Tag Archive for: Central Valley

California’s Idle Crop Land May Double as Water Crisis Deepens

/in , , /by /Bloombergby Kim Chipman

California’s historic drought may leave the state with the largest amount of empty farmland in recent memory as farmers face unprecedented cuts to crucial water supplies.

The size of fields intended for almonds, rice, wine grapes and other crops left unworked could be around 800,000 acres, double the size of last year and the most in at least several decades, said Josue Medellin-Azuara, an associate professor at University of California Merced.

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California Gives Rivers More Room to Flow to Stem Flood Risk

/in , , /by /ABC Newsby Kathleen Ronayne

Between vast almond orchards and dairy pastures in the heart of California’s farm country sits a property being redesigned to look like it did 150 years ago, before levees restricted the flow of rivers that weave across the landscape.

The 2,100 acres (1,100 hectares) at the confluence of the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers in the state’s Central Valley are being reverted to a floodplain. That means when heavy rains cause the rivers to go over their banks, water will run onto the land, allowing traditional ecosystems to flourish and lowering flood risk downstream.

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Solar Panel Water Systems Could Be Headed to Central California

/in , , /by /ABC 30by Kassandra Gutierrez

Since 2014, SOURCE Global has been aiming to provide clean drinking water to thousands of people across the world.

 

The company has reached 53 countries. Now, they are looking to help the Central Valley.

 

“I think it is very important to avoid ingesting contaminants like uranium, arsenic and nitrates that are very common in the Central Valley,” says Clara McBane, Senior VP or SOURCE Global.

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Satellite Images Show Just How Quickly Sierra’s Snowpack Is Retreating

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Gwendolyn Wu

The storms that frosted the Sierra Nevada with a healthy layer of snow in December soon gave way to dry weather, and the snowpack is showing it.

Satellite images from NASA show a big difference even between January and February. Images from Jan. 9 showed a blanket of snow over the Sierra Nevada and their foothills, with clouds overshadowing parts of the Bay Area and Central Valley.

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California’s Drought Endures: Feds’ Central Valley Project Announces 0% Water for Farmers

/in , , /by /Fresno Beeby Dale Kasler

Farmers in California’s Central Valley are in for another brutal summer of drought.

The federal government announced initial 2022 water allocations Wednesday for customers of the Central Valley Project, and the figures were dismal: Most irrigation districts in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys can expect to receive no deliveries from the project’s vast network of reservoirs and canals.

 

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Finding Use for Fog: California Farmers Could Benefit From Using Fog Nets to Buffer Water Supplies

/in , , /by /KCRAby Heather Waldman

For most of us, fog is a nuisance. It makes driving difficult and it tends to dampen the mood of the day.

But Dr. Daniel Fernandez at Cal State Monterey Bay has been working with fog for nearly 20 years, using nets to collect tiny fog water droplets on murky, breezy days.

The fog nets are one-square meter of mesh-mounted vertically on poles in regions that are prime for fog. Places like the central and southern California coast are perfect, but the Central Valley is another spot with more foggy days than rainy days.

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Rainy Years Can’t Make Up for California’s Groundwater Use

/in , , /by /ARS Technicaby K.E.D. Coan

Over a third of American vegetables are grown in California, largely in the state’s Central Valley. The region also produces two-thirds of the nation’s fruits and nuts. These crops—and the many Americans who produce and consume them—are heavily reliant on California’s water supply. But, given recurrent and severe droughts, the state’s groundwater supply has been strained.

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Merced Irrigation Officials Scramble to Fix Groundwater Plan, As Fear of Restrictions Loom

/in , , /by /Merced Sun-Starby Madeline Shannon

Officials with Merced-area water agencies say they’re updating a key regional groundwater plan after the California Department of Water Resources said it didn’t go far enough to reach state water sustainability targets.

 

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Department of Water Resources Investing Heavy in Water Facility Rehabilitation

/in , , /by /Valley Voice

Today, the California Department of Water Resources initiated a $100 million funding program to restore capacity to portions of the California Aqueduct, San Luis Canal, Delta-Mendota Canal, and Friant-Kern Canal lost to land subsidence occurring during the last several decades.

“Fixing these canals is an important foundational piece to ensure a reliable and climate resilient water supply for California,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “It enables us to move water during very wet conditions, which will be essential to adapting to more extreme weather. Restoring capacity in our existing infrastructure provides a critical link in diversifying water supplies by supporting groundwater replenishment throughout the Central Valley and water recycling projects in Southern California. It’s a prudent investment in our water future.”

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In the Midst of Drought, Experts Aim to Improve Central Valley Water Usage With Helicopter-born Technology ‘MRI’ Technology

/in , , /by /KGETby Robert Price

When physicians want to take a look at a patient’s vascular system to see things that aren’t visible to the naked eye, they often turn to MRI technology. That is what experts with the California Department of Water Resources are doing to analyze the state’s water system – specifically the underground aquifers that collect and store precipitation and other surface water.

 

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