Tag Archive for: Drought

IID Responds to False Caims of Private Property Right Ownership of Imperial Valley’s Water

/in , /by /The Desert Review

In what amounted to a routine request for more information, the clerk of the United States Supreme Court requested the Imperial Irrigation District to file a response to Michael Abatti’s petition for certiorari on Monday, April 26, according to a press release.

The following day, the Imperial County Farm Bureau issued a press release incorrectly suggesting that the US Supreme Court is concerned that the California Appellate Court’s ruling on the Abatti case would deprive Imperial Valley residents of water.

Among other things, the Farm Bureau’s statement and brief filed with the court suggested that Imperial Valley’s water rights are property rights enjoyed by those who own agricultural land and described doomsday scenario consequences if the Supreme Court does not intervene to create private property rights to water where none exist, according to the release.

Various users in the Lower Basin states of California, Arizona, and Nevada have contracts to divert water from the Colorado River dating back to the construction of the Hoover Dam. IID exclusively holds the contract with the United States to deliver water for beneficial use on lands in the Imperial Valley.
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Drought-Depleted Rivers Force Salmon Hatcheries to Truck Fish to the Pacific

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

Millions of young salmon raised at fish hatcheries in the Central Valley will be trucked to San Francisco Bay and other coastal sites for release, because the rivers they’d normally travel to get to the ocean are drying up, state and federal officials said Wednesday.

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3 More Bay Area Water Districts Take Drastic Steps With Drought Looming

/in , , /by /SF Gateby Amy Graff

Three more big Bay Area water agencies are calling on residents to conserve water as drought looms in California following two consecutive extraordinarily dry winters.

Board members with both the East Bay Municipal Utility District and Sonoma Water approved proclamations Tuesday to declare drought emergencies.

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From Dust Bowl to California Drought: A Climate Scientist on the Lessons We Still Haven’t Learned

/in , , /by /The Guardianby Maanvi Singh

California is once again in a drought, just four years after the last dry spell decimated ecosystems, fueled megafires and left many rural communities without well water.

Droughts are a natural part of the landscape in the American west, and the region has in many ways been shaped by its history of drought. But the climate scientist Peter Gleick argues that the droughts California is facing now are different than the ones that have historically cycled through the Golden State.

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Federal Dollars Available for Farmers, Ranchers Facing Drought in California

/in , /by /KCRA-TV (Sacramento)by Emily Maher

Federal dollars are on the table to help farmers and ranchers during the drought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture declared a drought disaster in 50 California counties last month. Grants are now available to help with costs associated with the dry conditions.

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NID Declares a Drought Emergency, Requests Customers to Voluntarily Conserve Water

/in , /by /YubaNet.comby Susan Launer

Bracing for expanding drought conditions and dwindling local water supply, the Nevada Irrigation District Board of Directors proclaimed a drought emergency throughout the District’s service area, which includes portions of Nevada, Placer, Yuba counties. The declaration was made during the Board’s April 28 meeting.

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Opinion: Water Created California and the West. Will Drought Finish Them Off?

/in , , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Michael Hiltzik

In what may become an iconic image for drought-stricken California, Gov. Gavin Newsom stood on the parched bed of Lake Mendocino on April 21 to announce an emergency declaration for Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

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Drought: Big Bay Area Water Agencies Ask – But Don’t Yet Require – Public to Conserve More Water

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

After back-to-back dry winters, two of the Bay Area’s biggest water agencies on Tuesday moved forward with plans to urge the public to reduce water use to avoid shortages this year. But for now, they are using a carrot rather than a stick, saying they have enough water to get by without resorting to fines, water cops and strict rules.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District, based in San Jose, voted Tuesday night to double the amount of money it pays homeowners to replace their lawns with drought-tolerant landscaping, from $1 a square foot to $2, and to expand the maximum amount it will pay per household from $2,000 to $3,000 under the conservation program.

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Facing Drought, Southern California Has More Water Than Ever

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Quintby Laura Bliss

The cracked and desiccated shoreline of Lake Mendocino made a telling backdrop for California Governor Gavin Newsom’s message at a news conference last week: Drought conditions are here, and climate change makes the situation graver.  But water supplies vary across regions, which is why the governor limited a drought emergency declaration to just two northern counties. In fact, highly urbanized Southern California has a record 3.2 million acre-feet of water in reserve, enough to quench the population’s needs this year and into the next.

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Fresno County Joins Coalition Seeking California Emergency Drought Declaration

/in , , /by /Roseville Today

Fresno County is once again in a water crisis. In late March, the California Department of Water Resources announced the 2021 State Water Project allocation to Fresno County farmers would be only 5% of requested water supplies, half of what DWR had announced would be available in December.

The reduction will have a serious impact on Fresno County farmers and agriculture throughout the Central Valley.

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