Tag Archive for: Climate Change

Drought Hitting Home in California, Arizona

/in , , /by /Western FarmPressby Todd Fitchette

As drought deepens in the West and the water used by farms and people alike dwindles, farmers in Arizona and California are bracing for cutbacks in the two major federal systems that supply irrigation and drinking water to millions of people.

Water storage is shrinking with no snowpack to replenish reservoirs managed by the Bureau of Reclamation in California and Arizona. Shasta Lake in northern California is about half full while lakes Mead and Powell, the two giant reservoirs designed to contain more than 50-million-acre feet of water behind Hoover and Glen Canyon dams, respectively, are precariously low with under 20-million-acre feet of total storage combined.

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Drought Conditions Worsen in California After Prolonged Warm, Dry Weather

/in , , /by /Ventura County Starby Cheri Carlson

Ventura County has moved into severe drought conditions as it wraps up what is typically the rainiest months of the year.

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Opinion: Silver Lining to Water Woes Could be Farmers Putting Their Lands to New Uses Besides Crops

/in , , /by /Fresno Beeby Emmy Cattani and Ann Hayden

The Central Valley has reached a critical juncture.

On one path, without proactive, collaborative planning, the Valley could become a haphazard patchwork of dusty fields infested with invasive weeds and pests, further impairing already poor air quality, devastating the agricultural economy and putting many farmworkers out of work.

On another path, the Valley can remain a thriving agricultural region amid a mosaic of new land uses, like vibrant habitat corridors for the endangered San Joaquin kit fox or wildlife-friendly groundwater recharge areas for migratory birds or outdoor recreational green spaces for families.

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The Water Fight Over the Shrinking Colorado River

/in , , /by /BBC Newsby Paige Sutherland

Scientists have been predicting for years that the Colorado River would continue to deplete due to global warming and increased water demands, but according to new studies it’s looking worse than they thought.

That worries rancher Marsha Daughenbaugh, 68, of Steamboat Springs, who relies on the water from the Colorado River to grow feed for her cattle.

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Water Year 2021 Characterized by Persistent Dry Weather and Worsening Drought in California

/in , , /by /Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (UC San Diego)by Chris Castellano, Chad Hecht, Julie Kalansky, Nina Oakley, Arleen O’Donnell, and Martin Ralph

• Total precipitation has been well below normal throughout much of California during water year (WY) 2021
• In some regions, drier than normal conditions extend back to the start of WY 2020
• Drought has expanded and intensified across the state, and current water storage levels are below normal in many
reservoirs
• Below-normal snowpack in the Sierra Nevada may limit water resource availability as summer approaches
• The abnormally dry conditions were driven by a lack of landfalling atmospheric rivers (ARs) and persistent
ridging/blocking over the Northeast Pacific Ocean
• Drought is expected to continue through spring 2021, thereby increasing the threat of significant wildfire activity in
summer 2021

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Study: Drought-Breaking Rains More Rare, Erratic in US West

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Matthew Brown

Rainstorms grew more erratic and droughts much longer across most of the U.S. West over the past half-century as climate change warmed the planet, according to a sweeping government study released Tuesday that concludes the situation is worsening.

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How I Got Beyond the Concrete and Learned to Love my Watershed

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sammy Roth

A year ago, when stay-at-home orders were a newly disorienting fact of life, I started taking long walks through my neighborhood on L.A.’s Westside. Wandering south from Palms into Culver City, I realized I live near a huge concrete channel — a creek, trapped in place — with a bike path along the water, and a view of oil pumpjacks rising and falling atop the Baldwin Hills. There were beautiful murals, too, showing a healthy, thriving waterway. They were hashtagged #KnowYourWatershed. And the more I admired them, the more I realized that I did not, in fact, know my watershed, despite growing up not far from here.

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Marin Municipal Water District Proposes Mandatory Conservation

/in , /by /Marinijby Will Houston

The Marin Municipal Water District is proposing mandatory conservation rules for the first time since 1988 in response to record-low rainfall levels akin to those of the notorious 1976-77 drought. The proposed ordinance would require customers to limit outdoor watering to one day per week starting May 1 and adhere to other restrictions. The district board of directors plans to vote on the ordinance on April 20. The district has received just 20 inches of rain this year, its second-lowest amount in 143 years of records. The lowest was 18 inches in 1924.

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Third-Driest Year Reported in California

/in , , /by /The Hillby Celine Castronuovo

The California Department of Water Resources has marked 2021 as the third-driest water year, a period marked from October to March, on record for the Golden State, potentially setting up another deadly wildfire season after last year’s record setting blazes.

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Lack of Rain Could Produce Rare Spring Wildfire Season in Greater San Diego

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins

San Diego County is in the midst of the sixth driest rainy season on record, conditions that could lead to rare and sizable spring wildfires if things stay dry, the National Weather Service said on Tuesday.

San Diego International Airport has recorded only 4.36 inches of rain since the official water year began on Oct. 1. That’s more than 4 inches below normal. The airport averages 10.33 inches of rain from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.

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