At Rainbow Grocery, a cooperative in this city’s Mission District, one brand of water is so popular that it’s often out of stock. But one recent evening, there was a glittering rack of it: glass orbs containing 2.5 gallons of what is billed as “raw water” — unfiltered, untreated, unsterilized spring water, $36.99 each and […]
What a difference a year makes. The winter of 2017-18 is off to a slow start in the Sierra Nevada, a stark contrast from the record-busting snow totals last year. The contrast from last year is particularly evident in the Lake Tahoe Basin where winter is off to its third-driest start since 1980-81. Snow survey […]
When you’ve held on to something valuable for a long time, it can be hard to choose to give it up. When that something is water, it’s even harder — especially in the desert southwest. But that’s the reality facing water managers in the lower stretches of the Colorado River, a lifeline for farms and […]
The average American is using a lot less water on a daily basis. Six gallons less, to be exact. The US Geological Survey’s National Water Use Science Project has estimated water use in the United States every five years since 1950. In its most recent estimate published this fall, the USGS found that American daily […]
California’s dismally dry autumn paints a bleak outlook for the state’s rainy season, unless the weather this winter makes a big about-face. The situation is a major turnaround from last year, when Northern California was battered by a series of “atmospheric river” storms that helped end the state’s five-year drought. When it was over, California’s […]
The Salton Sea is about to start shrinking more rapidly. A 2003 water transfer deal called for the Imperial Irrigation District to deliver “mitigation water” to the lake for 15 years. With those water deliveries ending in the final days of 2017, the lake’s decline will begin to accelerate. More than 19,000 acres of dry lakebed […]
Unfiltered Fervor: The Rush to Get Off the Water Grid
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The New York TimesAt Rainbow Grocery, a cooperative in this city’s Mission District, one brand of water is so popular that it’s often out of stock. But one recent evening, there was a glittering rack of it: glass orbs containing 2.5 gallons of what is billed as “raw water” — unfiltered, untreated, unsterilized spring water, $36.99 each and […]
Tahoe Snowpack Third-Lightest Since 1981
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Reno Gazette JournalWhat a difference a year makes. The winter of 2017-18 is off to a slow start in the Sierra Nevada, a stark contrast from the record-busting snow totals last year. The contrast from last year is particularly evident in the Lake Tahoe Basin where winter is off to its third-driest start since 1980-81. Snow survey […]
An Elusive Colorado River Drought Plan Fails To Materialize — For Now
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /KUNC (Greeley, Colo.)by Luke RunyonWhen you’ve held on to something valuable for a long time, it can be hard to choose to give it up. When that something is water, it’s even harder — especially in the desert southwest. But that’s the reality facing water managers in the lower stretches of the Colorado River, a lifeline for farms and […]
Why Americans are Using a Lot Less Water
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Christian Science MonitorThe average American is using a lot less water on a daily basis. Six gallons less, to be exact. The US Geological Survey’s National Water Use Science Project has estimated water use in the United States every five years since 1950. In its most recent estimate published this fall, the USGS found that American daily […]
Where’s the Rain? California Could Suffer an Unusually Dry Winter from San Francisco to Los Angeles
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Los Angeles TimesCalifornia’s dismally dry autumn paints a bleak outlook for the state’s rainy season, unless the weather this winter makes a big about-face. The situation is a major turnaround from last year, when Northern California was battered by a series of “atmospheric river” storms that helped end the state’s five-year drought. When it was over, California’s […]
Water Cutoff Accelerates Shrinking of Salton Sea, Escalating Race Against Retreating Shorelines
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)The Salton Sea is about to start shrinking more rapidly. A 2003 water transfer deal called for the Imperial Irrigation District to deliver “mitigation water” to the lake for 15 years. With those water deliveries ending in the final days of 2017, the lake’s decline will begin to accelerate. More than 19,000 acres of dry lakebed […]