As of Wednesday, California’s two largest reservoirs, Shasta and Oroville, are more than 90% full, a significant reversal from the summer and fall of 2014, when the state was locked in severe drought. Folsom Lake is filled to about 86% capacity. After four dry winters, storms have helped replenish these Northern California reservoirs with rain […]
For its first four years, the California drought spread its pain across most corners of the state. The great peaks of the Sierra Nevada were snow-deprived. Central Valley agricultural fields lay fallow. And the trademark green lawns of Southern California suburbia slowly turned brown. But this summer is going to be different. A strong series of storms have […]
/in San Diego County/by Mike Lee /Marketplace (Los Angeles)by By Jeff Tyler Mentioned: Carlsbad Desalination Plant
In Southern California, fresh water is constantly in short supply. But the San Diego area can now tap into a resource that’s not dependent on rain — a new $1 billion desalination plant that is the largest in the Western Hemisphere. In Carlsbad, California, intake pumps pull water from the Pacific Ocean. “We bring 100 […]
The Forest Service survey of California shows that the number of dead trees in the state rose from 3.3 million in 2014 to an estimated 29.1 million in 2015. The 2015 surveys covered almost all of the state. Scientists and fire officials are concerned because under normal circumstances forests lose between 1 percent and 1.5 […]
Slide over these photos to see the drought’s effect on some of the state’s big reservoirs
/in San Diego County /by Mike Lee /The Los Angeles TimesAs of Wednesday, California’s two largest reservoirs, Shasta and Oroville, are more than 90% full, a significant reversal from the summer and fall of 2014, when the state was locked in severe drought. Folsom Lake is filled to about 86% capacity. After four dry winters, storms have helped replenish these Northern California reservoirs with rain […]
California board allows water districts to set their own conservation targets
/in San Diego County /by Mike Lee /The Los Angeles Timesby Matt StevensFor its first four years, the California drought spread its pain across most corners of the state. The great peaks of the Sierra Nevada were snow-deprived. Central Valley agricultural fields lay fallow. And the trademark green lawns of Southern California suburbia slowly turned brown. But this summer is going to be different. A strong series of storms have […]
San Diego Taps a Bottomless Well: The Pacific Ocean
/in San Diego County /by Mike Lee /Marketplace (Los Angeles)by By Jeff Tyler Mentioned: Carlsbad Desalination PlantIn Southern California, fresh water is constantly in short supply. But the San Diego area can now tap into a resource that’s not dependent on rain — a new $1 billion desalination plant that is the largest in the Western Hemisphere. In Carlsbad, California, intake pumps pull water from the Pacific Ocean. “We bring 100 […]
California’s Estimated 29 Million Dead Trees Fueling Increased Wildfire Risks
/in San Diego County /by Mike Lee /The Orange County Registerby Kurt SnibbeThe Forest Service survey of California shows that the number of dead trees in the state rose from 3.3 million in 2014 to an estimated 29.1 million in 2015. The 2015 surveys covered almost all of the state. Scientists and fire officials are concerned because under normal circumstances forests lose between 1 percent and 1.5 […]