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Myth About Huge California Fines For Shower And Laundry Usage Won’t Die. Here’s What’s True

/in , , /by /The Sacramento Bee by Phillip Reese

California will impose new limits on water usage in the post-drought era in the coming years — but a claim that residents will be fined $1,000 starting this year if they shower and do laundry the same day isn’t true.

It wasn’t true when the state’s new conservation laws were enacted in 2018, and it isn’t true now — despite a recent report on a Los Angeles television station that riled up conservatives on social media and prompted the state Department of Water Resources to issue a statement debunking the claim.

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Year Starts With New-Average Snow, Storage

/in , , /by /Ag Alertby Kevin Hecteman

A wet December has left its mark in the mountains, and many of the state’s reservoirs remain at or above average storage levels as 2020 begins.

The state Department of Water Resources took its first snow survey of the year at Phillips Station in El Dorado County last week, and found 33.5 inches of snow and a snow-water equivalent of 11 inches, about 97% of average for the location. Statewide, DWR found a snow-water equivalent of 9.3 inches, or 90% of average.

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California Water Cutbacks Could Take Large Area of Farmland Out of Production

/in , /by /National Public Radio (NPR)by Kerry Klein

The state of California is gearing up to regulate its groundwater. By some estimates, water cutbacks could result in half a million acres of farmland taken out of production.

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Delta Smelt: The Tiny Fish Caught in California’s War With Trump

/in , /by /The Guardianby Maanvi Singh

On a warm November morning, John Durand squints over the stern of a small research boat, and gestures toward gray-blue water, and the chaotic tangles of tube-like tule reeds.

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