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U.S. Megadrought is Worst for Over 1,000 Years: How Long Could It Last?

/in , , /by /Newsweekby Aristos Georgiou

Droughts are periods characterized by abnormally dry conditions. But what are megadroughts, and how bad is the one currently affecting parts of the United States?

While there are no clear definitions of what a megadrought is, in general these events are defined as droughts that last for multiple decades, i.e. two or more, according to Ashok Mishra, a professor in the Glenn Department of Civil Engineering at Clemson University.

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California’s Continued Drought

/in , , /by /California Water Blogby Andrew L. Rypel

As California’s drought deepens, it is worth checking in on the status of water supplies and what might be in store for the rest of the summer, and beyond.

What started with the promise of a wet water year, ended up dry, again. In January, the 8-Station Index showed precipitation totals keeping pace with the wettest year on record. Then it got dry and accumulated totals flat-lined. The final result is a below average water year, although not one of the driest years on record.

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State Imposes Sweeping Ban on Pumping River Water in San Joaquin Valley, Bay Area

/in , /by /CalMattersby Rachel Becker

In sweeping water curtailments stretching from Fresno to the Oregon state line, cities and growers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed have been ordered to stop pumping from rivers and streams.

The cutbacks, announced today by the State Water Resources Control Board, will affect 4,252 water rights in the Delta watershed, including 400 or more held by 212 public water systems, beginning Wednesday. But they’re concentrated around the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, where state officials expect “significant, very deep cuts.”

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As California’s Big Cities Fail to Rein in Their Water Use, Rural Communities Are Already Tapped Out

/in , , /by /CNNby Rachel Ramirez

Gary Biggs’ family hasn’t had water coming out of their private well for over a decade, after a multi-year drought and overpumping by agriculture and industry.

Now, the eight-acre farm in West Goshen, California, which Biggs passed down to his son, Ryan, in the 1970s, is parched and fallow. His son and granddaughter carry in water from sources to drink and shower. They go to town to wash their clothes, Biggs says.

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As New Deadline Looms, Groundwater Managers Rework ‘Incomplete’ Plans to Meet California’s Sustainability Goals

/in , , /by /Western Water / Water Education Foundation by Nick Cahill

Managers of California’s most overdrawn aquifers were given a monumental task under the state’s landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act: Craft viable, detailed plans on a 20-year timeline to bring their beleaguered basins into balance.

It was a task that required more than 250 newly formed local groundwater agencies – many of them in the drought-stressed San Joaquin Valley – to set up shop, gather data, hear from the public and collaborate with neighbors on multiple complex plans, often covering just portions of a groundwater basin.

Altogether, they submitted plans for 20 basins for review by the California Department of Water Resources in January 2020. Earlier this year, DWR rendered its verdict: Most of the basin plans were incomplete.

Earlier this year, DWR rendered its verdict: Most of the basin plans were incomplete. Now groundwater agencies responsible for 12 of the 20 basins are racing to meet a late July deadline to submit revised plans that meet SGMA’s requirements or risk the state stepping in to manage their groundwater basins.

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Harris Unveils White House Plan to Tackle Water Scarcity as National Security Priority

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Courtney Subramanian and Ian James

Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday unveiled a White House plan to tackle water security as a foreign policy priority in light of ever tightening global water supplies.

The plan pledges U.S. leadership in the efforts to ensure there is enough water to support food supplies and healthcare systems. Under the initiative, the U.S. government will also spearhead ways to defuse potential disputes over access to water, Harris said.

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California’s Snowpack, Groundwater Keep Dropping

/in , /by /NBC Bay Areaby Jeff Ranieri

New numbers continue to show California Sierra snowpack is dropping along with the state’s groundwater but why is that important? Check out this image below and you’ll see all of the ways we use snowpack.

That Spring snowmelt not only fills our streams, reservoirs and lakes, we also use it for agriculture, household, ecology and hydropower. In total providing one-third of the state’s water supply.

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Patrols, Fines, Altered Landscapes: How Severe SoCal Water Restrictions Will Roll Out

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

More than a week after the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California announced its harshest-ever water restrictions for millions of residents across the region, several of the affected water agencies are offering a preview of how life will change throughout Southland when the rules kick in June 1.

The restrictions target areas that rely heavily or entirely on the State Water Project, a Northern California water supply that officials say is dangerously low after the state’s driest-ever start to the year.

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Opinion: PFAs Are Highly Toxic Chemicals, and They’re Common Near Airports in San Diego

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby George Jiracek and Gary Butterfield

If you’ve been warned recently that there’s a class of forever toxic chemicals that you want to avoid at all costs, you’re not alone. We’re all finding out that a single chemical, man-made in 1938 (eventually called Teflon), has led to over 9,000 hazardous man-made chemicals called Per- and PolyFluoroAlkylSubstances (PFAS).

The list of PFAS-contaminated household products published by the Environmental Working Group runs the gamut from prepackaged food, shampoo/conditioners, dental floss to nonstick cookware, water-repellent/stain-proof jackets and carpets.

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H2O and the Central Coast: the Critical Connections Between Water, Jobs and Housing

/in , /by /KSBYby Delaney White and Richard Gearhart

A fairly decent start to this year’s rainy season quickly dried up.

The Central Coast of California is a story of ebbs and flows, wet years and drought.

From man-made reservoirs to underground aquifers, we need to store rain that falls in wet years to help supply the never-ending demand for water during the dry years. But it’s a constant battle to make sure there’s enough set aside to go around.

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