Supplies from the State Water Project for the water year that began Oct. 1 will initially be a “conservative” 5% of requests in case of a dry year, the California Department of Water Resources announced Monday.
Last year the initial allocation was 10%, but grew to 40% by the end of the year thanks to normal rain and snow.
California water managers have announced their preliminary forecast of supplies that will be available next year from the State Water Project, telling 29 public agencies to plan for as little as 5% of requested allotments.
The state Department of Water Resources said Monday that the initial allocation is based on current reservoir levels and conservative assumptions about how much water the state may be able to deliver in 2025.
The Outdoor Hospitality Industry has once again named Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve the “Large Park of the Year” in the parks and campgrounds category and also awarded the facility its “Plan-It Green Park of the Year” award.
The 190‐acre park was recognized for its amenities, its guests’ experiences and its conservation efforts.
San Diego received only a trace of rain in October, just 0.13 inches in November, and there’s no significant precipitation in sight through Dec. 11.
Is this the prelude to an abnormally dry winter that will bring drought and the prospect of widespread wildfires?
Forecaster’s aren’t sure, but they don’t like the way things are unfolding.
Many high-performing, water-saving fixtures and appliances are designed like straws, supplying only enough water to satisfy one’s thirst. But the pipes that bring that water into Americans’ homes are sized more like fire hoses.
Oversize plumbing pipes move water inefficiently, wasting money and increasing the risk of waterborne diseases. And water efficiency is especially important as climate change makes droughts more frequent and severe. Efforts to right-size plumbing pipes to match the intake of water-saving products are slowly gaining traction, but homeowners and designers of multiunit properties who want to use these more sustainable pipes need to demand them during the project design phase.
A new report from the San Diego Economic Development Corp. (EDC), “Manufacturing in San Diego: Local Impact, Global Reach,” shows the positive effect of the manufacturing sector on our regional economy.
With $47 billion in economic impact across San Diego County, including more than 120,000 good-paying and low-barrier jobs, manufacturing is a cornerstone industry from San Ysidro to Oceanside.
A study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offers a solution to water scarcity during droughts amid the tug of economic development, population growth and climate uncertainty for water users in Western U.S. states. The proposed two-way leasing contracts would coordinate agricultural-to-urban leasing during periods of drought and urban-to-agricultural leasing during wet periods, benefiting both urban and agricultural water users.
Besides producing grapes, a particular vineyard in Sacramento County is playing an important role, said Omuchumme-Hartnell Water District General Manager Mike Wackman, in preparing the greater area for times of drought.
“This field here represents a recharge area,” Wackman said. “So, with the vines being grown out here, we’re able to take water off the Consumer’s River and recharge, and actually flood these fields while the vines go dormant.”
The North Bay saw record rainfall last week, which is good news for the state’s water supply that has been healthy for the past two years after a lengthy drought.
The heavy precipitation was still visible in the increased volume of water flowing in a number of Marin County creeks and waterfalls Tuesday.
After the recent discovery of a destructive mussel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, some experts say California officials have failed to effectively enforce laws designed to protect waterways from invaders carried in ships’ ballast water.
A state law enacted 20 years ago has required California officials to inspect 25% of incoming ships and sample their ballast water before it’s discharged into waterways. But the tests didn’t begin until two years ago — after standards for conducting them were finally set — and testing remains rare. State officials have sampled the ballast water of only 16 vessels out of the roughly 3,000 likely to have emptied their tanks nearshore.
