California and the U.S.

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

OPINION: Putting Another Busy Year To Bed

Amazing as it is, we’ve all made it through another year. Time to take stock of 2016. Or, as I like to put it, “Where the heck did those 12 months go?” Twenty-sixteen started off with a bang, so to speak, for me. I was solicited for prostitution after dropping my car at the repair […]

Ag At Large: New Water Bill Holds Promise For California Agriculture

The $10 billion Congressional water bill approved in December which transfers federal control of some water supplies in California to water authorities at the state level and provides funds for some badly needed structures is being applauded by farmers both north and south. President Obama signed the bill Dec. 16. Sweeping victories by Republicans in […]

OPINION: Single Tunnel Option Not A Quick Fix For The Delta

These are not good times for Governor Brown’s Delta Tunnels (WaterFix) proposal. The twin 40-foot-diameter, 30-mile-long tunnels would harvest Sacramento River water before it flows through the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary. A vast majority of this water would be sent to Big Ag operations like The Wonderful Company in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. It […]

First In A Series Of Snow Surveys Scheduled

State water officials are saying it’s too soon to know whether this winter will deliver enough rain. But on Jan. 3, they expect to have a better idea of whether the state is headed into another year of drought. The Department of Water Resources will conduct its first media-oriented manual snow survey of Water Year […]

Electronic Readings Of Sierra Snowpack: 10.5 Inches, 72 Percent Of Dec. 27 Average

The California Department of Water Resources announced that electronic readings of the Sierra Nevada snowpack Tuesday pegged its statewide water content at 10.5 inches, 72 percent of the Dec. 27 average. Manual readings, which supplement the department’s electronic data, will be taken on dozens of snow courses during a 10-day period around Jan. 1. The […]

Water Officials: California Drought Still Not Over

It’s too soon to declare an end to California’s five-year drought despite the heaviest rain in three decades falling early in the wet season, officials said Tuesday. The Sierra Nevada snowpack, which provides roughly one-third of California’s water supply, measures at 72 percent of normal for water content, according to the state’s Department of Water […]