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How California’s Salton Sea Went From Vacation Destination to Toxic Nightmare

/in , /by /Gristby Zoya Teirstein

In the spring of 1905, the Colorado River, bursting with seasonal rain, topped an irrigation canal and flooded the site of a dried lake bed in Southern California. The flooding, which continued for two years before engineers sealed up the busted channel, created an unexpected gem in the middle of the arid California landscape: the Salton Sea. In the decades that followed, vacationers, water skiers, and speed boat enthusiasts flocked to the body of water. The Beach Boys and the Marx Brothers docked their boats at the North Shore Beach and Yacht Club, which opened in 1959. At the time, it seemed like the Salton Sea, and the vibrant communities that had sprung up around it, would be there for centuries to come.

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Water Affordability Focus of Water Authority Roundtable

/in , , /by /Water News Network Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Water affordability for ratepayers was the topic of discussion during a legislative roundtable Thursday at the San Diego County Water Authority. The Water Authority convened state, regional and local officials in search of winning strategies for enhancing water affordability for ratepayers across the county and the state.

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California Drought Pits Farmers vs. Cities. But Neither is the Biggest Water Victim

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hayley Smith

As California fast approaches what is likely to be a fourth year of punishing drought, residents are being asked to cut their water use to historic lows. But while city dwellers are rising to the occasion — including record reductions in Los Angeles in August — urban consumption still represents only a small fraction of total water use in the state.

Where the rest of it goes depends on whom you ask. The California Department of Water Resources says 50% of the state’s water goes toward environmental purposes, 40% toward agriculture and 10% toward urban areas.

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La Niña: What it Means for California’s Drought and the Upcoming Winter Rainy Season

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

The day before the state’s “water year” ended, Silicon Valley leaders gathered on Google’s campus in Mountain View and urged residents to continue conserving water as California’s drought drags on.

“It’s the third straight year of a bad and worsening drought,” said Wade Crowfoot, secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, on Thursday. “Our scientists and climatologists predict that as we move into the winter, we can expect another, fourth dry year.”

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The Colorado River Water Shortage is Forcing Tough Choices in 7 States

/in , , /by /KALWby Dave Davies

This summer, officials of the U.S. Interior Department gave seven states in the American West an ultimatum – either come up with a voluntary agreement to curtail their use of water from the Colorado River, or the federal government will impose mandatory restrictions. Lake Mead, the reservoir created by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado, is now at just 25% of its capacity.

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Bleak Water Year Ending, With Hope for Future Elusive

/in , , /by /Ag Alert by Christine Souza

Nearing the end of the water year on Sept. 30, California farmers and water officials are eager to turn the page to begin the next opportunity for the state to accrue snowpack and precipitation.

However, with a La Niña atmospheric phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean, which generally signals drier, warmer conditions, water officials say they are preparing for a fourth dry year next year.

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Am I a Water Hog? Here’s What Could Land You on California’s List of Homes Using Too Much Water

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Michael Cabanatuan

With California’s water supply shrinking and the drought dragging on, Bay Area water agencies are getting serious about persuading their customers to use water responsibly.

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Will the Supreme Court Gut the Clean Water Act?

/in , /by /High Country Newsby Jonathan Thompson

If you want to cross the Rillito River in Tucson, Arizona, anytime between October and July, you probably won’t need a boat, a bridge, waders or even waterproof shoes. During most of the year, the river is an arroyo, a curvy strip of dry sand that holds no more than the memory of water: braided serpentine patterns in the sand, erosion-smoothed stones, debris wrapped around the trunks of the few hardy deciduous trees.

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‘Sometimes Shaming is Your Best and Only Option’: Should California Scorn People Over Water Use?

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

Amid a third painfully dry year, the Bay Area’s biggest water retailer began releasing the names of customers using “excessive” amounts of water this week, a practice that may soon tee up hundreds of households for humiliation and shame.

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California Is Expected to Enter a Fourth Straight Year of Drought

/in , , /by /New York Timesby Soumya Karlamangla

California is most likely heading into a fourth consecutive year of drought.

The state’s water year ends tomorrow, which has prompted predictions about what’s in store for the next 12 months. (California’s water year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, so that the winter rainy season falls within a single water year.)

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