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Already Unrecognizable at Only 24% Full, Lake Shasta Still Falling in 2nd-worst Year on Record

/in , , /by /Redding Record Searchlightby Mike Chapman

Recent rainfall hasn’t been nearly enough to make a dent in Lake Shasta’s precariously low water levels.

The lakebed where the water has receded still shows cracks where mud has hardened and over the summer, dust devils have swept the fine, dried silt into the air.

The drought has dropped Lake Shasta to its second worst level since the last bucket of concrete was poured for Shasta Dam in December 1945.

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Drought Makes its Home on the Range

/in , , /by /NASAby Sofie Bates

As Tracy Schohr goes about her day, water is always on her mind. She’s thinking of it as she rides an all-terrain vehicle around the pasture, looks up hay prices and weather forecasts, and collects data on grazing and invasive weeds for a scientific study. Schohr is a rancher and farmer in Gridley, California, where her family has raised beef cattle and grown rice for six generations. She also aids in scientific research to study drought and other agricultural issues with the University of California Cooperative Extension.

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Lawsuit Seeks to Block Poseidon Desalination Plant in Huntington Beach

/in , , /by /Orange County Registerby Martin Wisckol
Two environmental groups have sued the Regional Water Quality Control Board over its decision to grant a permit for Poseidon Water’s desalination plant proposed for Huntington Beach, saying the board’s environmental review of the project was inadequate.
Poseidon has been working on the controversial, $1.4 billion project for 22 years. The regional board’s approval on April 29 leaves the company needing one more permit, from the state Coastal Commission, before it can negotiate a final contract with the Orange County Water District and begin construction.
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A Bitter Dispute Ends as California Water Agencies Pledge Cooperation on Colorado River

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

Two years ago, a pact to safeguard the West’s shrinking water supplies took effect at a ceremony high above the Colorado River.

On a terrace overlooking Hoover Dam, water officials from seven states that rely on the river had gathered to sign a deal in hopes of preventing reservoirs from falling to critically low levels.

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The Bad News Keeps Flowing For The Colorado River

/in , , /by /Nevada Public Radioby Joe Schoenmann and Zachary Green

Federal officials project more bad news for the drought-stressed Colorado River, which provides water to Las Vegas and much of the Southwest.

The Bureau of Reclamation issued a report last week saying there is a high likelihood over the next few years that California, the river’s largest water user, will join Nevada, Arizona, and Mexico in seeing cuts to its allocation.

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Could LA Water Recycling Be a Miracle for Parched West?

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

With severe drought strangling the West, the country’s largest water provider has embarked on a multibillion-dollar project that could help them cope with increasingly frequent shortages exacerbated by climate change.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California wants to recycle Los Angeles’ wastewater, creating a new supply stream that would significantly reduce the city’s reliance on imported water from Northern California and the Colorado River.

It would mark a new paradigm in Western water infrastructure. Instead of the dam-building and constructing massive pipelines and aqueducts to connect far-flung rivers to cities, Metropolitan’s proposal focuses on producing “new” water locally. And it seeks to utilize what has historically been wasted; Los Angeles’ wastewater is currently treated and discharged into the Pacific Ocean.

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San Diego’s Water Recyclers and High Bill Payers Draw Pool Noodles

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The cost of getting water from the drought-stressed Colorado River is spiraling and parts of San Diego County with some of the highest bills and big water recycling projects on the horizon seem to be drawing pool noodles together.

That is, in any case, the rough sense that stuck out to me as I re-shuffled through my notes from last week’s story about huge, forecasted increases in the price of Colorado River water, which is controlled by San Diego County Water Authority.

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Borrow Tree Watering Tips from Mother Nature

/in , , /by /Water News Network

As drought continues to affect California, homeowners must balance two needs: preserving landscaping with irrigation while doing so as efficiently as possible to conserve water.

Even when not in a drought, trees planted in a Mediterranean climate often need additional water. For the most effective irrigation, mimic the way Mother Nature provides water.

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A ‘Thirsty’ Atmosphere is Propelling Northern California’s Drought Into the Record Books

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Paul Duginski

Increasing evaporative demand is escalating summertime drought severity in California and the West, according to climate researchers.

Evaporative demand is essentially the atmosphere’s “thirst.” It is calculated based on temperature, humidity, wind speed and solar radiation. It’s the sum of evaporation and transpiration from plants, and it’s driven by warmer global temperatures, which can be attributed to climate change.

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Drought Forces West to Turn to Fossil Fuels That Helped Cause It

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Tripp Baltz

An unlikely energy sector is emerging as a winner from the West’s megadrought: fossil fuels, whose heavy use has been blamed for creating the conditions causing the drought in the first place.

The drought has slashed the electricity-generating capacity of major hydroelectric dams, forcing buyers to spend millions of dollars to buy extra power from an expensive sellers’ market.

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