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Coalition Urges Protection for Shrinking Colorado River

/in , , /by /Las Vegas Review-Journal by Blake Apgar

A group that included environmentalists, elected leaders and officials from business and agriculture gathered Thursday morning to put forth a slate of demands for a new approach to managing the Colorado River.

“We’re here to say, ‘Damn the status quo. No more business as usual,’ ” Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network, said from a makeshift lectern in a parking lot just above the Hoover Dam.

Management of the river, which feeds Lake Mead and serves 40 million people in seven states and Mexico, has failed and the approach must be revised, Roerink said.

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Why California Should be Preparing for Floods, Even in the Midst of Drought

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Stuart Leavenworth

The explorer John Wesley Powell once poked fun at the professional rainmakers of his time, writing, “Years of drought and famine come and years of flood and famine come, and the climate is not changed with dance, libation or prayer.”

As we now know, humans can change the climate — one reason the current drought is so intense, sparking what could be a record wildfire season and depleting mighty reservoirs such as Mead and Oroville.

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Drought-Stricken California Hasn’t Mandated Statewide Water Restrictions. Here’s Why

/in , , /by /KQEDby Ezra David Romero

After two consecutive dry winters and a series of early summer heat waves, the vast majority of California is gripped by drought.

Water levels in reservoirs like Lake Oroville, Shasta Lake and Lake Mendocino are dangerously low. Wells in parts of the San Joaquin Valley and along the Russian River are drying up, and local water officials have mandated water restrictions up to 40% in some areas.

Already, more than 85% of California is experiencing extreme drought conditions, according to the latest drought monitor released on July 15, and experts forewarn a third year of drought could be on the horizon if the state doesn’t see significant winter rain storms.

Former Gov. Jerry Brown required Californians to conserve 25% of their water during the third year of the last major drought. State leaders have not yet taken that step during this year.

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California Drought: La Niña Could Dash Hopes of Desperately Needed Rain This Winter

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicle by Omar Shaikh Rashad

The punishing drought conditions afflicting most of California are expected to endure for months, climate experts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association said Thursday.

There is a 60% chance, NOAA experts said, of a La Niña event this winter — conditions that would likely bring about a cool and very dry winter.

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Amid Escalating Drought, Bay Area Residents Slow to Cut Back on Water Use

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

As the sun began to rise over Santa Rosa’s Montgomery Village neighborhood, the headlights of a city work truck brought into view utility official Shiloh Jones’ target: wasted water.

Jones, part of Santa Rosa’s newly formed “water waste patrol,” had spotted a puddle on the sidewalk and traced it to a runaway irrigation system in a bed of pink roses.

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Contouring Tips Help You Make the Grade

/in , , /by /Water News Network

Moving both irrigation and our limited natural rainfall through your yard into storage areas via the use of various landscaping features borrow Mother Nature’s engineering. This is especially important during hot, dry summer months. If your yard is perfectly flat, you must move soil and features around to create more water-retaining contour areas.

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Drought Threatens to Close Calif. Hydropower Plant for First Time

/in , /by /E&E Newsby Anne C. Mulkern

A California power plant likely will shut down for the first time ever because of low water during a prolonged drought, squeezing the state’s very tight electricity supplies, state officials said yesterday.

The Edward Hyatt power plant, an underground facility next to Oroville Dam in Butte County, is expected to close in August or September, said John Yarbrough, California Department of Water Resources assistant deputy director of the State Water Project.

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How the San Diego Region is Preparing for the West’s Water Extremes

/in , , /by /CMUA Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Sandra Kerl talks about how the San Diego County Water Authority is adapting and innovating for this year’s drought and beyond, while continuing to provide reliable service to customers and reshaping the Water Authority’s internal processes, values and structure.

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With Drought Worsening, Should California Have Much Tougher Water Restrictions?

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ari Plachta

When Gov. Gavin Newsom asked Californians to voluntarily conserve water last week as he stood in front of the retreating shoreline at Lopez Lake in San Luis Obispo County, some must have had déjà vu.

It was only six years ago when former Gov. Jerry Brown stood in a field near Lake Tahoe that was bereft of normally plentiful snow and called for water restrictions amid the state’s punishing years-long drought.

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Calif. Businesses and Residents to Cut Water Use by 15%

/in , /by /Environment and Energy Leaderby Harun Asad

Signing an Executive Order on July 8, California (CA) Governor Gavin Newsom has asked Californians to voluntarily cut their water use by 15% to mitigate severe drought conditions across the state, and to protect water reserves and help maintain critical flows for fish and wildlife.

During the last drought from 2012 to 2016, Californians were ordered to cut their water use by an average of 25% statewide. With the new drought emergency declarations, there is still no statewide emergency or mandate to reduce water use.

The request applies to businesses and agriculture as well as residents. Meeting the target could save enough water to supply 1.7 million average households for one year, according to state officials. Fifty counties, about 42% of the state’s population, are now under drought emergencies — essentially everywhere except San Francisco and urban Southern California.

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