Tag Archive for: Drought

Opinion: How Better Data Can Help California Avoid a Drinking Water Crisis

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Rich Pauloo and Alva Escriva-Bou

Drought is here — and we’re beginning to feel the effects. A majority of affected households during the last drought were in the San Joaquin Valley and these same communities are among the most vulnerable this time. As California faces a second year of drought, many are left to wonder, “What can be done to help?” Last time, small rural communities reliant on shallow wells — many of them communities of color — were among the most affected. More than 2,600 households reported losing access to water because their wells went dry between 2012–16. (That number is likely an undercount as reporting was voluntary.) Much has changed however since the 2012–16 drought.

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From Shasta to Folsom, Shriveled Reservoirs Show Depths of California’s Drought Disaster

/in , , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler, Ryan Sabalow and Phillip Reese

Instead of being flush with newly melted snow, Folsom Lake is the driest it’s been in springtime since the epic drought of 1977. Water levels are so low that temporary pumps probably will be installed to help move water out of the stricken reservoir.

Water levels at Lake Oroville have plunged to the point that its giant hydropower plant could be idled for the first time ever this summer, putting additional strain on California’s troubled electric grid. At Shasta Lake, which feeds the Sacramento River watershed and much of the Central Valley, conditions are so bad that major cities are drawing up conservation plans, farmers have scaled back plantings and environmentalists are angrily warning of extensive fish kills.

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“This is Definitely Going To Be A Painful Drought, But I Don’t Think It’s A Complete Calamity For Most Parts of the State”

/in , , /by /Yahoo Finance

Co-Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC-Davis, Jay Lund, joined Yahoo Finance Live to break down the gravity of the drought the Western U.S. is facing and why the water shortage could send food prices higher.

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How Capturing Floodwaters Can Reduce Flooding and Combat Drought

/in , , /by /Inside Climate Newsby Liza Gross

Farmers toil at the mercy of nature’s whims, which can prove particularly vexing in California.

Even before climate change, bouncing between drought and deluge was routine in the Central Valley, the state’s richest farming region. Humans have amplified these natural cycles by pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, studies show, creating a future filled with what scientists recently dubbed “whiplash events.”

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“Mega-Drought” Takes Dramatic Toll On Colorado River System That Provides Water to 40 Million People

/in , , /by /CBS News

Scientists are calling it a “mega-drought” brought on by climate change. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor Map shows large areas of the Southwest are “exceptionally dry,” the worst category. It’s taking a dramatic toll on the Colorado River system that provides water to 40 million people in seven states — and may force the federal government to make a drastic and historic decision. For more than eight decades, the iconic Hoover Dam has relied on water from Nevada’s Lake Mead to cover up its backside. But now, at age 85, it finds itself uncomfortably exposed. Much of the water the dam is supposed to be holding back is gone.

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Drought-Stricken Nevada Enacts Ban on ‘Non-Functional’ Grass

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Sam Metz

In Sin City, one thing that will soon become unforgivable is useless grass. A new Nevada law will outlaw about 31% of the grass in the Las Vegas area in an effort to conserve water amid a drought that’s drying up the region’s primary water source: the Colorado River. Other cities and states around the U.S. have enacted temporary bans on lawns that must be watered, but legislation signed Friday by Gov. Steve Sisolak makes Nevada the first in the nation to enact a permanent ban on certain categories of grass.

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Hefty Water Rate Hikes Could be Coming for CVWD Customers

/in , , /by /Palm Springs Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

The Coachella Valley Water District is expected to vote Tuesday on a series of hikes that could sharply raise some residential and commercial customers’ monthly water bills over the next five years.

The proposed hikes would mean an average family that uses about 20 ccf  per month could see their bill rise from $32 currently to $48 by 2026, according to agenda materials. A ccf, or one hundred cubic feet, equals is 748 gallons of water.

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Drought: Mandatory Water Restrictions Coming to Santa Clara County

/in , , /by /San Jose Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers and Kate Selig

In a major sign of California’s worsening drought, Santa Clara County’s largest water provider announced Monday that it is moving forward with plans to declare a water shortage emergency and to urge cities and water companies that serve 2 million residents in and around San Jose to impose mandatory water restrictions.

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Worsening Droughts Could Increase Arsenic Exposure for Some Americans

/in , , /by /Popular Scienceby Lauren Leffer

More than half of the continental US is currently experiencing some level of drought, and about a quarter is in severe drought or worse. In recent years, the western and southwestern US has been in a seemingly continual state of reduced rainfall and snowpack. Droughts have many well-known, potentially catastrophic consequences, from crop failures to water shortages to wildfires. Yet they can also have more direct human health impacts by not only affecting how much water there is, but also the quality of that water.

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As Drought Looms, East County Agencies Get $388 Million Loan for Giant Water Recycling Project

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein

The third large drinking water recycling facility planned for San Diego County received a low-interest $388 million federal loan on Friday to jump-start the project.

The East County Advanced Water Purification Program will recycle waste water to produce up to 11.5 million purified gallons a day — 30% of the region’s supply — beginning in 2025.

The project at the north end of the string of Santee Lakes is a joint effort by the Padre Dam Municipal Water District, city of El Cajon, Helix Water District and San Diego County.

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