This time last year the world’s weather was being dominated by one of the strongest El Niño events on record. As surface waters in the equatorial Eastern Pacific warmed by more than 2°C, a chain reaction of extreme weather events was set in motion. From torrential rains in Peru and huge storms pounding the coast […]
Water users in San Francisco and its suburbs face a day of reckoning as state regulators move to leave more water in California’s two biggest rivers in an effort to halt a collapse in the native ecosystem of the San Francisco Bay and its estuary, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Even as water allocations to […]
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 […]
After El Niño, What Weird Weather Could La Niña Bring?
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Guardian (New York)by Kate RaviliousThis time last year the world’s weather was being dominated by one of the strongest El Niño events on record. As surface waters in the equatorial Eastern Pacific warmed by more than 2°C, a chain reaction of extreme weather events was set in motion. From torrential rains in Peru and huge storms pounding the coast […]
Regulators Propose Leaving More Water In California’s Rivers
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /San Francisco Chronicleby Carolyn LochheadWater users in San Francisco and its suburbs face a day of reckoning as state regulators move to leave more water in California’s two biggest rivers in an effort to halt a collapse in the native ecosystem of the San Francisco Bay and its estuary, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Even as water allocations to […]
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 […]