use water efficiently combined with strategic investments that protect San Diego County from dry years,” said Gary Croucher, board chair of the water authority.

“Thanks to efforts of ratepayers, the water authority, and our 24 member agencies, we have sufficient water supplies for 2021 and the foreseeable future,” he said.

 

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Water-Use Efficiency, Investments Protect Region as Drought Impacts Spread

/in , , /by /Water News Network Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

“Governor Newsom’s latest drought emergency declaration is a grim reminder of the growing water supply challenges across California – and of the value of three decades of our collective dedication to use water efficiently combined with strategic investments that protect San Diego County from dry years. Thanks to efforts of ratepayers, the Water Authority, and our 24 member agencies, we have sufficient water supplies for 2021 and the foreseeable future.

Our regional adoption of water-use efficiency measures is a major piece of our strategy, with per capita water use falling by almost half over 30 years. At the same time, the rates we pay for water have been invested in new water sources along with major dams and reservoirs that are showing their worth more with each passing day.” – Gary Croucher, Board Chair, San Diego County Water Authority

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This is How California’s Water Use Has Changed Since the Last Drought

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Yoohyun Jung

California is in a serious drought. The National Drought Mitigation Center’s drought monitor puts most of the state in extreme drought zones for the first time since 2015.

The latest instance of drought has once again put the state’s water use under the microscope to identify opportunities for conservation, a task that’s expected to become more challenging as the impacts of climate change intensify.

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Pure Water Oceanside’s New Virtual Reality Video

/in , , /by /Water News Network

To celebrate Water Awareness Month in May and highlight the value of water, the City of Oceanside has unveiled its new virtual reality video tour. The 360-degree video shows the water recycling process that prepares water for Pure Water Oceanside. The advanced water purification project will create a new local source of high-quality drinking water that is clean, safe, drought-proof and environmentally sound.

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Sonoma County Officials to Cut Pumping from Russian River by 20% Amid Deepening Drought

/in , , /by /Santa Rosa Press-Democratby Mary Callahan

Sonoma County supervisors are expected to offer their formal support Tuesday for a plan to pump 20% less water than normal from the Russian River for the remainder of the year, preserving dwindling supplies in local reservoirs but making less water available to more than 600,000 consumers in Sonoma and northern Marin counties.

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In California’s Farm Country, Climate Change Is Likely to Trigger More Pesticide Use, Fouling Waterways

/in , /by /Inside Climate Newsby Liza Gross

Every spring, California farmers brace themselves for signs of wriggling organisms destined to launch multigenerational attacks on their crops.

Many insect species survive the winter as eggs or larvae and then emerge in early spring as the first generation to feed and breed on millions of acres of California vineyards, orchards and row crops. Climate change will complicate farmers’ efforts to control these pests in complex and unpredictable ways.

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Could This $36 Million Central Valley River Restoration Project Help with California’s Droughts?

/in , , , /by /San Francisco Chronicle by Tara Duggan

As California enters what could be a record-breaking drought, a just-completed nine-year floodplain restoration project at the confluence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers offers an ambitious attempt at one mitigation solution.

At a 1,600-acre former dairy ranch called Dos Rios, the conservation organization River Partners removed berms that farmers had originally constructed to protect their alfalfa and wheat crops from the river. It turned fields into seasonal pools where endangered baby salmon and migratory birds can rest, and water can trickle down to refill aquifers. Last month, it planted the last of more than 350,000 native grasses, shrubs and trees — acres of towering willows, flowering elderberry and creeping wild rye chosen to thrive in flood or drought.

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