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January Outlook: Wetter & Warmer for Most of the Nation

/in , , /by /WeatherNationby Tom Di Liberto

Happy new year! We all know keeping New Year’s resolutions is often a fruitless endeavor, but here’s hoping that Mother Nature will make—and keep—a resolution for a less bonkers climate year in 2021. To kick start 2021 in the United States, the January outlook from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center favors wetter- and warmer-than-average conditions for much of the country, which is particularly good news across drought- and wildfire-stricken parts of northern California.

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FEMA Ranks Los Angeles County as Riskiest in the Nation; Riverside, San Bernardino Counties in Top 10

/in , , /by /CBS Los Angeles

Los Angeles County is the riskiest county in the country according to a new risk index – and Riverside and San Bernardino counties are not far behind.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index looked at 18 kinds of natural disasters, such as coastal flooding, drought, landslides, tsunamis, earthquakes, wildfires, strong winds, volcanic activity and heat and cold waves. The ranking also takes into account economic damage and the community’s ability to recover from a disaster.

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Harnessing Rice Fields to Resurrect California’s Endangered Salmon

/in , , /by /Inside Climate Newsby Liza Gross

California’s salmon populations have been dangerously close to extinction for decades. A new partnership may help tip the scales toward recovery.

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TUD Efforts to Acquire PG&E Water Rights and Infrastructure ‘Still On Track’

/in , /by /The Union Democratby Guy McCarthy

Tuolumne Utilities District efforts to acquire water rights and infrastructure from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. were slowed by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, but TUD’s general manager said Tuesday that negotiations with the utility giant are “still on track,” and he is optimistic an agreement could be reached this year.

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Oceanside Gets Ready to Paint Its Future with General Plan Update

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union Tribuneby Phil Diehl

Oceanside is pushing to complete a comprehensive update of its General Plan in 2021, the first overall revision since the plan was created in the 1970s.

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San Diego’s Climate Challenges Will Still Be Here in 2021 – and Beyond

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Mackenzie Elmer

Climate concerns took a bit of a backseat in 2020. These are the local plans and problems that policymakers might turn their attention to in 2021.

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California is Scrambling to Avoid Blackouts. Your Refrigerator Could Help

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sammy Roth

Sometime next summer, there’s a decent chance a heat wave will bake the American West, and California’s power grid will again be stretched to its limits. As the sun sets, solar panels will start generating less electricity even as temperatures remain high. Power plants that burn natural gas will fire up as quickly as possible, in a race to keep air conditioners blowing and avert the need for rolling blackouts.

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Vanderlaan Named LAFCO Chair, Reappointed to New Term

/in , , /by /Fallbrook Village Newsby Joe Naiman Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Bonsall resident Andy Vanderlaan will chair the 2021 meetings of San Diego County’s Local Agency Formation Commission, and he was also reappointed for another four-year term on the LAFCO board.

One 8-0 LAFCO vote Dec. 7 reappointed Vanderlaan as LAFCO’s public member. A separate 8-0 vote elected Vanderlaan as the LAFCO board chair for 2021 while electing County Supervisor Jim Desmond as the vice-chair for the 2021 meetings.

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Wall Street Eyes Billions in the Colorado’s Water

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Ben Ryder Howe

There is a myth about water in the Western United States, which is that there is not enough of it. But those who deal closely with water will tell you this is false. There is plenty. It is just in the wrong places.

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California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta – a Short History of Big Changes

/in , , /by /YubaNetby Jay Lund

Deltas globally adjust with changes and fluctuations in external conditions, internal dynamics, and human management.  This is a short history of big changes to California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in the past and present, and its anticipated future.  This history is important for understanding how many of the Delta’s problems have developed, changed, and continue to change.

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