California and the U.S.

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

Silicon Valley Water Board Wants Delta Tunnels Downsized

The $17 billion “California WaterFix” project reached a tipping point Tuesday after a Silicon Valley water district voted against Gov. Jerry Brown’s approach in favor of a less expensive, scaled-back version. The San Jose-based Santa Clara Valley Water District agreed to “conditionally support” California WaterFix – a plan to divert water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin […]

Santa Clara Voted On — Something

The Santa Clara Valley Water District says it voted to support the California WaterFix today. But did it? The Mercury News describes the vote as a rejection of the Fix, because Santa Clara’s board conditioned its approval on “considering an approach” that incorporates one tunnel instead of two tunnels. The Sacramento Bee also describes the […]

5,000-Mile Long ‘River In The Sky’ To Deliver Heavy Rain, Feet Of Snow To Northwest

An atmospheric river is poised to funnel gigantic amounts of rain and snow to the Northwest over the next few days. As much as 15 inches of rain is forecast in the mountains along with several inches in coastal areas, including Portland and Seattle. It could be Seattle’s wettest weather since February, the National Weather Service […]

Oroville Dam Flood Plan Calls for Keeping Lake Lower Than Usual

A plan has been prepared for flood control operations this rainy season at Oroville Dam, which call for keeping the lake lower and aggressively releasing water if the water level rises above trigger points. Up to now, the dam has been operated under rules drafted by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1970, which set […]

Interior Clears Calif. Project with Friends in High Places

The Trump administration has cleared the way for a controversial project that would suck groundwater from under Southern California’s Mojave Desert and sell it to water providers. On Friday, the Bureau of Land Management wrote that Cadiz Inc.’s plan to build a 43-mile pipeline along a railroad right of way did not require the agency’s […]

Still in Drought, California Town Seeks New Answers to Water Riddle

For the vast majority of California, the record-breaking, five-year drought is over, but some cities like Ojai in Ventura County are not so lucky. With its human-made reservoir, Lake Casitas, still at levels not seen in half a century, some locals have been asking, “Can the Ojai Valley run out of water?” In a presentation on […]