The largest reservoir in the country now stands at just 37 percent full. Lake Mead reached its lowest point on record this year, and federal water officials estimate the odds of the reservoir slipping into shortage conditions in 2018 at nearly 50-50. The reservoir’s decline reflects a fundamental deficit in how the Colorado River has been divided […]
As the days darken, all eyes are on the Sierra Nevada, then the sky, with a glance back at the mountains, to the Internet for forecast information, over to the thermometer — all in a fidgety search for a sign, any sign, that this winter will be wet. It is an increasingly desperate and often […]
/in California and the U.S./by Mike Lee /Water Deeply (New York)by Bob Baker and Art Levine Mentioned: Dan Denning, San Diego County Water Authority
Last week, along with more than 100 other elected and municipal water leaders, we asked the White House to support local efforts to promote water-use efficiency, reuse and green infrastructure solutions in our communities. As cities and towns across the West have risen to the challenge of conserving water in the face of historic drought, consumer […]
It’s about taking water and not about fish. South San Joaquin Irrigation District General Manager Peter Rietkerk made it clear that is the district’s view of the State Water Board move to mandate unimpaired flows of 40 percent on the Stanislaus, Merced, and Tuolumne rivers between February and June. Rietkerk spoke before the Ripon Rotary […]
Remember the California drought? It was all over the news a year ago, when the state took the unprecedented step of mandating statewide water cutbacks. The Sierra Nevada snowpack was at its lowest recorded level. Rivers and reservoirs were getting shallower and shallower. Wells in rural towns were literally running dry. That drought is still […]
The drought is not going away. Adam Nagourney, the Los Angeles bureau chief, traveled to a Central Valley farming community that became a national symbol of the drought. He wrote on Wednesday about a setback in Californians’ efforts to conserve water that has some experts worried. While the situation has improved since last year, meteorologists […]
Negotiations Moving Forward On Plan To Avert Colorado River ‘Crash’
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Ian JamesThe largest reservoir in the country now stands at just 37 percent full. Lake Mead reached its lowest point on record this year, and federal water officials estimate the odds of the reservoir slipping into shortage conditions in 2018 at nearly 50-50. The reservoir’s decline reflects a fundamental deficit in how the Colorado River has been divided […]
California Drought Worries Rise As La Niña Reemerges In Forecast
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /SFGate (San Francisco)by Peter FimriteAs the days darken, all eyes are on the Sierra Nevada, then the sky, with a glance back at the mountains, to the Internet for forecast information, over to the thermometer — all in a fidgety search for a sign, any sign, that this winter will be wet. It is an increasingly desperate and often […]
OPINION: Water Conservation Rebates Shouldn’t Be Taxed
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Water Deeply (New York)by Bob Baker and Art Levine Mentioned: Dan Denning, San Diego County Water AuthorityLast week, along with more than 100 other elected and municipal water leaders, we asked the White House to support local efforts to promote water-use efficiency, reuse and green infrastructure solutions in our communities. As cities and towns across the West have risen to the challenge of conserving water in the face of historic drought, consumer […]
SSJID: Plan Is About Taking Water, Period
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Manteca Bulletinby Glenn KahlIt’s about taking water and not about fish. South San Joaquin Irrigation District General Manager Peter Rietkerk made it clear that is the district’s view of the State Water Board move to mandate unimpaired flows of 40 percent on the Stanislaus, Merced, and Tuolumne rivers between February and June. Rietkerk spoke before the Ripon Rotary […]
California’s Dire Drought Message Wanes, Conservation Levels Drop
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /NPRby Nathan RottRemember the California drought? It was all over the news a year ago, when the state took the unprecedented step of mandating statewide water cutbacks. The Sierra Nevada snowpack was at its lowest recorded level. Rivers and reservoirs were getting shallower and shallower. Wells in rural towns were literally running dry. That drought is still […]
California Today: The Drought Isn’t Going Away. What You Can Do.
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The New York Timesby Mike McPhateThe drought is not going away. Adam Nagourney, the Los Angeles bureau chief, traveled to a Central Valley farming community that became a national symbol of the drought. He wrote on Wednesday about a setback in Californians’ efforts to conserve water that has some experts worried. While the situation has improved since last year, meteorologists […]