The Department of Water Resources has announced an increase in water allocations for the State Water Project, raising the allocation to 20% of requested supplies. This marks an increase from the 15% announced in December and the original 5% allocation. Despite a dry start to the month, the department said runoff into the state’s reservoirs has been higher than expected.
California lawmakers passed significant new rules for managing groundwater a decade ago, during a major drought. Since then, the state has continued to see floods and more severe drought.
That’s given state leaders a lot to think about as they evaluate the decade-old policy, which they covered at a Department of Water Resources conference on Monday.
A Sacramento County judge on Thursday ruled in favor of several water districts and local governments over California’s planned delta tunnel project that would divert water from Northern California to the south of the state, saying that exploratory work can’t continue until the state completes a necessary certification process.
The decision by Superior Court Judge Stephen Acquisto is a win for the groups that had argued the state Department of Water Resources hadn’t completed all documentation required by the California Environmental Quality Act and complied with the Delta Plan.
After another wet winter, record rainfall has turned California green and replenished the state’s reservoirs, which had been perilously low during the worst days of the drought.
Lake Oroville, the state’s second-biggest reservoir, often serves as a rainfall barometer. As of Tuesday, Oroville was at 100% capacity, according to data from the state Department of Water Resources.
California’s vital groundwater reserves grew by a record 8.7 million acre-feet — twice the volume of giant Shasta Lake — in the official water year ended Sept. 30, the Department of Water Resources reported this week.
Wearing snowshoes and aviator sunglasses, Gov. Gavin Newsom stood in a field near Lake Tahoe recently and listened as an engineer from the Department of Water Resources announced the results of California’s April snow survey, which is conducted every year when snow depths in the Sierra Nevada reach their maximum.
California has more than 1,000 thousand miles of coastline and the water in the Pacific Ocean presents an opportunity for more fresh water in the state. Unlocking the opportunity takes time, money and resources, and some experts say it’s not for everyone.
A recent court ruling may have thrown a wrench in the state’s funding plans for the controversial and expensive Delta Conveyance Project – a tunnel to move Sacramento River water 45 miles beneath the ecologically sensitive Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
On the heels of two wet winters, it’s easy to forget how close some parts of California came to running out of water a few short years ago. But this climate amnesia will not help us prepare for the next inevitable drought. Since before the state’s founding, the boom-and-bust of drought and flood have shaped our landscapes.
State officials on Friday doubled the amount of water California agencies will get this year following some strong storms that increased the snowpack in the mountains.
