In another sign of the warming climate, key species of trees in California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range — including lodge pole pine, red fir and western white pine — are shifting to higher elevations in search of cooler temperatures, a broad new study by state biologists has found. From south of Lake Tahoe to the […]
Think the current California drought has been tough? It will get worse in the future, because the state is always growing. But quantifying that effect has largely been guesswork. Until now. A new study in Environmental Research Letters by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Nature Conservancy estimates how water demand will […]
Water supplies are better than normal in Northern California, so why is it that Central Valley Project (CVP) water users can’t get a break? The water users in question are the farms and ranches in the San Joaquin Valley that rely on the federal Central Valley Project water conveyance system. They are set to receive […]
The water in the largest U.S. reservoir has sunk to a record low, due to the severe drought in the American Southwest. Lake Mead, in Nevada, had dropped 10 feet in three months. With an average depth of 1,084 feet in February, last week the reservoir measured only 1,074 feet deep, or only 37 percent […]
I want to be absolutely clear that whatever it takes, we cannot allow the twin tunnels to ever be built. Sized for a capacity of 15,000 cubic feet per second, they are capable of taking all the water that flows down the Sacramento River for half of every year. The tunnels are the ultimate vampire […]
I see the relaxed drought-required conservation measures being responded to in varying degrees, depending on the municipality, geographic location and local water supplies. Readers may recall when I wrote in this column that there was no rational reason for Red Bluff residents, and Red Bluff officials, to implement—or even consider—the mandates from the water wizards […]
New study: Sierra Nevada Forests Shifting to Higher Elevations as Temperatures Warm
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /East Bay Times (Walnut Creek)by Paul RogersIn another sign of the warming climate, key species of trees in California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range — including lodge pole pine, red fir and western white pine — are shifting to higher elevations in search of cooler temperatures, a broad new study by state biologists has found. From south of Lake Tahoe to the […]
BLOG: Study: Urbanization to Boost Water Demand
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Water Deeply (New York) by Matt WeiserThink the current California drought has been tough? It will get worse in the future, because the state is always growing. But quantifying that effect has largely been guesswork. Until now. A new study in Environmental Research Letters by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Nature Conservancy estimates how water demand will […]
BLOG: Central Valley Project Users Can’t Get a Break
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Water Deeply (New York) by Mike WadeWater supplies are better than normal in Northern California, so why is it that Central Valley Project (CVP) water users can’t get a break? The water users in question are the farms and ranches in the San Joaquin Valley that rely on the federal Central Valley Project water conveyance system. They are set to receive […]
Largest U.S. Water Reservoir at Record Low Due to Drought
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /UPIby Shawn PriceThe water in the largest U.S. reservoir has sunk to a record low, due to the severe drought in the American Southwest. Lake Mead, in Nevada, had dropped 10 feet in three months. With an average depth of 1,084 feet in February, last week the reservoir measured only 1,074 feet deep, or only 37 percent […]
OPINION: ‘No Twin Tunnels,’ But Legislation Would Help Temper Many Concerns
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Stockton Record by Rep. John GaramendiI want to be absolutely clear that whatever it takes, we cannot allow the twin tunnels to ever be built. Sized for a capacity of 15,000 cubic feet per second, they are capable of taking all the water that flows down the Sacramento River for half of every year. The tunnels are the ultimate vampire […]
OPINION: Water, Freedom and Elections
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Red Bluff Daily News by Don PolsonI see the relaxed drought-required conservation measures being responded to in varying degrees, depending on the municipality, geographic location and local water supplies. Readers may recall when I wrote in this column that there was no rational reason for Red Bluff residents, and Red Bluff officials, to implement—or even consider—the mandates from the water wizards […]