An application for $1 billion of state bond money to build Temperance Flat dam east of Fresno scored a dismal zero from the California Water Commission on the cost-benefit ratio, potentially jeopardizing its construction. Supporters of the dam expressed shock and dismay and are blaming the commission staff for the low score. They’re got company. […]
Floods likely will surge more often across northern California, as wintertime temperatures rise in the Sierra Nevada and snow shifts to rain, scientists predict. When precipitation falls as snow, the water stays longer on the mountain as snowpack, then slowly flows out as snowmelt over the spring and summer. The ground has more time to […]
Seven years into Jerry Brown’s final tour as governor, his promise to create a reliable water delivery system that protects the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is in shambles. His twin-tunnel fixation was ill-conceived and, for Northern California at least, unacceptable, and he is not giving up.
They gathered this week at Sacramento’s federal building on Capitol Mall, carrying protest signs and vowing to resist the Trump administration’s plan to pump more of Northern California’s water through the Delta to the southern half of the state. The government “wants to suck our lifeblood dry,” said Noah Oppenheim, leader of a group representing […]
Oroville Dam’s battered flood-control spillways have been largely rebuilt, but the cost of last February’s near-disaster keeps rising. On Friday, state officials put the total price tag at $870 million. The latest figure from the California Department of Water Resources represents a 32 percent increase from DWR’s estimate in October, when the cost was pegged […]
California has struggled with drought for most of the last decade. From 2011-2015, the state experienced the driest four-year stretch in recorded history, leading to unprecedented water restrictions for residents, including a state mandate to reduce water use by 25 percent. Heavy precipitation last winter relieved much of California, but dry conditions linger. Wildfires raged […]
State scores Temperance Flat dam project at a big fat zero. Boosters are pushing back
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Fresno BeeAn application for $1 billion of state bond money to build Temperance Flat dam east of Fresno scored a dismal zero from the California Water Commission on the cost-benefit ratio, potentially jeopardizing its construction. Supporters of the dam expressed shock and dismay and are blaming the commission staff for the low score. They’re got company. […]
Warmer winters spell more floods for northern California
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Union (Grass Valley)Floods likely will surge more often across northern California, as wintertime temperatures rise in the Sierra Nevada and snow shifts to rain, scientists predict. When precipitation falls as snow, the water stays longer on the mountain as snowpack, then slowly flows out as snowmelt over the spring and summer. The ground has more time to […]
OPINION: Don’t give Southern California control of Delta water
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Mercury News (San Jose)Seven years into Jerry Brown’s final tour as governor, his promise to create a reliable water delivery system that protects the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is in shambles. His twin-tunnel fixation was ill-conceived and, for Northern California at least, unacceptable, and he is not giving up.
How Trump’s pumping plan is dividing California over water – again
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento BeeThey gathered this week at Sacramento’s federal building on Capitol Mall, carrying protest signs and vowing to resist the Trump administration’s plan to pump more of Northern California’s water through the Delta to the southern half of the state. The government “wants to suck our lifeblood dry,” said Noah Oppenheim, leader of a group representing […]
Now $870 Million, Price of Oroville Dam Crisis Jumps by a Third
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento BeeOroville Dam’s battered flood-control spillways have been largely rebuilt, but the cost of last February’s near-disaster keeps rising. On Friday, state officials put the total price tag at $870 million. The latest figure from the California Department of Water Resources represents a 32 percent increase from DWR’s estimate in October, when the cost was pegged […]
A Cap-And-Trade System of Water Conservation and Resiliency
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Phys.OrgCalifornia has struggled with drought for most of the last decade. From 2011-2015, the state experienced the driest four-year stretch in recorded history, leading to unprecedented water restrictions for residents, including a state mandate to reduce water use by 25 percent. Heavy precipitation last winter relieved much of California, but dry conditions linger. Wildfires raged […]