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What The Latest Eastern Sierra Snowpack Measurement Means For The LA Aqueduct

/in , /by /NBC 4 Los Angelesby Jonathan Lloyd

The final snowpack measurement in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains showed levels well above average after winter’s unrelenting storms in California. The snowpack is an important measurement for water managers who determine how much water Southern California can expect to received from the Los Angeles Aqueduct, a system of channels and tunnels that stretches hundreds of miles from the eastern side of the 400-mile long Sierra Nevada Mountain range to Los Angeles. Snow in the mountains melts in spring, running off into the aqueduct and other water delivery systems around the state.  Based on the snowpack survey, the Los Angeles Aqueduct will flow at or near full capacity for much of the year.

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Residents Fear Planned Hydroelectric Dam Project Could Spark Wildfires

/in , /by /NBC 4 (Los Angeles)by Sebastian Echeverry

Some residents in the Southern California city of Lake Elsinore fear power lines from a proposed $2 billion hydro electric dam project could ignite a brush fire. Residents are worried electrical towers and power lines could impact the area as part of the Lake Elsinore Advanced Pump Storage Dam project. “In the last two years, there have been two wildfires that have burned in the location of the proposed transmission line locations,” said Joe Folmar, who heads up a group of residents who oppose the project. “The Wildomar fire in 2017 and the Holy Fire in 2018 are the two fires, both of which required mandatory evacuations.”

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Sierra Snowpack Well Above Average After Storms

/in , /by /NBC 4 (Los Angeles)

Back-to-back California storms blanket the Sierra Nevada in snow, more than twice the snowpack level compared to this time last year, with winter still nearly two weeks away. At the same time last year, the Sierra snowpack was 47 percent of average, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Friday. A series of systems starting around Thanksgiving dropped several feet (meters) of fresh powder in some mountain areas.

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LA County to Vote on Tax for Stormwater Projects

/in , /by /NBC 4 (Los Angeles)

Los Angeles County voters will decide Tuesday on a proposed parcel tax that would bankroll projects aimed at capturing, cleaning and conserving stormwater to prevent it from running downstream and polluting rivers and beaches. Measure W, dubbed the Safe Clean Water Program, is expected to raise $300 million annually. It needs the backing of two-thirds of voters to be approved. “Every year a full 100 billion gallons of water runs down our curbs and out into the ocean,” picking up trash and toxins along the way, Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said in July when the Board of Supervisors voted to place the item on the ballot.

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Season’s First Rainfall Sweeps Into Southern California

/in , /by /NBC 4 (Los Angeles)by Jonathan Lloyd and Shanna Mendiola

Southern California faces the possibility of flooding and slides in wildfire burn areas, including in the Cleveland National Forest in Orange County near the site of the recent Holy Fire, as a storm brings rain to the region this week.

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