California and the U.S.
The latest news and analysis covering water issues in Caliornia and the rest of the United States.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
BLOG: What Lake Mead’s Record Low Means for California
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Water Deeply (New York)by Michael LevitinWhen the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced last month that the country’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead, had fallen to its lowest-ever level at 1,074ft (327m), the question many asked was: How will it affect one of California’s primary drinking sources? After all, some 19 million Californians, nearly half the state’s population, receive some part of […]
California Drought Bummer: Sierra Water Runoff Coming Up Short
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /SFGate (San Francisco)by Kurtis AlexanderThe El Niño-fueled storms that coated the Sierra with nearly normal snow this winter brought blasts of hope to drought-weary California. But after the flurries stopped and the seasons changed, the melt-off from the high country has been swift and disappointingly scant, according to new water supply estimates from the state. The Department of Water Resources […]
OPINION: Welcome to Another Summer Apocalypse
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento BeeWith triple-digit heat, a full moon and fires raging from Santa Barbara County to the Mexican border, another summer straight out of end times has arrived. Monday’s summer solstice followed an unsettling 13 consecutive months of record-setting heat on this planet, in a year that is on track to be, yet again, the hottest ever. […]
The Latest: Record-Setting High Temps Around California
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Associated Press (As Published by Watertown Daily Times - Watertown, Wis.)A severe heat wave has set new record highs for several cities in Southern California. The National Weather Service says the thermometer hit 112 degrees in Lancaster, breaking the old record of 110 degrees set for the same day in 1961. The service says a record high temperature was set at the Bob Hope Airport in […]
California to Fire Up Burners to Battle Dead Tree Epidemic
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Associated Press (As Published by Capital Press - Salem, Ore.)by Scott SmithCalifornia’s drought and a bark beetle epidemic have caused the largest die-off of Sierra Nevada forests in modern history, raising fears that trees could come crashing down on people or fuel deadly wildfires that could wipe out mountain communities. Aerial images show vast forests that have turned a rust-color. The epidemic has killed an estimated […]
Melting Snow, Water Releases and La Niña Complicate California’s Drought Picture
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow and Phillip ReeseFirst, the good news: This winter, much of the Sierra had a near-average snowpack. Now, the bad news: It has melted early. Word of the vanishing Sierra snowpack, which usually helps replenish reservoir levels later in the summer, arrives amid uncertainty over how California’s dams will be managed in coming months to protect endangered fish. […]