California and the U.S.

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

$17 billion Delta Water Tunnels Project Faces Critical MWD Vote Tuesday In LA

After 11 years of planning, a massive tunnels project touted as a solution to the state’s vulnerable water supply faces its biggest test  Tuesday. The 38-member board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — the largest supplier of treated water in the United States delivering water to agencies serving 19 million people — […]

OPINION: Sorry, My Fellow Environmentalists, We Have To Build The Delta Tunnels

Environmentalists are adamant in their objections to moving water from Northern California south. They took a stand against the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta peripheral canal project in 1982, and they are against the delta tunnels project (the California WaterFix) now. I count myself an environmentalist but my position has long been less a stand than a […]

What’s At Stake For Southern Californians In Upcoming California Water Fix Delta Tunnels Vote

The fate of a project that could cost Southern California water consumers billions of dollars hangs on a vote Tuesday at the Metropolitan Water District. It’s the California Water Fix. A $17-billion plan championed by Gov. Jerry Brown to build giant water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. It would change how Northern California […]

The Cadiz Desert Water Project is Facing a New Hurdle

A state commission is throwing a new hurdle in front of Cadiz Inc.’s plans to turn a remote desert valley into a lucrative water source for Southern California. In a Sept. 20 letter to Cadiz, the State Lands Commission informed the company that its proposed water pipeline crosses a strip of state-owned land and therefore […]

OPINION: Southern California Needs Water. Stop Waffling Over the Delta Tunnels and Dig

Twentieth century Southern California quenched its thirst with a series of ingenious projects, from the aqueducts that bring snowmelt from the Eastern Sierra to Los Angeles, and the dams along the Colorado River that impound water from the Rockies, to the State Water Project that directs the flow of the distant Feather River through the […]

Increasing Chance of La Niña and Meteorologists Don’t Know What That Means for NorCal Winter

The chances of a weak La Niña are increasing for the rainy season, and scientists are trying to figure out what that means, especially after a year when the meteorology profession was thrown for a loop by unexpected monsoon-like conditions. La Niña, the inverse of better-known El Niño, is a cooling of equatorial waters in […]