With roughly two and a half months remaining before a state-mandated deadline, local agencies overseeing critically overdrafted groundwater basins are working to finalize sustainability plans as required by a 2014 state law. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, requires local groundwater sustainability agencies in critically overdrafted basins to submit their plans by next Jan. […]
Normally between Oct. 1 and mid-November, if historical averages are any guide, the Bay Area has received nearly 2 inches of rain, and Los Angeles and Fresno each have received about an inch. But so far this year? None. To be sure, there was one-hundredth of an inch recorded in San Jose and San Francisco […]
On a cold morning last March, Kenny Angel got a frantic knock on his door. Two workers from a utility company in northern Nebraska had come with a stark warning: Get out of your house. Just a little over a quarter-mile upstream, the 92-year-old Spencer Dam was straining to contain the swollen, ice-covered Niobrara River […]
Westlands Water District, a sprawling San Joaquin Valley farm district with ties to the Trump administration, is poised to get a permanent entitlement to a massive quantity of cheap federal irrigation supplies. Westlands is the first in line to permanently lock in its contract for Central Valley Project deliveries under a 2016 law. Other valley […]
It is the tallest earthen dam in the country, standing at 770 feet. The central feature standing over the town of Oroville, the dam brings water and electricity to parts of the state using water from the Feather River. Today, construction crews are still busy doing some final grading on work that has spanned more […]
The shallow wells Sonoma County’s water agency is drilling near 11 waterways have nothing to do with delivering water to 600,000 residents of Sonoma and Marin counties. Instead, the 21 wells will serve as measuring sticks to determine whether pumping groundwater in the county’s three basins — the Santa Rosa Plain, Petaluma Valley and Sonoma […]
Groundwater: Deadline Nears for Completion of Local Plans
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /AgAlertby Christine SouzaWith roughly two and a half months remaining before a state-mandated deadline, local agencies overseeing critically overdrafted groundwater basins are working to finalize sustainability plans as required by a 2014 state law. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, requires local groundwater sustainability agencies in critically overdrafted basins to submit their plans by next Jan. […]
Bay Area Rainfall: When Is It Coming And When Should We Start To Worry?
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)by Paul RogersNormally between Oct. 1 and mid-November, if historical averages are any guide, the Bay Area has received nearly 2 inches of rain, and Los Angeles and Fresno each have received about an inch. But so far this year? None. To be sure, there was one-hundredth of an inch recorded in San Jose and San Francisco […]
At Least 1,680 Dams Across The US Pose Potential Risk
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /AP Newsby David A. Lieb, Michael Casey, and Michelle MinkoffOn a cold morning last March, Kenny Angel got a frantic knock on his door. Two workers from a utility company in northern Nebraska had come with a stark warning: Get out of your house. Just a little over a quarter-mile upstream, the 92-year-old Spencer Dam was straining to contain the swollen, ice-covered Niobrara River […]
Feds Set To Lock In Huge Water Contract For Well-Connected Westlands Water District
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Los Angeles Times by Bettina BoxallWestlands Water District, a sprawling San Joaquin Valley farm district with ties to the Trump administration, is poised to get a permanent entitlement to a massive quantity of cheap federal irrigation supplies. Westlands is the first in line to permanently lock in its contract for Central Valley Project deliveries under a 2016 law. Other valley […]
2 Years After Spillway Crumbled, Lessons Learned At Oroville Dam
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /KCRA 3 (Sacramento, Calif.)by David ManoucherlIt is the tallest earthen dam in the country, standing at 770 feet. The central feature standing over the town of Oroville, the dam brings water and electricity to parts of the state using water from the Feather River. Today, construction crews are still busy doing some final grading on work that has spanned more […]
Sonoma County Drills Wells To Study Groundwater Sustainability
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.)by Guy KovnerThe shallow wells Sonoma County’s water agency is drilling near 11 waterways have nothing to do with delivering water to 600,000 residents of Sonoma and Marin counties. Instead, the 21 wells will serve as measuring sticks to determine whether pumping groundwater in the county’s three basins — the Santa Rosa Plain, Petaluma Valley and Sonoma […]