A new ocean protection plan sets out steps to safeguard California’s coast against rising seas, while shoring up public access and building coastal economies. The Ocean Protection Council on Wednesday approved the Strategic Plan to Protect California’s Oceans, a five-year roadmap for navigating threats including climate change, pollution and loss of biodiversity. The council, a […]
Water plays a lead role in the state’s political theater, with Democrats and Republicans polarized, farmers often fighting environmentalists and cities pitted against rural communities. Rivers are overallocated through sloppy water accounting. Groundwater has dwindled as farmers overdraw aquifers. Many communities lack safe drinking water. Native Americans want almost-extinct salmon runs revived. There is talk, […]
A winter with little precipitation has left most of California abnormally dry and officials are bracing for the possibility of an early and more intense wildfire season amid record-breaking temperatures. Drought has expanded to nearly a quarter of the state, mainly in central California, the heart of the state’s agricultural sector, according to a U.S. […]
California began regulating surface water in rivers and streams in 1914, but it took the state another 100 years to look underground. In 2014, for the first time in its history, California passed a law regulating the use of groundwater – the resource on which 85% of its population and much of its $50bn agriculture […]
California, as everyone knows, receives virtually all of its precipitation during a few fall and winter months and in 2019, some early rain and snow storms promised a bountiful water year. This year, Mother Nature kept that promise in Southern California, where precipitation is running at or above the normal, but Northern California — far […]
With unusually dry, hot weather continuing for weeks on end and the driest February in the Bay Area in 156 years, nearly a quarter of California’s land area now is under drought conditions, federal officials announced Thursday. Altogether, 23.3% of the state is in “moderate drought” — up from 9.5% last week, according to the […]
Ocean Protection Plan Charts Course for Defending California Coast
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /San Diego Union-Tribuneby Deborah Sullivan BrennanA new ocean protection plan sets out steps to safeguard California’s coast against rising seas, while shoring up public access and building coastal economies. The Ocean Protection Council on Wednesday approved the Strategic Plan to Protect California’s Oceans, a five-year roadmap for navigating threats including climate change, pollution and loss of biodiversity. The council, a […]
Water is Life. It’s Also a Battle. So What Does the Future Hold for California?
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /CalMatters (Sacramento, Calif.)by Alastair BlandWater plays a lead role in the state’s political theater, with Democrats and Republicans polarized, farmers often fighting environmentalists and cities pitted against rural communities. Rivers are overallocated through sloppy water accounting. Groundwater has dwindled as farmers overdraw aquifers. Many communities lack safe drinking water. Native Americans want almost-extinct salmon runs revived. There is talk, […]
California Abnormally Dry After Low Precipitation Winter
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Associated Pressby Olga R. RodriguezA winter with little precipitation has left most of California abnormally dry and officials are bracing for the possibility of an early and more intense wildfire season amid record-breaking temperatures. Drought has expanded to nearly a quarter of the state, mainly in central California, the heart of the state’s agricultural sector, according to a U.S. […]
Everything You Need to Know About California’s Historic Water Law
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Guardian by Susie CagleCalifornia began regulating surface water in rivers and streams in 1914, but it took the state another 100 years to look underground. In 2014, for the first time in its history, California passed a law regulating the use of groundwater – the resource on which 85% of its population and much of its $50bn agriculture […]
Opinion: Climate Change and Water Supply
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /CalMatters (Sacramento, Calif.)by Dan WaltersCalifornia, as everyone knows, receives virtually all of its precipitation during a few fall and winter months and in 2019, some early rain and snow storms promised a bountiful water year. This year, Mother Nature kept that promise in Southern California, where precipitation is running at or above the normal, but Northern California — far […]
California Drought: Northern California Having Driest February Since 1864
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)by Paul RogersWith unusually dry, hot weather continuing for weeks on end and the driest February in the Bay Area in 156 years, nearly a quarter of California’s land area now is under drought conditions, federal officials announced Thursday. Altogether, 23.3% of the state is in “moderate drought” — up from 9.5% last week, according to the […]