California’s snowpack is at 184% of average for this time of year. Cities from San Francisco to Los Angeles have recorded their highest rain levels in years. Rockslides and flooding hit Northern California. And the spillway of the state’s massive dam at Lake Oroville, once a symbol of the state’s brutal drought when it sat near empty, is actually eroding due to so much runoff from fall and winter rains.
With storm after storm filling reservoirs and swelling the Sierra Nevada snowpack to 171 percent of its historic average, Californians might be surprised that officials with the State Water Resources Control Board want to extend emergency statewide drought rules for 270 days instead of letting them expire Feb. 28. They argue that the snowpack can be rapidly depleted and say there are still dry conditions and unfilled reservoirs in parts of the state.
The rain has been unrelenting, to say the least. So much so that several water agencies across Southern California are saying that, yup, that nasty, historic drought is officially over. In late January, the San Diego County Water Authority made that bold declaration, adding that San Diego County had amassed enough water to last residents for the next three years. On Monday, Orange County joined the celebration as the board of directors at the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) voted unanimously to declare that the community is mostly out of the red, reports the O.C. Register.
Since December storms have been battering Los Angeles. In this first week of the city’s traditionally rainiest month, L.A. is more than 7.5 inches above normal rainfall for the entire season — which ends Sept. 30. A normal year gets about 15 inches for the year; we’ve seen 15.44 inches through yesterday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. And more rain is probable on Friday, forecasters say. So why is the six-year drought still in effect?
Weary from one of the wettest winters in years, Bay Area residents suffered through another chaotic commute on Tuesday, as the latest “atmospheric river” to soak the region triggered traffic madness from the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to Highway 17 in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Not only was the main connector between Silicon Valley and Santa Cruz closed indefinitely, but every other route over the Santa Cruz Mountains was cut off too. The closed roads included Highway 9, Bear Creek Road, Old Santa Cruz Highway and San Jose-Soquel Road, all of which had mudslides, according to CHP.
Southern California Edison will ease its severe water rationing mandate for much of Avalon after last month’s storms brought much-needed rainwater to Catalina Island. SCE announced the changes during Tuesday evening’s meeting of Avalon’s City Council, according to information from SCE spokesman Robert Laffoon Villegas. Prolonged drought conditions resulted in SCE imposing what are called Stage 3 drought restrictions last September. That resulted in most Avalon residents — those who are served by the utility’s desalination plants — being required to cut their water consumption by 40 percent. All others on Catalina had to reduce their water use by half.
A wastewater treatment authority that serves large parts of the high desert, including Victorville, Hesperia and Apple Valley, mismanaged millions of dollars in federal emergency management funds, a U.S. audit has found. The Victor Valley Water Reclamation Authority, which received the funds after major flooding six years ago led to a ruptured pipeline, did not comply with numerous federal regulations on Federal Emergency Management Agency contracts worth $31.7 million, according to the report by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security.
The City of Chula Vista, Ca., has approved a water stewardship plan developed by Haley & Aldrich, an environmental and engineering consulting firm, in collaboration with city officials and key stakeholders to address water scarcity issues caused by severe drought and other climate change issues. The City of Chula Vista Water Stewardship Plan engages residents, businesses and city government to manage increased water demand and protect its water resources through reuse, conservation and other key initiatives.
So much water is tumbling out of Lake Oroville that it has eroded a 200-foot-long strip in the lower half of the reservoir’s concrete spillway.
The state shut off spillway flows at noon Tuesday after workers noticed the erosion, which the Department of Water Resources said does not pose a threat to the earthen dam or public safety.
Oroville, California’s second-largest reservoir, is part of the State Water Project, which sends Northern California supplies to the urban Southland.
Students at three San Ysidro schools with outdated plumbing fixtures are drinking bottled water after contaminants were found in the water that flows from aged faucets and fountains at one of the campuses. The problem at La Mirada Elementary School prompted the district to investigate the water quality at its two other old campuses, Smythe Elementary School and San Ysidro Middle School. District officials said the bottled water is being dispensed until water-quality testing is done and any necessary fixes made.
