California’s big urban water districts should be ashamed of themselves. After asking for a good-faith policy change in the state’s water restrictions, they’ve decided that they’re not going to save any water at all.
California’s climate has always been hospitable to fire – it comes with the territory. But add five years of drought, a bark beetle blight killing trees by the millions and rising temperatures, and it’s a recipe for disaster. “We are seeing the compounded effects of climate change that includes five consecutive years of drought and […]
California is in its fifth year of drought, yet residents are receiving mixed signals as to whether water conservation should still be a priority. A study published in Geophysical Research Letters has estimated that it will take about 4.4 years for the Sierra Nevada snowpack to recover. Out of the 65 years studied, the current […]
The 2014 experimental controlled pulse of water to the Colorado River Delta has revealed an interesting twist on how large dry watercourses may respond to short-term flooding events: the release of stored greenhouse gases. This work is reported at the Goldschmidt conference in Yokohama, Japan. As presenter Dr Thomas Bianchi said: “We saw a rapid […]
California is no longer facing an acute drought. But we’re waking this morning to a vivid reminder of another environmental threat. Major wildfires, from the Mexican border to Oregon, burned through the weekend. And it’s only the start of summer. The largest fire, in Kern County near Bakersfield, spread quickly, destroying at least 250 structures and killing at […]
Part of the solution to California’s demand for water in the face of the state’s crippling drought may lie 10,000 feet beneath the surface of the state’s Central Valley. New research published in the journal PNAS suggests that the region’s aquifers, areas deep underground where water can collect, have three times the usable groundwater as […]
OPINION: California’s Water Districts are Loath to Save Resources
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /San Francisco ChronicleCalifornia’s big urban water districts should be ashamed of themselves. After asking for a good-faith policy change in the state’s water restrictions, they’ve decided that they’re not going to save any water at all.
BLOG: Perfect Storm Brewing for California Fire Season
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Water Deeply (New York)by Tara LohanCalifornia’s climate has always been hospitable to fire – it comes with the territory. But add five years of drought, a bark beetle blight killing trees by the millions and rising temperatures, and it’s a recipe for disaster. “We are seeing the compounded effects of climate change that includes five consecutive years of drought and […]
California Drought Remains Serious; Tens of Millions of Trees Dead
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Total Landscape Care (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)by Jill OdomCalifornia is in its fifth year of drought, yet residents are receiving mixed signals as to whether water conservation should still be a priority. A study published in Geophysical Research Letters has estimated that it will take about 4.4 years for the Sierra Nevada snowpack to recover. Out of the 65 years studied, the current […]
Controlled Colorado River Flooding Released Stored Greenhouse Gases
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Phys.org (United Kingdom)The 2014 experimental controlled pulse of water to the Colorado River Delta has revealed an interesting twist on how large dry watercourses may respond to short-term flooding events: the release of stored greenhouse gases. This work is reported at the Goldschmidt conference in Yokohama, Japan. As presenter Dr Thomas Bianchi said: “We saw a rapid […]
California Today: Wildfires, Earlier Than Ever
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The New York Timesby Ian LovettCalifornia is no longer facing an acute drought. But we’re waking this morning to a vivid reminder of another environmental threat. Major wildfires, from the Mexican border to Oregon, burned through the weekend. And it’s only the start of summer. The largest fire, in Kern County near Bakersfield, spread quickly, destroying at least 250 structures and killing at […]
Drought-Hit California Has a Bonanza of Water—Underground
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Timeby Justin WorlandPart of the solution to California’s demand for water in the face of the state’s crippling drought may lie 10,000 feet beneath the surface of the state’s Central Valley. New research published in the journal PNAS suggests that the region’s aquifers, areas deep underground where water can collect, have three times the usable groundwater as […]