Tag Archive for: California

California Farmers Facing Drought Are Choosing Empty Fields

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Greenby Daniela Sirtori-Cortina and Breanna T Bradham

In some areas of California it’s so dry that farmers aren’t even bothering to plant crops this season. Growers north of San Francisco have begun pulling out of local farmers markets and produce-box programs. County Line Harvest, which farms more than 30 acres in Petaluma, California, doesn’t have enough water to grow all the peppers, lettuces and other produce that normally go into its subscription boxes, according to a video posted to its Instagram page.

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How California’s Drought Impacts Wildlife Populations and Their Behavior

/in , , /by /Fox2by Tom Vacar

The COVID-19 pandemic encouraged wildlife, looking for easy food, to visit quiet neighborhoods they normally didn’t. The drought may now be forcing them to do the same. Experts say, though you might like to, do not leave food and water out for wild animals showing up in neighborhoods. The bear that showed up in a tree near central San Anselmo this week is one of several recent North Bay sightings.

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Biden Backs Disputed Trump Contract in Court

/in , /by /E&E Newsby Jeremy P. Jacobs

The Biden administration will defend controversial water delivery contracts to California farmers issued in the Trump era, according to a court filing yesterday, rejecting pleas from a tribe and environmentalists to rescind them.

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California’s Unusually Dry Winter Could be the New Normal, According to Decades of Data

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Michael Cabanatuan

As Californians can tell by the already beige hills, the early fire weather warnings and the dusty umbrellas sitting deep inside closets, it’s been drier than usual this winter.

And according to decades worth of precipitation data, that’s the new normal.

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Drought Concerns: New Website Shows Well Water Users Whether They Face a Water Shortage

/in , , /by /ABC10by Carley Gomez

A drought emergency has been declared in California and even expanded upon as of Monday, May 10, 2021 to cover a total of 41 of California’s 58 counties.

Water is on the forefront of state leaders’ minds.

It’s no surprise water supply would be impacted in a drought situation, especially as California is now in its second year of drought. Plus, drought concerns have not just spanned the last two years. California also experienced a long stretch of drought from 2012 to 2016.

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In California’s Farm Country, Climate Change Is Likely to Trigger More Pesticide Use, Fouling Waterways

/in , /by /Inside Climate Newsby Liza Gross

Every spring, California farmers brace themselves for signs of wriggling organisms destined to launch multigenerational attacks on their crops.

Many insect species survive the winter as eggs or larvae and then emerge in early spring as the first generation to feed and breed on millions of acres of California vineyards, orchards and row crops. Climate change will complicate farmers’ efforts to control these pests in complex and unpredictable ways.

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Hosing Down the Driveway? Why California Has No Statewide Water Wasting Rules as it Heads Into a New Drought

/in , /by /The Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

Anyone who lived through California’s last big drought from 2012 to 2016 remembers the rules.

You couldn’t water your yard so much that the water ran off into the street or sidewalk. Or hose down a driveway. Hotels had to put up signs telling customers they could choose not to have sheets and towels washed every day. Ornamental fountains were prohibited unless they recycled water. Watering landscaping within 48 hours of rain was forbidden. Cities couldn’t water grass on street medians. And if you washed a car with a hose, it had to have a nozzle.

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Deepening Drought Holds ‘Ominous’ Signs For Wildfire Threat in the West

/in , , /by /NPRby Eric Westervelt

After one of the most destructive and extreme wildfire seasons in modern history last year, a widening drought across California and much of the West has many residents bracing for the possibility this season could be worse.

Anemic winter rain and snowfall has left reservoirs and river flows down significantly, even as the state experiences its driest water year in more than four decades. Today, wildfire fuels in some parts of California are at or near record levels of dryness.

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Fish or Farmers? Newsom Drought Declaration Would Trigger New War Over California Water

/in , , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler and Ryan Sabalow

When a bipartisan group of state legislators held a press conference last week to demand that Gov. Gavin Newsom declare a statewide drought emergency, they assembled at a withered farm field east of Fresno, complete with piles of dead trees in the background.

The choice was no accident. With California already experiencing drought-like conditions, Central Valley farmers and their elected representatives are the ones putting the most political pressure on Newsom to make it official.

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Napa Prepares City Water Use Curbs in Pursuit of 15% Consumption Cut After Dry California Winter

/in , , /by /Napa Valley Registerby Howard Yune

Irrigation curbs, car washing restrictions and the shutoff of fountains may return in the city of Napa amid shrinking water supplies on the tail of a dry California winter.

Tuesday night, the City Council is scheduled to vote on a “moderate water shortage” declaration intended to cut consumption by 15%. Approval would mark the return of water-use restrictions last rolled out in the mid-2010s when a six-year drought led California to mandate across-the-board cutbacks statewide.

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