Tag Archive for: Central Valley

Opinion: Farmers Flush With Water Now, But State Still Hasn’t Prepared for the Next Drought

/in , , /by /GV Wireby Kerry Jackson

For most of the state, the drought is over. The Central Valley is receiving their full state water supply allocation and farmers don’t need to pull water from the ground to keep their crops from dying of thirst. But that doesn’t mean the signs along Interstate 5 and Highway 99 grumbling about the “Politicians Created Water Crisis” and the Valley’s man-made dust bowl, and asking if “Growing Food Is Wasting Water?” should be taken down.

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Living with Extreme Floods in California

/in , , /by /California Water Blogby Peter Moyle, Jay Lund, Andrew L. Rypel, Carson Jeffres and Nicholas Pinter

Floods and their consequences are a reality for many worldwide, including those living in California. This reality is evidenced by pictures of people stranded on roofs surrounded by water, people paddling down water-filled streets in makeshift boats, and farm fields and orchards covered in standing water. However, there is also growing acceptance that floods are natural, recurring events that have positive aspects, especially where they support migratory waterfowl, enhance fisheries, and sustain wetlands and their high diversity of organisms (Mount et al 2023).

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California Water Agencies Outline $3.2B Plan for Central Valley Flood Prevention Projects

/in , , /by /ENR California by Michael Powell

California water officials are urging a $3.2-billion investment in flood prevention projects over the next half decade to safeguard the Central Valley; particularly communities on the San Joaquin River that are considered among the most vulnerable in the nation.

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First Drought, Then Flood. Can the West Learn to Live Between Extremes?

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Brook Jarvis

The shadows were long and the wind across the flatlands fierce as trucks and ATVs began pulling into Chepo Gonzales’s yard one afternoon this March. “Did you double up your socks today?” Gonzales teased one of the arrivals, a man who complained about cold feet during the previous night’s patrol. Another man leaned out the window of his truck and offered a more serious status report: “There’s a lot of water out there, but it’s flowing north.”

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Opinion: Earth Day: California Must Curb Central Valley Food Waste as Water Crisis Worsens

/in , /by /CalMattersby Jesse Morris

In the Central Valley, agriculture is everything. Farmers here grow 25% of the country’s food, yet copious amounts of flawed produce is dumped or left to rot.

For many supermarkets, an orange with a hail scratch is deemed unsellable. In 2019, researchers from Santa Clara University found that an estimated one-third of food in northern and central California is wasted, largely because of supermarket standards and consumer habits. We cannot follow this model of growing more produce than we need – or wasting this much – given California’s limited water resources, drought on surface water, and severe overpumping of groundwater.

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California Braces for Historic Snowmelt After Record-Breaking Winter

/in , , /by /Courthouse News Serviceby Natalie Hanson

In what is expected to be one of the biggest snowmelt events in its history, California could see some 277 billion gallons of water flowing from the Sierra during the month of May alone.

Experts said Tuesday that the state’s biggest snow year since 1950 could result in a dangerous spring, as warming temperatures push high volumes of snowmelt downstream.

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Why California Can’t Catch a Break

/in , , /by /The Atlanticby Caroline Mimbs Nyce

This winter, storm after storm after storm dumped rain and snow on California, and now, as the spring poppies bloom, the state is lush. Hillsides once prickly with dry vegetation have softened. Ski resorts, once thawed out and closed by late spring, are buried under record snow and planning to stay open into July. Satellite photos show a state transformed from brown to green, streaked from top to bottom with bright-emerald patches.

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Opinion: Why California Will Still Have a Water Shortage No Matter How Much It Rains This Year

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Jay Famiglietti

During a winter of blizzards, floods and drought-ending downpours, it’s easy to forget that California suffers from chronic water scarcity — the long-term decline of the state’s total available fresh water. This rainy season’s inundation isn’t going to change that.

How is this possible, given the unrelenting series of atmospheric river systems that have dumped near-record snowfall over the Sierra and replenished the state’s reservoirs?

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Atmospheric River-fueled Storm Arrives in California. Here’s Which Areas Will Be in the Bull’s-Eye

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Gerry Diaz

California is once again bearing the brunt of inclement weather, as a low-pressure system off the coast rapidly intensifies and becomes a storm, tapping into another atmospheric river that’s flowing between Hawaii and California.

The storm that started Monday night is forecast to raise powerful winds along the coast that will spread to all corners of the Bay Area, Central Coast and Central Valley and peak just before sunrise on Tuesday. These winds will ferry heavy rainfall, thunderstorms and the risk for more flooding across most of the California coast and eventually Southern California.

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Battered by Destructive Flooding, California Braces for More Rain

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Times

California is bracing for another round of rain beginning Monday as officials assess the damage from severe flooding along the Central Coast and Central Valley, which left scores stranded, and whole blocks under water.

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