As temperatures race toward the triple digits, City Council members voted unanimously to reduce water conservation goals but maintain a twice-weekly watering restriction. The Department of Utilities presented a plan to drop conservation goals from 28 percent over 2013 levels down to 10 percent and increase watering to three days a week but found little […]
The winter of 2015 capped four years of drought that resulted in an unprecedented water deficit in Sierra Nevada snowpack. Much of California’s water comes from snowmelt. Researchers at UCLA say in a new study, that this winter’s strong El Niño didn’t make up for that deficit. They found that even if the state gets […]
When forecasters last year warned of a massive El Niño, some Californians held out hope that a single extremely wet year could bust the state’s severe drought. But a study published Tuesday in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, offered support for the argument that state hydrologists have been making for months: It […]
Every spring, snow begins to melt throughout the Rocky Mountains, flowing down from high peaks and into the streams and rivers that form the mighty Colorado River Basin, sustaining entire cities and ecosystems from Wyoming to Arizona. But as spring becomes summer, the melting snow slows to a trickle and, as summer turns to fall, […]
California’s drought has revealed that when it comes to water, not every community is equal. Large urban areas, from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, asked residents to conserve, raised rates to buy water from other places and generally have gotten by without much inconvenience, other than brown lawns and shorter showers. But communities served by […]
Sacramento City Council Rejects Plan to Increase Watering Days
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Anita ChabriaAs temperatures race toward the triple digits, City Council members voted unanimously to reduce water conservation goals but maintain a twice-weekly watering restriction. The Department of Utilities presented a plan to drop conservation goals from 28 percent over 2013 levels down to 10 percent and increase watering to three days a week but found little […]
California Snowpack Won’t Recover From Drought For Years
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Capital Public Radio (Sacramento)by Amy QuintonThe winter of 2015 capped four years of drought that resulted in an unprecedented water deficit in Sierra Nevada snowpack. Much of California’s water comes from snowmelt. Researchers at UCLA say in a new study, that this winter’s strong El Niño didn’t make up for that deficit. They found that even if the state gets […]
Water-Wasting Leaks Plague Many Cities
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Wall Street Journalby Cameron McWhirterCash-strapped cities are contending with aging, leak-prone water systems that waste trillions of gallons a year and result in damaging breaks.
It Will Take Years of Wet Weather Before California Recovers From Drought, Study Finds
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Los Angeles Timesby Matt StevensWhen forecasters last year warned of a massive El Niño, some Californians held out hope that a single extremely wet year could bust the state’s severe drought. But a study published Tuesday in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, offered support for the argument that state hydrologists have been making for months: It […]
Study Finds Surprising Source of Colorado River Water Supply
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /High Country News (Paonia, Colo.)by Sarah ToryEvery spring, snow begins to melt throughout the Rocky Mountains, flowing down from high peaks and into the streams and rivers that form the mighty Colorado River Basin, sustaining entire cities and ecosystems from Wyoming to Arizona. But as spring becomes summer, the melting snow slows to a trickle and, as summer turns to fall, […]
Should California Limit the Number of Small, New Water Systems?
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /East Bay Timesby Paul RogersCalifornia’s drought has revealed that when it comes to water, not every community is equal. Large urban areas, from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, asked residents to conserve, raised rates to buy water from other places and generally have gotten by without much inconvenience, other than brown lawns and shorter showers. But communities served by […]