California and the U.S.

The latest news and analysis covering water issues in Caliornia and the rest of the United States.

New Federal Forecast: What the Coming La Niña Means for California Rains

After enduring the driest stretch of years in our history, and then logging the wettest spell on record this past winter, befuddled Californians have one question on their minds these days: What’s next? In two words: La Niña. But whether the water temperature pattern hatching right now in the Pacific Ocean will leave the Golden […]

CVP Reservoirs Start with Comfortable Carryover

Federal water storage among California’s Central Valley Project (CVP) reservoirs started the 2017 water year with 8.9 million acre feet, nearly twice held in the same six key reservoirs scattered about the state a year earlier. This is 145 percent of the 15-year average carryover of 6.2 million acre feet, still a “safe level” with […]

District OKs Smaller Water Tunnel Plan for California

A Northern California water agency has voted for a stripped down, less costly version of Gov. Jerry Brown’s $16 billion project to build two massive water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The Santa Clara Valley Water District’s board voted 7-0 Tuesday to adopt a set of principles endorsing a project with just one […]

Cost of Oroville Dam Repair Nearly Doubles As Unexpected Problems Emerge

The reconstruction of Oroville Dam’s flood control spillway is likely to cost as much as $500 million, state officials said Thursday, as design changes and unexpected additional work has inflated the cost of the project. Originally budgeted at $275 million, the repair has grown to cover a greater level of protection for the dam’s emergency […]

The Energy 202: Interior Greenlights Desert Water Project, Prompting Call for Investigation

Last week, the Interior Department sent a letter to Cadiz Inc. that the company long had hoped to receive. For years, the renewable resource company had been trying to build a drinking-water pipeline between land it owned over an aquifer in the Mojave Desert and thirsty residents of Southern California. To help get the go-ahead […]

OPINION: California Officials Must Maintain Pressure on Cadiz Aquifer Project

Like just about everything else that involves water, the Cadiz Inc. Mojave Desert aquifer project saga has been one of many ebbs and flows. There were two new developments in this situation recently. The federal government reversed itself this month and gave its blessing to the massive project to transfer as much as 16.3 billion […]