Tag Archive for: Drought

San Diego Region is Drought-Safe This Summer

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June 21, 2021 – Statewide drought conditions are highlighting the value of regionally and locally controlled water supplies in San Diego County, where the San Diego County Water Authority today announced that the region is protected from drought impacts this summer, and through 2045, despite continued hot and dry conditions. No shortages or regional water-use mandates are in the forecast, the result of three decades of strategic investments that create an aquatic safety net for San Diego County’s $253 billion economy and quality of life for 3.3 million residents.

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Here Are Some Things to Know About the Extreme Drought in the Western U.S.

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Celina Tebor

Almost half of the U.S. has been in a drought since the start of 2021.

Compounding factors, including low rainfall and snowpack, climate change and persisting droughts from previous years, have escalated into extreme dryness.

The prolonged dryness means low water levels are endangering fish species in Oregon and Colorado, 30% of California’s population is in a drought emergency, and the nation’s two biggest reservoirs on the Colorado River — Lake Powell and Lake Mead — are two-thirds empty.

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If Lake Powell’s Water Levels Keep Falling, A Multi-State Reservoir Release May Be Needed

/in , , /by /Colorado Public Radioby Michael Elizabeth Sakas

Lake Powell’s water level is the lowest it’s been in decades, and the latest 24-month projections from the Arizona and Utah reservoir show that it’s likely to drop even further — below a critical threshold of 3,525 feet by next year.

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Biden Picks Career Water Policy Adviser to Lead Water Agency

/in , , /by /AP News

Camille Touton, a veteran congressional water policy adviser, has been nominated to lead the agency that oversees water and power in the U.S. West.

President Joe Biden on Friday nominated Touton to be the next commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. If confirmed, the Nevada native will be a central figure in negotiations among several states over the future of the Colorado River.

Drought, climate change and demand have diminished the river that supplies 40 million people, and the agency is expected to mandate water cuts for the first time in 2022.

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Irrigation Districts Agree to Send Water from New Melones South to Drought-Stricken Farmers

/in , , /by /The Union Democratby Alex MacLean

As much as 100,000 acre-feet of water — enough to meet the annual demand of more than 40,000 Tuolumne County residents for at least five years — that’s currently stored in New Melones Reservoir could soon be sent south to aid drought-stricken farmers under an agreement between the Oakdale and South San Joaquin irrigation districts.

On Wednesday, the districts announced their respective boards had approved the proposal that would benefit agricultural contractors on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley who’ve been cut off from their typical annual water supplies through the federal Central Valley Project due to the drought conditions.

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Wells Are Failing in Southeastern Madera County. What to Know About the Water Situation

/in , , /by /The Fresno Beeby Danielle Bergstrom

On Sunday evening, a well motor failed in a Madera Ranchos community water system that serves around 1,000 homes. Last week, another well pump stopped working in Parksdale, southeast of Madera. Neither community has lost water service. Both are experiencing low pressure. Madera County Public Works runs both water systems. From Madera Acres to the Bonadelle Ranchos, private wells are running dry at an alarming rate. Self-Help Enterprises, an organization that supports communities with water challenges, has been tracking the problem.

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In Russian River’s Fabled Vineyards, the Harvest of a Drought

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Lisa M. Krieger

Rich with promise and potential, the grapes that create the Russian River Valley’s famed wines are ripening in the intense midday heat.

But soon they’ll face the fight of their lives, deprived of water as the state diverts scarce supplies from agriculture to the region’s thirsty cities and subdivisions.

“Whatever water we have on the ground is all we’re going to get,” said Mendocino County supervisor and plant scientist Glenn McGourty, whose district spans the rural upper reaches of the river’s watershed, where the dance of cool nights and hot days, combined with alluvial soil, produces unique growing conditions.

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Drought: Marin District Details Water Pipeline, Desalination Plans

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Will Houston

The Marin Municipal Water District has taken the first steps toward building an emergency water pipeline across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge for the first time in nearly 50 years to avoid potentially running out of water next summer.

The district said Friday that it has hired a consulting firm, Woodard & Curran, to find potential water rights holders in the Central Valley willing to sell their allotments. This water could be pumped across the bridge via the pipeline and into Marin’s water system should the drought stretch into winter.

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Plan to Raze 4 Dams on California-Oregon Line Clears Hurdle

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Gillian Flaccus

A proposal to bring down four hydroelectric dams near the California-Oregon border cleared a major regulatory hurdle Thursday, setting the stage for the largest dam demolition project in U.S. history to save imperiled migratory salmon.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission action comes after the demolition proposal almost fell apart last summer, but then a new agreement and additional funding revived it. Thursday’s ruling will allow the utility that runs the dams, PacifiCorp, to transfer its hydroelectric license jointly to the nonprofit Klamath River Renewal Corporation, Oregon and California.

Regulators still must approve the actual surrender of the license. Dam removal could start in 2023.

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A California Reservoir is Expected to Fall So Low That a Hydro-Power Plant Will Shut Down for First Time

/in , , /by /CNNby Alexandra Meeks

Water in a key California reservoir will fall so low this summer that its hydroelectric power plant will be forced to shut down for the first time, officials said Thursday, straining the state’s already-taxed electric grid. An unrelenting drought and record heat, both worsened by the changing climate, have pushed the water supply at Northern California’s Lake Oroville to deplete rapidly.

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