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How Does Climate Change Affect Mountainous Watersheds That Give Us Our Water?

/in , , /by /Berkeley Labby Christina Procopiou

The image of huge chunks of ice breaking away from glaciers and ice sheets, then floating out to sea in Earth’s most remote places, may be the most iconic symbol of a warming planet. And while most people will never see these familiar phenomena up close, what’s happening within some of the iciest settings still affects people and regions thousands of miles away.

Ecologist Heidi Steltzer, a Fort Lewis College professor and member of the Department of Energy’s Watershed Function Scientific Focus Area (SFA) project led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, studies how reduced snowpack and earlier snowmelt caused by climate change impact water supply in high-mountain areas..

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To Guard Against Drought, Santa Maria Looks To Acquire Rights To Suspended State Water Supply

/in , , /by /Santa Maria Times by Razi Syed

To guard against volatility in the amount of state water it receives, Santa Maria and several other Central Coast Water Authority members are planning to claim an additional 12,214 acre-feet of state water that was set aside decades ago.

The move — which would be funded by issuing a $42 million bond — would increase Santa Maria’s annual right to state water from 17,820 to over 27,000 acre-feet each year.

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2019 Water Year Sees Above-Average Rainfall

/in , , /by /Turlock Journalby Angelina Martin

After a lackluster amount of rainfall throughout the San Joaquin Valley in 2018, the recent end to the 2019 precipitation year was a welcome sight for community members wary of drought thanks to plenty of storms that brought above-average numbers.

This past precipitation year, which began Sept. 1, 2018 and ended Aug. 31, 2019, saw 45.65 inches of rainfall — nearly 10 inches more than the historical average for the area or about 125 percent of average for the date.

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Paradise Residents Still Can’t Drink the Water

/in , , /by /KQEDby Molly Peterson

Since last November, when the Camp Fire almost completely destroyed the town of Paradise, the cancer-causing chemical benzene has tainted the town’s water, leaving it undrinkable. Now an independent team of scientists will begin testing for the carcinogen and other pollutants inside the houses that the fire left standing.

“The main goal is to really understand what’s going on, basically, and to address any issues that come up,” environmental health investigator Dr. Gina Solomon told residents at a recent Paradise Irrigation District meeting.

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Future Uncertain For Shasta Dam Raising After Irrigation District Stops Work On Study

/in , , /by /Redding Record Searchlightby Damon Arthur

Following losses in court, a Fresno-based irrigation district has backed off its plans to do an environmental study on raising the height of Shasta Dam.

The Westlands Water District announced Monday that it has stopped working on the report because it could not meet the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s schedule for the project.

The bureau is trying to get non-federal partners to help pay half the cost of the $1.4 billion project to raise the height of the dam 18½ feet.

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Recycled Water Now Flows Through Repurposed Agricultural Pipeline Benefiting Area’s Watershed

/in , , /by /California Water News Daily

Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, Riverside County Flood and Water Conservation District and the City of Lake Elsinore recently celebrated the transformation of an abandoned agricultural pipeline that has now been converted to move water from EVMWD’s Regional Water Reclamation Facility into Lake Elsinore. The supplemental recycled water provides an additional source of water for the lake.

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Where Animals And Plants Might Survive Climate Change

/in , /by /KQEDby Lauren Sommer

Scientists are searching for pockets of ecological resistance in the face of climate change, places that seem to be warming less quickly than others due to unique natural conditions.

The hope is that as the earth continues to get hotter, these “climate refugia” could serve as strongholds for plants and animals

For a decade, scientists have been studying this phenomenon in a steep mountain valley in the Sierra Nevada. Devils Postpile National Monument is known for its distinct geologic formations, where the crumbling columns of rock from an ancient lava bed resemble, well, a pile of posts.

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Commentary: California Must Embrace Groundwater Management, And Expand It

/in , /by /Napa Valley Register by Sandi Matsumoto

We all walk on water. Not literally, but most Californians do walk over the water stored in the aquifers beneath our feet.

This unseen resource is groundwater, which provides 40% of our water supply in normal years, and up to 60% of our supply in times of drought.

With dry periods expected to increase in frequency and duration, groundwater is key to creating a more resilient water supply for drinking water, producing food, and sustaining our precious natural resources. Yet despite its importance, groundwater use in California has been largely unregulated.

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Will Cal Fire’s Plan to Rip Out Vegetation in San Diego Lead to an Explosion in Flammable Invasive Grasses?

/in , /by /San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith

Highly flammable nonnative plants have increasingly played a major role in Southern California’s struggles with wildfire — providing kindling along roadsides and around homes that turn sparks into menacing backcountry blazes.

San Diego firefighting officials plan to dramatically ramp up efforts to rip out vegetation, both native and invasive, surrounding remote communities as part of a statewide campaign to prevent tragedies such as the Camp Fire in Paradise.

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The Interior Secretary Wants to Enlarge a Dam. An Old Lobbying Client Would Benefit.

/in , , /by /New York Timesby Coral Davenport

For years, the Interior Department resisted proposals to raise the height of its towering Shasta Dam in Northern California. The department’s own scientists and researchers concluded that doing so would endanger rare plants and animals in the area, as well as the bald eagle, and devastate the West Coast’s salmon industry downstream.

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